The Equinox, Manchester Vt.
Escaping the heat of Washington, DC, Mary
Todd Lincoln
and her children
spent two summers at The Equinox in Manchester Village, VT.
The
family planned
to return the summer of 1865, but plans changed following the
assassination
of Abraham Lincoln. The family's ties to the area continued
and
strengthened
with son Robert Todd Lincoln's purchase of neighboring
estate
Hildene.
Employees at the hotel report seeing images on the third
floor
of a woman
and a child that are consistent with descriptions of Mary Todd
Lincoln
and one
of her sons. Perhaps through their visits they are trying to
recapture
the
are free days of those summers.
The Renaissance Mayflower Hotel in
Washington,
DC hosted its first
Inaugural Ball, honoring Calvin Coolidge, on March 4, 1925,
just
two weeks after the
hotel opened. Mourning his sixteen-year-old son's tragic death
from
blood
poisoning, the president did not attend the ball. In 1937,
Inauguration
Day was
changed to January 20. The hotel has since experienced unusual
occurrences
on
January 20. In the Grand Ballroom, the lights seem to dim and
flicker
around 10:00 p.m.
It was at this hour tha the fanfare announced the guests
of
honor at President Coolidge's
Inaugural Ball. The electrical circuits have been
checked
by experts who can find nothing
wrong. Hotel staff have reported finding a plate of exquisite
hors
d'oeuvres along with
a glass of fine wine left in the Grand Ballroom balcony.
Strangely, neither item was served at any function on that
day.
One elevator
refuses to move from the eighth floor to the lobby level until
10:15
p.m.
This is the approximate time the President would have arrived
from
his
holding room to the ball. Knowing that he missed his
Inaugural
Ball at the
Renaissance Mayflower, perhaps "Silent Cal" Coolidge is
making
up for that
historical evening and attending, in spirit, each
January
20.
Sources: Vapor Trail, Funk and Wagnalls On Line,
UCLA's Archives
by bernard@theshadowlands.net
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