Upon moving to Traverse City, Michigan, I was eager to check out the old state mental asylum. I found a book about it right away at the our local bookstore. The book is one of those black and white photo generic history books that you can find all over the country. Eddie and love these books and pick them up whenever we are traveling or trying to learn about a new place. I was able to lay in our comfy bed or couch and watch the snow fall outside and read about the history of the state hospital before going to see it myself. It's one of the only Kirkbride (and yes I knew what a Kirkbride building was before I moved here because these hospital buildings were inspiring and way before their time, as far letting in sunshine and wanting over all quality of life to be higher for those committed) buildings I know of that hasn't been torn down and even better was made to put in modern day use. Click those links I gave to learn more. Interesting stuff.
There are still abandoned buildings on the hospital property, and plenty of forest patches and lots of trees. It makes a perfect mix between haunted and historical. While researching before my first visit, I began to see the irony of my situation. Here I was, a mental illness sufferer and I am excited to visit an old "Insane Asylum". I couldn't help but think of the spookiness and ghosts that might remain there for the living to interact with. But the more I researched, the more I found that the overall feedback from the community is that this was a decent place and it tried hard to take care of it's patients in a humane and better way. When my Aunt and Uncle visited us, I was told a charming story about a a friend of theirs whose parents had met at the old state hospital, as patients!
We first went to the newly renovated Traverse City Village Commons on a freezing cold and blustery, blizzardy Saturday for the indoor farmers market. and that was such a cool experience. We could've spent hours talking to the vendors and buying local grown and made amazing goodness. but we a had a little ghost hunt of our own to embark on. We, or mostly I, wanted to check out the infamous hippy tree. It has the legend to be a portal to hell. How bad could it be? (PS that atlas obscura link is awesome, and love atlas obscura site as a whole. I've spent many hours down the rabbit hold discovering crazy and creepy destinations all over the world)
We walked through the forest and melted snow (with tons of dog turds coming up out of the slush) as we were slipping and sliding on the snowy trails, we were passing families going for a hike as well as a homeless man bringing breakfast in a to-go container to his wife in the woods. We arrived to hippie tree after about 20 minutes of hiking and following our google GPS. There were kids climbing all over the painted branches and moms on the side watching. I couldn't believe the supposed portal to hell was more like a playground. (to view videos of that day, go to my instagram and check out the Travel stories) I'm telling you, during the day at least, the grounds of the old state hospital are down right cheerful.
Interest in the ghostly and macabre runs in our family. On both my side and Eddie's side. Some of you may know that Eddie's sister, who is a ghost hunting queen, has a weekly podcast out called ghost magnet. Please give this show a listen because it's awesome! It's a rare glimpse behind the scenes of the haunted Hollywood and beyond. Here's the facebook link as well One episode in particular is my favorite because...obviously it's my husband! They did an entire episode dedicated to Eddie's experiences in the Army helping in New Orleans after hurricane katrina and other tales from the life a of a funeral director and trade embalmer. (I linked the spotify link for his episode here is the apple link as well)
Plans are in the works for Eddie's parents and sister to visit this September to do some more ghost hunting in Detroit and Mackinac Island. We'll still have our apartment at that time so his visiting family will have a free 2 bedroom 2 bathroom "hotel". With an amazing pool. God I love that pool.
That's it for now! Talk soon.
PS is it Halloween season yet?
There are still abandoned buildings on the hospital property, and plenty of forest patches and lots of trees. It makes a perfect mix between haunted and historical. While researching before my first visit, I began to see the irony of my situation. Here I was, a mental illness sufferer and I am excited to visit an old "Insane Asylum". I couldn't help but think of the spookiness and ghosts that might remain there for the living to interact with. But the more I researched, the more I found that the overall feedback from the community is that this was a decent place and it tried hard to take care of it's patients in a humane and better way. When my Aunt and Uncle visited us, I was told a charming story about a a friend of theirs whose parents had met at the old state hospital, as patients!
We first went to the newly renovated Traverse City Village Commons on a freezing cold and blustery, blizzardy Saturday for the indoor farmers market. and that was such a cool experience. We could've spent hours talking to the vendors and buying local grown and made amazing goodness. but we a had a little ghost hunt of our own to embark on. We, or mostly I, wanted to check out the infamous hippy tree. It has the legend to be a portal to hell. How bad could it be? (PS that atlas obscura link is awesome, and love atlas obscura site as a whole. I've spent many hours down the rabbit hold discovering crazy and creepy destinations all over the world)
We walked through the forest and melted snow (with tons of dog turds coming up out of the slush) as we were slipping and sliding on the snowy trails, we were passing families going for a hike as well as a homeless man bringing breakfast in a to-go container to his wife in the woods. We arrived to hippie tree after about 20 minutes of hiking and following our google GPS. There were kids climbing all over the painted branches and moms on the side watching. I couldn't believe the supposed portal to hell was more like a playground. (to view videos of that day, go to my instagram and check out the Travel stories) I'm telling you, during the day at least, the grounds of the old state hospital are down right cheerful.
Interest in the ghostly and macabre runs in our family. On both my side and Eddie's side. Some of you may know that Eddie's sister, who is a ghost hunting queen, has a weekly podcast out called ghost magnet. Please give this show a listen because it's awesome! It's a rare glimpse behind the scenes of the haunted Hollywood and beyond. Here's the facebook link as well One episode in particular is my favorite because...obviously it's my husband! They did an entire episode dedicated to Eddie's experiences in the Army helping in New Orleans after hurricane katrina and other tales from the life a of a funeral director and trade embalmer. (I linked the spotify link for his episode here is the apple link as well)
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| Bridget & Eddie- Halloween enthusiasts and ghost magnets |
Plans are in the works for Eddie's parents and sister to visit this September to do some more ghost hunting in Detroit and Mackinac Island. We'll still have our apartment at that time so his visiting family will have a free 2 bedroom 2 bathroom "hotel". With an amazing pool. God I love that pool.
That's it for now! Talk soon.
PS is it Halloween season yet?
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