Happy October 1st, everyone! It is officially spooky season (my favorite time of year!) – and while I have so many things planned for the weeks ahead, including sharing some local and not-so-local haunts, Halloween-inspired recipes, weekends with friends, etc., and so on – I also may have gotten a bit of a head start on things this past weekend when I stopped by Fall River, Massachusetts to visit one of the most notorious crime scenes in America…
… Which is now a fully functioning bed and breakfast!
Most of us are familiar with the Lizzie Borden poem, where she “took an axe and gave her mother forty whacks” and so on, but the true tale of the grizzly crime as it unfolded back in 1892 leaves a lot open for speculation and questions – questions that are answered so masterfully by the good folks over at the Lizzie Borden Bed & Breakfast on Second Street in Fall River!
The Borden’s former residence, preserved as it would have looked on the day of the murders (although decorated really pretty for the Fall when I stopped by last Sunday morning!) now serves as an inn and museum with walking tours. I haven’t visited the museum in ages, although I have plenty of friends who have stayed the night there over the years. They’ve never reported anything paranormal, just a sort of overall creepy vibe, but that’s not to say it doesn’t happen!
Visitors are taken through the home room by room – before staying guests check-in, of course – where they learn more about the Bordens themselves, their history and the lead-up to – and aftermath of – the double murder of Andrew J. Borden and his second wife, Abby Gray, within the home.
Photos of key players, the crime scene, and original newspaper clippings and written correspondence are all on display throughout the rooms, which were fascinating to see up close, albeit behind glass! My guide was so sweet, so funny, and had such interesting facts I hadn’t known before that by the conclusion of the tour, I was left saying “I think the visiting uncle committed those murders, after all.”
I stand by that theory, by the way!
After the tour, I headed over to the nearby beautiful and sprawling Oak Grove Cemetery to pay my respects to the Bordens – all of them – at their family plot where they are all buried side-by-side – with Lizzie buried next to her parents despite all the scandal, before stopping by to see Lizzie’s final home, Maplecroft Manor, where she spent her final years of life as a pariah from Fall River society despite her acquittal – but a generous and charitable woman to the less fortunate in her community (and especially animals! I have to say – I like her!) – nonetheless.
It was such an interesting day, and while I don’t travel to Fall River all that often – I can see myself returning sooner than later to check out some other historic areas and beautiful locations I passed by throughout my stops around town. There’s a lot to see and do, and I highly recommend checking it out for yourself!
I’ll be closing out this week with a look into my seasonal makeup collection before we get right back into plenty of Autumnal bliss and some more New England spookiness next week!
xo
Coffee & Chiffon 