...Continued from yesterday: ...who organized the University of Dayton Appalachia Club reunion ...also arranged for us on Monday night a ghost tour of Asheville. Now, I was thinking, as I'd imagine the others in our group were, that we'd be riding around in a bus while being told ghost stories connected to specific sites around the town. Which is basically what the tour turned out to be.,,but with a twist. Kind of a twisted twist. ...and the interior, which was unexpectedly colorful, ...as was the wiry, nimble-limbed, youngster who was our emcee, The Doctor then gave us a hilarious R-rated tour of Asheville's historically creepy, purportedly ghost-inhabited sites, stopping now and then at the sighting of a resident ghost who would then climb on board the bus to crack some funny, baudy jokes, ...and an angry Raggedy Andy, who we picked up as he was stomping down the street near the site of a defunct doll asylum (where years ago people would bring old dolls they no longer wanted - go figure). Comedy aside, it was an interesting, enjoyable tour, though surely not for the easily offended. Tom and I agreed that our favorite leg of the tour was through the historical Montford area, a neighborhood of palatial old homes with spacious porches that used to be tuberculosis sanatoriums, the belief being that it was beneficial for patients to sit outside on these porches, called "breathing porches", to take in the fresh air. Of course tuberculosis being a bacterium, the fresh air was no cure and most of the TB patients died, thus this neighborhood, according to legend, being the site of many ghosts. Also in this neighborhood was located the asylum in which Zelda Fitzgerald died, We also passed the haunted-castle-looking residence of the asylum director. So much did Tom and I like this part of the tour that the following day, though we'd considered visiting the Biltmore Estate outside Asheville, said to be a must-see area attraction, our enthusiasm waned big-time when we learned that the admission price to the estate was $60 per person and we decided instead to return to Montford for another look - for free - in the day light at the gorgeous homes that used to be the TB sanitoriums. We did enjoy seeing these buildings in the light of day. Still, we had to admit it just wasn't the same without the creepy commentary and the dirty jokes. ;)
To be continued...
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December 2023
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