Halloween Remnants in Victorian Cedarburg

Every year my mom and I visit Cedarburg, WI to celebrate her birthday. Cedarburg is an old town that was founded in 1845. Many of the original buildings remain, including some beautiful Victorian houses. Some of those houses on the main street are now gift shops. There are also gift shops in the Cedarburg Woolen Mill/Cedar Creek Settlement, which is pictured below.  

This is a view from The Cedarburg Interurban Bridge. This bridge is very old too. It was built in 1907 by Carnegie Steel. Trains ran over this bridge until 1940.



Unlike last year, there weren't many Halloween decorations on the day we went. I suppose the Cedarburg stores are trying to get the same jump on Christmas that every other store is, because they seemed to be more focused on that holiday. Still, there were a few reminders of Halloween left. One was this ghoulish decoration:



You'll also see a cute little white pumpkin in this picture if you look closely.

One other Halloween decoration we saw was this set of pumpkins outside The Schroeder Guest House. For those who are interested, this house was built in 1856. It is now a bed and breakfast.



Have you ever seen marbleized pumpkins like these?



This house is so beautiful. My favorite part of it is, of course, the ornate iron work on the porch top!



That wooden gingerbread ornamentation at the bottom is so cool too!



This house is probably my favorite on the block. Chances are good that I will like any house with a turret.



Here's some more beautiful Victorian woodwork on a house that is now a gift shop. This is one of my favorite places to shop in Cedarburg. Every room is filled with gift items and decorations for a different holiday! They have some outstanding Halloween items.



There is so much stored in each room. This photo will give you an idea of how full the rooms are.



Isn't that eye cool? Each window in this room had a cat eye in it. I've seen photos of these window eyes online and in magazines, but this was the first time I was in a room with any. They're really pretty effective!



This little guy ended up leaving with us:



He's a pretty realistic crow in size and detail.



Of course, there are some rumors about Cedarburg being haunted. When a place is this old, you're bound to hear some stories! I even heard one from a person who lives in that town. There are plenty of Cedarburg ghost stories posted online and there's even a Gothic History Tour of Cedarburg each October.

There's a ghost story attached to another old Cedarburg Mill, as well as The Stagecoach Inn. If you search "Haunted Cedarburg" online, you'll find quite a few results. Here's a page with some brief accounts: Haunted Cedarburg

The last flicker of fall

Last week was quite busy for me! I enjoyed soaking up the colors of Autumn during a trip to Cedarburg, WI. Every year, my mom and I head to this old town to see the beautiful scenery and do a little shopping. Usually, some after-Halloween deals await us there.

These wild grapes were growing on the side of a building. Many of the shops in this town are operated in Victorian houses. I go wild about this style of architecture, and I know some of you do too!

OK, Raise your hand if you want to move into this place. It's just beautiful. A lot of Halloween merchandise was moved onto the porch of this shop:

I like the Welcome to the Nuthouse sign.

Check out the Victorian gingerbread details going on here! I'm going crazy trying to remember what the metal details on the roof are called. If someone out there knows, please help me out. I've even added that feature to my own haunted house paintings! So I need to know the name of it.

One Victorian house shop had an old shed out back. The Halloween merchandise had been moved into it. The door was guarded by this skeleton torso.

The shed was actually kind of dark and spooky to enter...

The small amount of light that was cast into the room sparkled off this glittery skull.

We did find this dapper little crow in the old shed, so it was worth looking around!

He is carrying a cute little jack-o-lantern in his wing:

The streets of downtown Cedarburg were filled jack-o-lanterns. I wonder if there had been a pumpkin carving contest in town. I was especially impressed by this gargoyle carving. It looks like it was done with a linoleum cutter.

Here's a goofy one. I think his tongue was made from the pumpkin that was cut out to make his mouth:

I took some photos of pumpkin creatures during last year's Cedarburg trip. Since some of you weren't following me back then, you might want to take a look: Cedarburg Pumpkin Creatures

The sun was setting as we got ready to leave. A beautiful golden glow was cast onto every building. I captured a little of that glow on some stone work at the end of a bridge. The leaves growing around the stonework turned an intense crimson in the light.

This vine of leaves resembled a reaching hand. Look at the variation in color!

Cedarburg really is a picturesque place to visit. It was recognized as a town in 1840, and is rumored to be full of ghosts. Someone I know has had a lot of ghostly experiences there. This might be because she happens to work in an office that is a former funeral home. I know that October ghost tours are offered throughout the town. Whether or not there are any ghosts, it would be fun to view Cedarburg's architecture on an Autumn night!

Mom's Birthday celebrations continued with a Paul Simon concert last Friday. I was lucky enough to win tickets to the show by calling into a radio station. That was an exciting moment. The concert was a few days after my Mom's Birthday, so it was another way of celebrating. It was also cool for me because I've been a fan of Paul Simon's music since I was in grade school. I had a music teacher who was really into his work. Through grade school we listened to his music and watched videos of his concerts. So I'm really up on his catalog of music! Also, I'm a fan of The Graduate soundtrack. Speaking of The Graduate, this is as close to Goth as Paul Simon gets! Really, silence can be one of the most frightening things in the world. Here's The Sound of Silence, complete with the beautiful and thought provoking lyrics:

Every time I hear this song, I think of an English teacher I had in high school. He was kind of an eccentric guy. I remember one day he walked in the room and said in all seriousness "Hello darkness my old friend, I've come to talk with you again." Then he just went and sat at his desk. I don't know if he was having a bad day, or just wanted our attention.

The concert was very casual and intimate. Paul Simon is so incredibly humble. He just walked out like a normal guy and put on a great show. I also think he has a sense of humor, because Frank Sinatra's cover of Mrs. Robinson was playing on the speakers as we left the theater.

Paul Simon's opening act was the Punch Brothers, who I ended up loving! I wasn't familiar with them before this. They play lively Bluegrass music. I'm not even going to try to tie this band to a spooky topic. They just play good music, so I want to share it with everyone!



This is pretty much the experience we had, minus Steve Martin. This video is from their performance on Letterman. I would love to see the Punch Brothers in concert, if they ever visit Milwaukee again. I just love when an opening act I've never heard of, turns into a new favorite band!

Edgar Allen Poe's Birthday

Today is Edgar Allen Poe's 202nd birthday. This is the second year that "The Poe Toaster" has not shown up to leave three roses and a partially-filled bottle of French cognac at Poe's grave site. The mysterious mourner visited the grave with gifts on Poe's birthday every year from 1949-2009.

As a Poe tribute, here's a video clip of one of my favorite Simpson's Halloween Specials: Homer Simpson reenacting "The Raven" with James Earl Jones narrating.