Fun Cemetery Stuff – Installment #2

It’s Just What I Do

One year ago, I offered up my first installment of “Fun Cemetery Stuff.” Well, a year has passed. Naturally, its safe to say that I continued my ghoulish hobby of visiting grave sites to provide you top end reading entertainment. I hope you were able to figure out some of the grave sites in my Pre Post Teaser published last Thursday. But, if you failed to figure out this batch of grave sites, I now give you the answers in Fun Cemetery Stuff – Installment #2.

Of Course, it’s Flipper

As I can only think of one famous dolphin, I hope most folks were able to guess…Flipper. The lovable dolphin that was the star of the Flipper TV series that originally aired 1964 -1967. Basically, Flipper was an aquatic Lassie series set in a fictional game preserve somewhere in the Florida Keys. As the Keys were home for the series, its only appropriate to be the gravesite as well. The grave is located within the Dolphin Research Center in Marathon, Florida. We had to pay the admission price to see the grave, but we did get a dolphin show to improve our value.

Now, we learned a few Flipper facts during our visit. One, Flipper was a female dolphin whose legal name was Misty. Misty was a diva. She enjoyed the attention and the promo shots. But, she was no athlete. Misty did not do any of the tricks…leaving those to one of her two stunt dolphin doubles. Also, the dolphin sounds used in the show were actually a modified call of the kookaburra. Who knew?

Its Daniel Boone…I Think

My Kentucky friends should have recognized the capitol building in the background that establishes the location as Frankfort, KY. Now, if you know its Frankfort, its now possible to guess the most famous person interred in that city…Daniel Boone. High on a hill looking down on Frankfort, Daniel is buried in the beautiful Frankfort Cemetery. By the way, did you know June 7 was National Boone Day in his honor. Anyway, neither the holiday, nor the scenic overlook were the reason for my grave site visit. Rather, Its the controversy that surrounds it…

So, Boone was born in Pennsylvania. He spent most of his early adult life in North Carolina. Sure, when he was about 40-60 years old, Boone spent a lot of his life opening up Kentucky and serving some political functions. But, he eventually left Kentucky in a huff over land disputes and settled in Missouri. Boone died in Missouri in 1820 and was buried with his wife. However, in 1845, the powers-that-be in Kentucky decided that Daniel would be better off in Frankfort. So, they dug him up (his wife, Rebecca, too) and reinterred them both in the grave shown in the left hand photo. Boone’s resentful relatives in Missouri still claim that the Frankfort officials dug up the wrong body. The marker on the right hand photo is placed in Missouri where Boone was originally buried…or STILL IS?

Dorothy Gage

Sure, it does not take a rocket scientist to know that the carving is indeed Dorothy and Toto of “Wizard of Oz” fame. But, the CHALLENGE is “Who is buried here?” The answer is Dorothy…but, its the real Dorothy. As some of you should know, Frank Baum is the author of “Wizard of Oz.” In his real life, Mr. Baum had a niece named Dorothy that died at 5 months old. For the love of his niece, Frank Baum named the lead character in his new book…Dorothy.

The cemetery where Dorothy is buried is the Evergreen Memorial Cemetery in Bloomington, Illinois. Beyond the grave and carving of the Dorothy(s), the folks at Evergreen also created another noteworthy tribute to Dorothy Gage. That would be the Dorothy Gage Memorial Garden…

The garden is about 100 graves of dead babies only. The dates on the grave markers are, at most, a few months apart. In many cases, there is only one date as birth and death occurred on the same day. Remember, I said this was noteworthy…certainly not funny or happy.

Wrap It Up

So, that ends Fun Cemetery Stuff – Installment #2. Perhaps not funny, but I hope you at least found it mildly interesting. I will continue to wander the cemeteries in search of my next installment. Its a morbid job, but someone has to do it. Have a wonderful day. PT

I hope you have enjoyed “Fun Cemetery Stuff – Installment #2” on Traveling with PugsleyTonks.

Here was the first cemetery installment https://travelingwithpt.com/fun-cemetery-stuff-installment-1/

If you ever need to find a grave, here is the best place to start https://www.findagrave.com/