Despite being born and raised in San Jose I had never been inside the Winchester Mystery House until yesterday. My parents took a tour before I was born and never felt compelled to repeat the experience with my brother or me. Now over the years I have been asked probably close to seventy two times, "Oh, you're from San Jose? So have you ever been to the Winchester Mystery House?" I was always forced to admit that although I lived a mere ten minutes from this major California tour attraction my entire childhood I had never actually done the tour myself.
Cooper has been itching to check this place out for months and Nana got a hold of some free kid passes so off we went. Nana treated (I think she felt guilty for never taking me as a child). It was actually a lot of fun. Sarah Winchester was the wife of the second president of the very successful Winchester Firearms rifle. She got the whole kit and kaboodle when he passed away and then she promptly went nuts. A pyschic told her she was cursed by the spirits of people who had died because of Winchester Rifles and she must keep building a home-never to finish in order to break the curse. The house is full of crazy staircases that go no where, cabinets that open to walls, and all sorts of nutty stuff. She was also very obsessed with the number 13 and spider webs. The house is pretty interesting and spooky which certainly intrigued the boys. I have to sympathize with my folks though. After going through the tour once I have absolutely NO desire to go through it again. However, I am sure I will when Lizzie is old enough to appreciate the mystery. I certainly won't snow her into believing that it is a rip off (although she's not going unless I get my hands on a "kids free" pass because that certainly would be a rip off).
Just as a side note, this is not the first time my brother and I were told by my parents that a major tourist attraction wasn't worth seeing. Neither my brother or I have ever gone to Magic Mountain in southern California despite the fact that we have driven past a gazillion times. That's because it wasn't until the early 90's that Ed and I were tipped off to the fact that it was more than just an elaborate ice cream stop. Yep, it's true. Every time we passed Magic Mountain as we traveled down I-5 as kids and expressed keen interest in the rides and attractions my dad would flippantly reply that it was merely a overly decorated ice cream parlor and we could get ice cream any old place. It really makes me wonder how many other falsehoods I have been told. :) I guess my next tourist stop will have to be Magic Mountain.
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2 comments:
Ha! I knew it! I knew I couldn't possibly be the only SJ resident who was born in SJ and lives here and has never been to the WMH. I can't get over the price of admission. I think you can almost go to Disneyland for the same price! So, unless there are singing and dancing mice and fireworks involved, we'll stick to Gilroy Gardens.
By the way, a bunch of us are going tomorrow. Wanna come?
Donna
Hmmm... the plot thickens. The real mystery is how your brother, who has told me REPEATEDLY that the "Mystery House is sooo lame, you would not even like it, trust me" would be in a position to make such a statement since he has NEVER BEEN THERE! While a monument to mental illness sounds depressing and confusing at best, I cannot wait to hear about it. And, he may have a redemptive trip to the quilt museum in the not-so-distant future! :)
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