LAUREL HILL CEMETERY

IN 1987, LOCAL PBS STATION WHYY AIRED A SHORT SUBJECT BETWEEN SHOWS ABOUT PHILADELPHIA'S HISTORIC LAUREL HILL CEMETERY.  Hosted by John Francis Marion, the 5 minutes or so took the viewer on a brief but spectacular tour of the "Victorian sculpture garden".  I immediately vowed I had to get there.  And sometime from 1988 to the early 90s, my cousin Loran and I actually DID!  I can't remember exactly what year it was but we got there in early afternoon in the week before Halloween.  We spent the entire day there until night was falling and, to let you know how huge the place is, we had only seen about half of it!  This truly is a "city of the dead" which covers a lot of ground.  By the time it was getting dark and we were leaving, we saw in the distance the candlelight tour beginning which was run by Mr. Marion himself every October.  Naturally, several rolls of film were taken (remember cameras that used film, gang???) and I've provided a few of them here for your perusal.  The photos appearing first in pairs were taken by my cousin Loran and the photos appearing separately (because they're giant Ritzprints) were taken by yours truly and originally developed by friend and Photomeister Paul!  If you are in the area and get the chance, I highly recommend venturing into Laurel Hill Cemetery; the Victorians used to stroll through the cemetery in their finery every Sunday.  Laurel Hill Cemetery has its own website and I hear they offer self-guided tours on your cell phone . . . hmmm.  The last picture in our Countdown to Halloween gallery is there to give you some idea of the scale of the cemetery -- you can see monuments through the trees in the distance in every direction!  Coincidentally (not really), these photos pair up nicely with today's Halloween songs over on our sister audio blog BATHED IN THE LIGHT FROM ANDROMEDA because today's theme is "graveyards and cemeteries"!  Anyway, I hope you enjoy the photos.