Fun Cemetery Stuff – Installment #1

Random Quick Hitters

As I have demonstrated in the past, I think cemeteries are an underrated tourist attraction. Typically, when I am roaming a cemetery, I first try to locate any famous people. Next, I like to note any grand grave markers or significant memorials. Rather than do a post on every cemetery visit, I thought I would just offer up some of my favorites finds. Here are a series of random quick hitters that I will call Fun Cemetery Stuff – Installment #1

Polar Bears

At the White Chapel Cemetery, in Troy, Michigan, I found the Polar Bear Memorial. Thankfully, it was not more climate change propaganda about the myth of the declining polar bear populations. Rather, the Polar Bear Memorial is a tribute to the only US troops ever to engage Russia on foot. At the very end of World War I, about 5,000 Polar Bear troops battled the Bulsheviks in the harsh winter climate of Russia. For reasons unclear to me, about 75% of this troop was from the Detroit-Troy area.

The war ended within a year of the Polar Bear arrival in Russia. Sadly, the Polar Bears were forced to leave behind about 100 of their own that were killed in battle. About ten years later, some of the surviving Polar Bears returned to the same area in Russia to recover their lost brothers. They successfully brought home most of their bodies. 56 of these fallen soldiers are buried at this Polar Bear Memorial.

Boot Hill

I have recently visited Tombstone, Arizona, and I really enjoyed it. I will spare you a Tombstone post because I consider it too touristy for my mission statement. However, if I am going to do a post on fun cemetery stuff, I would be remiss if I did not include a picture from the Boot Hill Cemetery.

As a big Tombstone historic appreciator, I had to include my stop at the graves of Billy Clanton, Frank McLaury, and Tom McLaury. Of course, these gentlemen were left dead after a gun fight with Wyatt, Virgil, and Morgan Earp, as well as Doc Holiday at the OK Corral in 1881.

Camp Chase

Camp Chase started as a Union soldier training facility In Columbus, Ohio, at the beginning of the Civil War. As the war progressed, Camp Chase became more of a prison camp for captured southern soldiers. In fact, Randolph McCoy (of Hatfield-McCoy fame) supposedly spent some time here as a prisoner. Eventually, the war ended and the camp closed. The city of Columbus quickly developed over most of the land that was Camp Chase. However, they (whoever “they” are) managed to preserve the prisoner cemetery behind an enclosure of 8 feet high stone walls in the middle of downtown Columbus. The small cemetery seems quite out of place in its urban location. But, if you step inside the walls of the cemetery, you are immediately struck by the tightly packed grave markers of the 2,260 Confederate soldiers buried at Camp Chase in Columbus, Ohio.

The Flavor Graveyard

During my last trip to Vermont to find the fugitive von Trapp family, I decided to stop for an ice cream cone. When in Stowe, VT, where else would I stop other than the factory headquarters of Ben & Jerry’s Ice Cream. I failed to make a reservation in advance for the factory tour. So, other than buying an ice cream cone, my only other stop was to the Ben & Jerry’s Flavor Graveyard.

As you probably know, the graveyard contains headstones of B&J flavors that have been retired. From what I could tell, the reason for their retirement was usually lack of sales caused by unappetizing or questionable flavor names. There was no better example than the now deceased flavor of “Schweddy Balls.” I just can not see myself stepping up to the counter and asking for a scoop of Schweddy Balls. Some other unappetizing gravestones were Makin’ Whoopie Pie, Fossil Fuel, Wavy Gravy, and Bovinity Divinity.

Wrap It Up

Enough said. I hope “Fun Cemetery Stuff – Installment #1” provided you with some interesting and somewhat morbid cemetery entertainment. Hopefully, I will reload with more future cemetery visits to write a second installment. In the meantime, have a wonderful day. PT

I hope you have enjoyed reading “Fun Cemetery Stuff – Installment #1” on Traveling with PugsleyTonks.

Here was another cemetery post from the past https://travelingwithpt.com/war-dog-memorial/

If you want to learn more on Camp Chase, here you go https://www.cem.va.gov/cems/lots/campchase.asp#gi