The Winchester Mystery House (July 25, 2024)

Fox and Papa in the garden room of the house constantly under construction from 1886 to 1922. Sarah Winchester, the widow of the Winchester repeating rifle heir, believed the souls of all those killed by the rifle would haunt her unless they were driven away by the constant noise of sawing and hammering.
 

Piper with our tour guide. The original 8-room farmhouse is now 24,000 square feet with 160 rooms, including 13 bathrooms, six kitchens, 47 stairways and fireplaces, and 2,000 doors. 

The bell tower behind Fox was used to call the spirits to a nightly seance held in the seance room. The room has a "secret" entrance/exit through a closet.

The mansion has 10,000 windows. Sarah Winchester's lucky number was 13, like mine, so designs usually incorporated 13 of something. In her living room, the chandelier has 13 globes. The saddest part of the story to me is her years of grief following the death of her infant daughter and her husband in his 40s. Upon her death, her safe was opened. It didn't contain jewels or cash. It only contained the obituaries of her husband and daughter, and a lock of her daughter's hair.

The grand finale was a visit to the Cheesecake Factory, a few blocks from the Mystery House in San Jose. Piper, Mya, Fox, me, River, Tom, and Brandy split orders of chocolate chip, mango keylime pie, chocolate cherry, and coconut creme cheesecake. To me, the whipped cream was the best part.