If you don't know Adam you may think this is a little strange....
Drew's family came into town this past weekend. We spent part of the day Saturday looking for Colonel Sanders. I mean come on we do live in Kentucky what would we be without our chicken? :)
The first cemetery we went to was really old and wasn't taken care of very well. We decided that someone with as much $ as Colonel Sanders we had to be in the wrong place. We ventured down the road and...
we found him. It was pretty amazing. I don't think I've ever seen a cemetery that looked like this before. We almost missed Colonel Sanders tomb because of how extravagant some of the others were. I saw a family taking family pictures. Really?!
It was no surprise that Adam wanted to check out Waverly Hills (
one of the most haunted places in the country) while he was in town. So we ventured a couple miles down the road to take a tour.
(Thanks Suzie for watching the other 5 grandkids!)Waverly Hills is way impressive when you pull up. It's
HUGE. (I didn't get any pictures of the building end to end, but it's even bigger than that. The building has wings on either end.)It's amazing to think that we drive by it several times a week. It's on a hill, but it's completely blocked by trees. In the winter if you really look while your going down the highway you can make out the gargoyles.
me and Drew
Jen, Adam and our 2 oldest nephews
Adam in the body shoot. A 500 ft tunnel that went down at a 45 degree angle. At the height of tuberculosis there was a person dying an hour. To boost moral the doctors didn't want hearses pulling up continuously instead they would wheel the bodies on carts down to the end of this tunnel where the hearses would pick them up.
autopsy tables and body shelves
502 is one of the most haunted rooms. A nurse was found hung to death in front of this door. There is speculation about why and if she hung herself or if someone hung her. The speculation is that right before she died she had an abortion that went wrong. Another nurse also fell to her death out the window in 502. Again there is a question if she jumped or was pushed. The tour guide said that pregnant women get sick in this room.
I think my favorite scary story of the night was about a group of teenage boys that broke into Waverly Hills with an axe. The night security guard heard someone and went to check it out. Instead of the boys running away they ran to the security guard for help. They boys said that the people wouldn't let them out. They had been trying to break through the metal door with their axe. The security guard said "what do you mean they won't let you out? Were the only ones here" Then the security guard pushed the door open. It was a little creepy seeing the big axe marks in the door.
There was a homeless man and his dog living in Waverly Hills while it was abandoned. Their bodies were found in the elevator shaft. People have reported seeing them around the elevator.
There is also a little boy named Timmy who likes to play in the children's wing. Our tour guide said that on the overnight tours they'll roll a ball down the hallway. She said that it often will come back to you.
I thought it was interesting. Our tour started at 8pm. It was twilight when we entered the building and dark during most of the tour. They told us to bring flashlights, but we only got to use them on the stairs. The size of the vandalized building alone was creepy added to the stories and what actually happened there. Scary. The Ghost Hunters did a neat special on Waverly Hills. All I can say is that I'm so grateful for modern medicine. What these poor people went through with this disease and then by the doctors desperately trying to save them was heartbreaking.
Gabe really wanted a picture with this guy
The seals weren't out, but Molly and Gabe didn't care. Instead they happily tormented the seagulls.
In one of the buildings they had this awesome play structure. SO. MUCH. FUN. It was hard convincing Molly and Gabe to leave.
