Cemetery Tourism

CNN had a great article last week about cemetery tourism, when people travel to cemteries to view specific gaves. Sometimes it’s a famous person’s grave but it can also just be one with interesting monuments.

I’ve never traveled to one, but I love walking around cemeteries and reading the gravestones, especially in really old cemeteries.

Hi Holly,

Isn’t it kind of humbling.  It makes me really appreciate my life and the lives of all the people that have been here before me.  I think it would be kind of interesting to see the gravestones of celebraties and people that inspired me in one way or another.

Christine

I have a friend who loves to do this. She loves visiting old cemeteries and taking pictures of very old headstones and monuments. When she visited me in California many years ago, we visited a cemetery where a lot of deceased celebrities were buried… Very humbling….

My husband and I have always enjoyed doing this, though it’s hard to put in words what it is that’s so appealing about it. The tranquilty, for one thing, but I also love to read the headstones and see what people put on them.

I was driving by an old cemetery the other day with my 5-year-old and he wanted to stop to look around. He does understand what it is but wasn’t emotional or bothered by it. He was mad whenever we passed a grave that didn’t have any kind of flowers or decoration on it. He wants to go back soon with a bunch of flowers and place them on the graves.

Holly,

What a sweet son you have.  What a wonderful gift of compassion.  It can be a great place to really get an understanding of life and death.  I have taken my kids to the cemetery to visit their aunt.  We like to read the inscriptions and also look at the flowers.

Hi Holly, I echo Christine’s sentiments- that’s really sweet of your son! That’s very compassionate.

I never gone on one of those celebrity tours or anything, but I can see the appeal- especially if you have a connection to the celebrity. I probably won’t ever do one of those tours, but cemeteries are fascinating places. Maybe it’s like you said- that it’s so peaceful- when you pass one, you almost have to look. It tugs at you. Maybe it’s because we just don’t know what’s on the other side?

We were recently in Boston, Mass. and one of the places most people crowded at was the old cemetery that buried many of our four fathers, Paul Revere, Thomas Jefferson, etc… It amazed me to see how many were interested to see the gravestone of these famous people in history. They actually have a Cemetery Tour that takes you to see burial grounds of famous figures in U.S History.

Of course, Boston being one of our founding states, is not too surprising they would have a tour for this since many famous figures were buried in that city. But if many flock to see Elvis’ gravesite, then I shouldn’t really be surprised to that this exist!