Lizzie Borden took an axe…

Between Newport and New Hampshire, I really wanted to bring Jason to see the Lizzie Borden house in Fall River, MA. I have been there before, and I just surprised myself to find that it about almost 10 years ago when Karyn, Lynn and I visited.

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So, of course it’s changed a little bit in that time! There is now a gift shop behind the house (instead of in the basement), placed a little bit further away from the house than the original barn (where Lizzie was allegedly “eating pears”) to accommodate a small parking lot. It’s still a bed & breakfast and groups of 20 or more (I think) can rent out the whole place for a mere $1500/night.

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See the funky lens flares again? I have ghost hunting suspicions!

Anyway, the tour was about an hour long (I think we may have actually gotten some bonus stories out of our guide since there were only four of us, and no tours following).

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It was just as fun as the first time and I heard new stories and theories I hadn’t heard before.

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I was totally trying to catch ghosts, though, you guys. The guide encouraged it! He showed us photos from other visitors that were suspicious and I wanted one of my own.

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This is not the sofa, but it’s a close proximity so that is pretty fun.

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Ironic embroidery: “What is home without a father.”

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And this is, of course, the other infamous spot.

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The first time I visited, I don’t think this room had much in it. I had wandered away from the group a little bit to check it out and totally got the heebie-jeebies. No spooks this time, so that’s too bad.

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Of course I took a photo of the local stray cat — Max, I think they named him.

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After the tour, Jason and I found the cemetery where all of the Bordens are buried.

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Hard to tell in this photo, but there are arrows on the road that direct you right to Lizzie’s family plot.

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I did not know that Lizzie had a second sister! Alice died very young, though.

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People left coins and other small gifts (both at the house and on the headstones) so that the spirits would let them pass without bother.

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And if the rumors are true, I’ll have to go back yet again to tour Maplecroft, the home where Lizzie lived out the rest of her life. Someone purchased it earlier this year with the intention of opening it for public tours sometime in 2016.

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