Field Trip

When the pandemic hit, I decided since we couldn’t safely travel, it might be fun to visit old mansions. I made a list, and we went to a couple, providing the inspiration for HORNED OWL HOLLOW and DARK SHADOWS. There were more on the list that we didn’t get to. I’m still a sucker for a good ghost story, so when I was recently looking for something to do, something popped up in my SM feed that looked interesting. Tinker Swiss Cottage is less than an hour’s drive, and being of Swiss heritage, it looked like it would be “scenic,” if nothing else, so we planned an excursion. When we mentioned it to a friend, they mentioned a Japanese garden that was also in that area, so we decided to do both.

We try to plan our visits at times we won’t bump into a ton of other people - during the pandemic we were often the only people on the tours. When we went to the cottage, we were two of five tourists (unless you count the “support” dog riding in one woman’s backpack). Nice, small group. Before we left the gift shop to begin, that particular woman asked if the place was haunted. I’ll admit I was hanging on the answer, because that was one of the reasons I wanted to visit this place! Imagine my disappointment when the docent said no. Only one family had inhabited the house over the past 100 years, and to the best of her knowledge, it was not haunted. I was hoping for at least a story! Regardless, we took the tour, which was worth the trip. I desperately wanted to ask about one particular piece, however. A snuff box made from human bone. Human bone?? Whose? But I didn’t ask. Sometimes, you have to let your imagination fill in the blanks when making up stories. I did learn something that I’ll be using in the current work in progress - something I wasn’t expecting to see there, but which I’d been entertaining as a possible addition to my work. When the world repeatedly presents you with ideas to include, you need to pay attention.

The conical mound! Look for this in the new book.

After we got home, I searched online for ghost stories related to the cottage, and found a show with Jack Osborne and Jenny McCarthy where they stalked around inside the cottage in search of ghosts. The usual performative type ghost show, and when Jenny professed to actually see/feel a ghost, Jack shrugged her off and suggested they move on. 🤣 I did learn more of the history of the cottage, and also that they “called in” the ghost hunters because locals were nervous and no one was coming to tour because they were afraid of running across said ghosts. I think they vastly underestimate tourists, but what do I know?

Then there was the Japanese Garden to get our Zen on. Beautiful day. Beautiful garden. Very peaceful. We had a great blue heron hanging out posing for pictures. Lots of ducks. Lots of koi. A Japanese tea house tucked into the woods. Waterfalls. We had lunch at a farm to table restaurant, and all in all, a very successful field trip. I leave you with some pictures from our adventure...