Green Lawn Abbey

I finally got inside.

It was worth the wait. The tour was great fun, with volunteers from the preservation society stepping out of the crypts of the people they were portraying (in costume) (one was the great-great-grandson of the gentleman he portrayed) and talking about "their" life story. Fascinating stuff. Some of the people they focused on were a several-term, popular mayor of Columbus, a prominent circus owner, Thurston the Magician, a Civil War soldier, and J.C. Penney's brother, H.R. Penney. They all did a great job. I will go back as frequently as they do this.

The building itself was so cold. So, so cold ... it was 65 degrees and quite nice outside, but inside, it was one cold pile of marble. The volunteers had scrubbed it out (resorting at one point to a leaf blower to get the inch of dust off the floors) and done a nice job, but just as its sister mausoleum, Amaranth Abbey smelled lovely, Green Lawn smelled ... let's just delicately say, off.

I know enough about mausoleums to have an idea why, too. And I'd have been so very disappointed if it didn't smell like that. :D

The outside:



Looking directly up at the pediment:



The ceiling, first floor:



The casket, (I am assured it was empty) used for effect:



A few more here, at my Flickr site.

Thanks for coming by all month, for following and commenting and downloading and helping make Halloween so much fun this year.

No post for tomorrow, and then on Monday, we'll turn the lights back on in this crypt.

Dilemma

So, every year I try to save up the spookiest picture I have for Halloween Day. I'm a Leo, I like a big finish, what can I tell you?

The Columbus Landmarks Foundation has scheduled a tour of the biggest, spookiest, creepiest mausoleum in town - Green Lawn Abbey - and I am delighted (and bought my tickets back in September). I have been trying to get into this building legally for three years. And now it's finally going to happen!

So this would make the perfect grand finale shot, right?

Well, it would, except that the tour is scheduled for November 1. Nothing could keep me from going on the tour, but I have to say that, once Halloween's passed, as far as I'm concerned, it's passed. I am no longer in the mood. I imagine most of you, after a month straight of it, feel the same.

So, here's my dilemma, and my question to you: do I just lamely post a picture or two from the Abbey anyway as the grand finale a day late, or do I suck it up and hold them back for next year?

Leave a comment and let me know, won't you?