Historic National Inn

This is the bed and breakfast we stayed at.

Marshall, MI

Circa 1835

This is the oldest hotel in Michigan.

It is also the 8th most haunted one in Michigan.

In the early days it was the halfway point

between Detroit and Chicago by stagecoach.

By 1844 it was known as the railroad hotel,

as it was still a hotel for the trains passengers.

Our suite was located on the second floor.

The first three windows on the left of this pic.

We had a corner room, with one more window

on the other side of the building.

We had two bathrooms.

Another small room with a shower.

This chair was in our bedroom. 

We had a queen iron bed.

This was a replica as queen beds were not

around in the 1800's.

(sorry took this pic the morning we were leaving)

This was our sitting room.

The open door in back was our bedroom.

The sitting room had a couch with a tv.

The view from this window was awesome.

Will show you that in a different post.

The front porch.

Our view from the wicker settee.

Notice the pineapple by the front door?

The pineapple was a sign of welcome

 in colonial days.

So now for my ghost story.

We arrived back at our room after 10pm.
Bob realized that the room the innkeeper
told me was the most haunted 
was right next to ours.
That freaked me out a bit.

Prior to arriving at the inn for the evening,
we went on a ghost tour
 which was a horse drawn carriage ride.
Our tour guide told us 
that it was common knowledge
to the locals that two ghosts
 were at the inn we were staying at.

One was the lady in red.
She was a prostitute that was killed 
by the mob during prohibition. 
No one knew her name though.
The mob also used this hotel as the halfway point
between Detroit and Chicago.
She only visits single men...so Bob was spared.

I on the other hand was not.

The other known ghost was a boy child.
No one knows why he remains at the hotel...
but he is there.
No one knows his name either.

So with our bedroom being directly
next to the known haunted room...
I was really a bit on edge. 
It took me longer to go to sleep than Bob.

He was already snoring when I was woken up
by someone touching my feet.

I said to myself,
ok I am not worried.
 Bob was still snoring so I knew he did not do it.
Well I turned over to my side

I am showing this picture again.
I was sleeping on the side by the lamp.
There was also a cabinet 
on Bob's side of the bed with another lamp.
Now after having my feet touched
I turned to my side facing the lamp...
curled up a bit.
However a few minutes later,
someone started pushing 
down on the mattress directly in front of me.
The mattress kept moving up and down.

UP AND DOWN

There was not enough room
 between my body and that mattress
 for someone to sit beside me.
It was like someone 
was using their hands to move it.
Now I was scared. 
I turned my light on immediately.
Turned to look at Bob and he was still snoring.
I slept with the light on the rest of the evening.
The child ghost really spooked me. 

In the morning I told Bob what happened to me.
He said nothing woke him up.
{I already knew that}

At breakfast we started talking to the two ladies
who were in the known haunted room.
I told them my story.
They said nothing happened to them.
Go figure.

They were sisters that came up for a visit.
One was from Phoenix, Arizona.
The other was from Dayton, Ohio.

They asked where we were from and when we
said Marine City...they were shocked as they were
born and raised in the next town up from us.
We all said what a small world it was. 

Our breakfast consisted of
fresh fruit
mushroom quiche
muffins
blueberry bread
waffles 
with fresh blueberries, syrup and or whipped cream
Orange, grapefruit and tomato juice
Coffee

Staying at the inn was an experience.
Will I go back?
I have to really think about it.
It was a nice place in the daylight.
Maybe a room on the first floor would work.

I DO BELIEVE IN GHOSTS!

Historic Inn Blessings To All!
Janice

Christmas In July

A Big thank you to everyone for

your well wishes on our anniversary.

We had a fabulous time.

Cannot wait to share our experiences 

with you in future posts.

Today I would like to share

my final house patriotic display.

I call it Christmas in July.

You will understand. 

The scottie dog is an heirloom.

My dad made this for me many moons ago.

I still love it.

It went well with my patriotic 

Christmas tree.

A corncob Christmas tree to be exact.

I apologize for the dark pictures.

Did not realize at the time they were dark,

and I was just too dang tired to shoot the 

pictures again since we got in late from our trip.

Can you say ghost????

More to come on that.

Tonight my mom is coming in.

Our family reunion is tomorrow.

More fun!

What will your weekend be like?

I have to take pops (FIL) grocery shopping

right now, then cleaning will be my day.

Christmas In July Blessings To All!

Janice

A Grand Ole Horse

Happy Hump Day Friends!

Tomorrow is our 
10th wedding anniversary.
Bob and I will be going
 on a mini trip tomorrow.

Will be staying at a bread and breakfast
that is known to be haunted.
When I asked the innkeeper if her home
was haunted.
She said  
"I would not say it is haunted, but busy"
I giggled to myself.

We are looking forward to this time away.
The last time we went on an actual vacation was
3 years ago when we went to Missouri.

Will make sure to take lots of pictures.

Probably venture into an antique store or two.
Hopefully a fabric store too.
I know we will be visiting a few museums...
and hopefully a horse drawn ghost tour.

Hope you liked my back room corner
4th of July display.
July is almost over....so is Summer. :-(

Grand Ole Horse Blessings To All!
Janice

Can You Say Hot

WHEW

We are under a heat wave.

Other than take my FIL to the 

grocery store yesterday, I stayed

inside all day and hooked away.

Friday night we had some storms come in.

Now more homes along the river are flooded.

Our dock is now partially under the water.

We now have water creeping up to the garage.

We may have to sandbag like our neighbor did.  

This is not the same river we are use to,

but it has now become the new normal.

Pops (FIL) does not have air in his place,

so we invited him for dinner last night

so he did not have to cook in the heat.

I made a park roast in the crock pot

with all the fixins.

Today's post continues with my

patriotic displays.

This time our mantle.

A simple one.

With greenery.

White geraniums in blue striped pitchers.

Flags.

With an antique red and blue starred 
gauze fabric draped underneath.

Once the kitties gave up my chair,
I sat back down and resumed my hooking here.
This chair is directly across from our fireplace....
where the view is very patriotic!

On another note,
the grandfather of the young man who drowned,
hired a pilot to search the river Thursday 
from the air
in hopes of finding his grandson.
Thursday morning around 7:45 am 
he was found 15 miles downriver 
from where he drowned.
The family now has closure at least.
Still a heartbreaking story for all of us
who live here.

Well off to work I go with Bob.
I will work The Urban Garage today,
while Bob works Back Porch.
Our worker needed the day off.

Hot Hot Hot Blessings To All!
Janice

July CupboardScape

Happy Summer Thursday my friends.
Before I start my post,
would you say a wee prayer 
for the divers to find a local families son.
Unfortunately he dove off a boat in the middle
of our river, and the undertow took him
and he drowned last Friday night.
They have been searching for his body since.
We all know that you cannot swim
in the middle of the river.
The current is too fast and the undertows
will take even the most experienced swimmer.
This young man (21) was drinking with
his friends and decided to go for a swim.
It cost him his life.
The family has been sitting by the river daily
for the divers to recover his body....
so I am asking for prayers so this
family can have some closure.
It was a terrible tragedy.

Since I did not decorate last year for July 4th,

I sorta went overboard this year.

Every room except the bedrooms had some

red white and blue in it. 

For this month's CupboardScape,

I added some of my favorite stoneware.

A blue pantry box.

This piece I purchased from a sweet 

antique friend years ago.

She passed away this year, but I will cherish

this piece forever.

This stoneware piece is also a favorite because

it is a butter churn.

Now have you noticed the red white and blue

background in each picture?

It is not an American Flag but 

from the country of France.

You might be wondering now why would 

I include a flag from France in my 

CupboardScape.

Well It is because I am half French.

This flag was spotted by me at a sale last year.

There was no price on it, and when I asked

the seller if it was for sale, she stated that if

I could tell her what country it came from,

that I could have it for $2.00.

As you can see, 

I guessed right and it came home with me.

So even though it is not our flag,

the colors go perfectly with ours!

I scored with this $2.00 purchase.

Have you scored on a piece...

 and if so what did you pay for your score?

July 2019 Blessings To All!

Janice 

Best Part Of Any Parade

After I posted my parade post,
I thought to myself....
Janice you forgot to add something
to you parade display.

Well of course that would be the

C A N D Y

So here is parade post part two.

Although I do not eat much candy anymore,

I decided to bring in some of my favorites

for this post.

M&M's

Red Licorice

These flag ones I made to look like wrapped candy.

Many years ago.

Same with these candy sticks.

Just used blue and white striped fabric.

Took a straw, laid it on some quilt batting.

Cut the batting to fit around the straw.

Then added a few more inches more 

of the blue and white fabric. 

Rolled the batting & fabric around the straw.

Hot glued the long strip, then hot glued each end.

The bubblegum is just wood balls that I painted

in Patriotic colors.

.

These are real candy sticks.

I placed them in this fun basket

that Winnie gifted me.

Looks great together don't it!

Now did you know that the throwing of candy

in a parade originated in the 1870's in a

Mardi Gras parade.

The king of the parade threw treats into the crowd.

Unfortunately there are many parents out there

being concerned that their young children

are being hit with the candy.

I don't know about you all,

but when I was little,

my parents would NOT let me go 

into the street until the candy was on the ground.

Then we ran and grabbed it...

and waited for the next float to go by.

I did the same with my own children.

This way they would not get hit.

I think there are some parents out there

that forget how fun it was and lots of towns

are banning the candy 

from being thrown from floats.

I think this is so unfair.

How do you feel about this latest ban?

Did you like grabbing the candy in a parade?

Parade Candy Blessing To All!

Janice

Love A Good Parade

A few weeks ago I had watched the classic movie

Meet Me At St Louis with Judy Garland.

The movie was set in the early 1900's

with the entire family going to the world's fair

which was hosted in St Louis, MO.

Since I have seen this movie quite a bit,

I was more interested this time 

in the clothing and the setting.

In this case much to my glee,

found me saying out loud....

"I have that" many times over. 

So afterwards I gathered up my goodies 

I have all around the house and decided

to do one last 4th of July display.

This one featuring early 1900's parade garb.

Yes parades were a major gathering place

in those days and were a grand time!

Ladies would wear their finest dresses which

included wearing their Summer boots.

They would also be found carrying 

a Summer parasol and even a fan if it was too hot.

Gentleman of that day would definitely

 be wearing their Summer straw hats and holding

a cane. Also most likely they would have a pipe

in their mouth with their favorite tobacco.

All of the parade goers would be waving 

parade flags similar in size to mine,

but the current flag then only had 45 stars.

Uncle Sam originated in the war of 1812,

so he would have made an appearance.

My Uncle Sam is from the 1930's

and is a chalkware piece that would

have been a prize at a carnival.

Trumpets and tin noisemakers 
would be in those early parades.

Fabric red white and blue banners

would be seen everywhere.

Although the ribbons I have incorporated

into my display would not have been seen then.

The Chinese invented fireworks 

in the 6th century.

Sparklers were invented in 1893,

however were not introduced to America

until the early 1900's with the creation

and availability of aluminum powder in the U.S.

These would have been in our 1900 parade.

What a fun time it must have been

to have your entire town participate

in some shape or form to honor our

country's birth.

Here in our town we still have both

a Memorial Day and July 4th parade.

I have also attended some unusual parades.

A Tractor parade.

Big, small, red and green ones.

A horse parade where the horses

would have pretty bows in their mane,

 lights on their saddles and the riders decked out. 

Classic car parades.

Vintage and classic cars driving up and down

a dedicated route.

Boat parades, where each boat 

would be decorated in a different theme.

All lit up at night, they would go up and down the river.

Some even would have music playing

as part of their theme.

Have you ever attended a parade or

an unusual parade like I have?

Love A Good Parade Blessings To All!

Janice