Return to the Mystery House

My hotel stay in Modesto wasn't exactly a pleasant one. First of all, my non-smoking room smelled like stale cigarette smoke. Second, the place seemed to be full of construction workers...LOUD construction workers. Third, the walls were thin and the floors above me creaky...it took awhile for me to fall asleep. Fourth, when I exited my room in the morning to get some ice, I couldn't get back in! I could also mention the slow internet and half pillows, but I think you get the point. Needless to say, I will NOT be staying at this hotel if I happen to spend the night in Modesto again in the future!

The big plan for the morning was to visit the Museum of Modern Art in San Francisco to see their limited run Rene Magritte exhibit. I had to add extra time to my drive because I KNEW I would get caught in rush hour traffic. Boy, was I right! And, it added some stress to my morning...stress I really shouldn't be experiencing on my vacation. The problem was, I had a timed ticket for the exhibit, and there was no guarantee they would let me in if I was late. Each time the traffic slowed to a crawl...or stopped...I got more and more nervous. Would I make it? When I finally got my car parked, I had ten minutes to walk the short distance to the museum. I made it by five minutes! But...aaagh...I forgot my camera in the car! I ended up taking some pics with my flip phone...no I don't have a smart phone...which was better than nothing, I guess.  But, I couldn't figure out how to download them to my laptop, so I don't have any photos from the exhibit. Take my word for it...I was really nice!

Afterward, I drove down to San Jose to see the Winchester Mystery House. I got caught in some more traffic on the way there, which stressed me out a tad because I needed time for lunch before my afternoon tours.  Thankfully, I did enjoy a quick Thai lunch. Now, it's been ten years since I last visited Winchester House, and I was interested to see what was new and what I had seen before. I didn't post any photos from the last time, so here we go! Oh, as I was waiting for the Mansion Tour to begin, I spotted a gray squirrel searching for food and it found a nut! Cute!

Sarah was the widowed wife of William Winchester, made famous by his historic firearms. It is said that she was haunted by those who lost their lives with those guns. Sarah proceeded to build many additions to her house so the spirits would have a hard time finding her within its walls...160 rooms in all! That led to some strange constructions...a stairway ending at a ceiling, a door leading outside from an upper floor, windows on the floor.

Because Sarah was a short lady...four feet, ten inches tall...she had some accommodations built into the house to make her life easier. There were short stairs called calief risers because she was unable to lift her feet very high, and a galvanized shower with custom built sprayers installed low just for her.

There were many beautiful stained glass windows throughout the house. This particular one was designed by Sarah herself. I have no idea what is going on in the other photo.

New to the Winchester Mystery House is the Explore More Tour. Visitors are taken to places in the house open to the public for the first time, like down in the basement. The furnace is located there, and we were told about ghostly sightings in one particular hallway. Unfortunately, we didn't see any ghosts while we were down there.

Even though it was well worth going on the second tour, I paid dearly for it when I got caught in the afternoon rush hour traffic. More stress! At least I didn't have to be at my hotel by a certain time. Tomorrow, I have a long drive to San Juan Capistrano for the final Five for Fighting string quartet show of my road trip. I had a blast at the first two concerts, and I have no doubt this one will be magical, too. Guaranteed!