A Haunted New England

With my brother's wedding coming up in a few weeks, I needed to head down to Connecticut to make sure the tux I would be wearing would fit. So with that planned for about a week, Levi and I took a day trip this past Monday. Since this was going to be a short stay down there, I figured we would search for a few boxes on the way down.

In and around the Nashua area, there are 3 boxes planted in a series called "Haunted New England." There is also another planted in Concord, Massachusetts. But we were out to look for the 3 that were in New Hampshire this day. First up was The Country Tavern. This was a cute little place located on Amherst St. Originally built as a farmhouse in 1741,was once the house of Elizabeth Ford, the wife of a ship captain. After one of his long voyages, he returned to find his wife pregnant by another man. He waited until the baby was born and then killed them both, burying them somewhere on the property. Some say they were buried directly on the land below where the restaurant now stands. Other say he dumped them in a well on the property. Either way, Elizabeth has stayed on the property. Employees of the restaurant report items being moved and hearing footsteps late at night. Some say she would regularly cause things to fall and break. This seems to be the most malicious thing she desires to do, because most stories about her describe her actions as harmless and at times even pointless. There is no rhyme or reason to what she does. The sightings seem to be focuses more on women on the premises and her favorite activity used to be to play with women’s hair in the ladies room. We located the box and stamped in with no issues. It would seem that the tavern was closed and Elizabeth was asleep. Maybe we will come back next time and visit Elizabeth again.

The next box we searched for was Gilson Road Cemetery - A New Awakening. This box is planted in a small cemetery tucked away on a side road. The cemetery is well known for its haunted reputation and for the strange headstone of Walter Gilson that has a perfectly circular hole through it. The hole is not shot through as that would have shattered the slate... When we were searching for this box, in the clues, it states that our compass might not work very well. I guess people have had some issues using their own compasses, sending them in different directions while searching for this box. I became a victim on this day. I swear that my compass on more than 1 occasion, sent me in different direction. Once in one way and another in a totally different direction. Finally sending me in the direction I needed to go. I think in all, we spent about a half hour in this cemetery. This box is considered a drive by, but would understand why it shouldn't be called one. You never know how long you will be in that cemetery searching for that box.

The third box we went and found was Pine Hill Cemetery. This again was a small cemetery tucked away on a back road. Nestled beside a New England farm plot in Hollis, NH, this ancient cemetery is reportedly very haunted. Officially named Pine Hill Cemetery, it is commonly referred to as "Blood Cemetery" by the locals -- denoting the famous headstone marking Abel Blood's grave. Rumors indicate the hand pointing upwards on Blood's grave mysteriously points downward at night and numerous paranormal investigations have recorded strange voices, ghostly orbs have shown up in pictures, etc. Closed dusk to dawn and heavily patrolled by authorities around Halloween. We were not there during the night and I would probably never visit during the night to find out if this haunted tail is true. So we were in Pine Hill Cemetery searching for this box during the day. Unfortunately for us, on this day, we were unable to find the box. I searched and searched for this box but I think it is missing. But, I emailed the planter in hopes that they come back and find the box and I just merely missed it.

So with 2 of the 3 boxes found, it was now time to head to Connecticut. We made it to my brother's place at 11:00am. We sat around for a little bit and then headed out, but not to fit my tux. I guess he would have to make an appointment for that, which he hadn't done. Oh well. I got to see my brother which was better than not. So we went out to check on one of my boxes, Dying in the Shadow of a General, which had been reported as missing and when we got there, it was still tucked away right where is was last left. Plenty of people have found it since I had first planted it. The logbook had had to be replaced at one point due to water damage, but even the new logbook was filling up. After visiting the box, we headed to Mohegan Park. This is where my brother was to get married. It is a nice park that we both grew up down the road from and visited from time to time. He showed me the spot located by the water. It was nice grass and in the pond, there was a water spout shooting up. We had hoped that the park would still have it running on the day the wedding occurred. Levi was eating his lunch while we were there and when he finished, we headed back to his place.

All in all, we spent about 2 hours in Connecticut. Tons less time than I care to really. The gas spent to drive down and back was lots. Gas is more expensive in Connecticut than in New Hampshire. But to try and make the trip less bothersome, we searched for 1 more box. Located in the town I grew up in, Taftville, was a Great Atlas Quest box called Whodunit?. It was located in Raymond "Cit" Ouellet Park. This park was there when I lived here but nonetheless, we went to search for the box. Basically, this park if full of sports fields. It sits next to the Taftville Reservoir which was there when I lived in town. Anyhow, we found the box and the box, stamp and location was beautiful. A nice way to end our trip to Connecticut. It was now time to go home and pick up the children from daycare. A quiet day for Levi and I, ending with the noise of 6 kids all looking for attention. Now the trip to Connecticut and the money spent on gas seemed worth it.