Union Miners Cemetery, Mount Olive IL ~ Grave of Mary Harris "Mother" Jones

The noted social reformer is buried here in the only labor union-established and union-owned cemetery in the United States.

She was baptized in Cork, Ireland, on August 1, 1837. She and her family emigrated to Canada in the 1840s and she moved to the U.S. when she was 23. In 1867, her husband and her four children all perished from yellow fever. The Chicago fire in 1871 destroyed her home and her dressmaking shop. How does one come back from all of this?

Mary Jones became a champion for working people, miners and children alike, as a union and strike organizer. She rests here with "her boys."

"I am not afraid of the pen, or the scaffold, or the sword. I will tell the truth wherever I please."

 

Stonehenge, Tin Man, and Gilbert the T-Rex ~ West Michigan

 You can find all three of these in West Michigan and easily in one trip.

Stonehenge, 11591 Leonard Road, Nunica MI

The owners put this up in their front yard so you can't wander around it but you can view it from the road. It's made of styrofoam and stucco, stands 13 feet tall, and is embedded in the ground. We visited in May 2024.

Here are photos of the real Stonehenge from our 2015 England trip for comparison:

The Tin Man, 206 E Main Street, Hart MI

The town of Hart commissioned the sculpture after seeing this 2021 ArtPrize exhibit by Bill Secunda.

The ArtPrize Tin Man currently resides in Marquette and this new 20 foot Tin Man kneels in downtown Hart (photos from August 2023).

Gilbert the T-Rex, 12100 S. Plowman Road, Empire MI

Curt Warnes commissioned Enoch Flaugher to sculpt the T-Rex and it's named after Curt's father, grandfather, and great grandfather. Curt runs his own functional art business on this property and creates some really cool things (photos from August 2023).

Here's Gilbert.

Here's a map for all three, starting in Grand Rapids and heading North. Cheers to traveling in Michigan!

Key West Cemetery, 701 Passover Lane, Key West, Florida

This is probably the most entertaining cemetery we've ever visited, and I'll start with two of the inscriptions that everyone goes to find.

Sloppy Joe Russell, bar owner, boat pilot, and fishing companion of Ernest Hemingway, rests here.

Sir Peter Anderson, the Secretary General of the Conch Republic, has a large, white sculpture marking his grave. "He had fun."

Dave King was the first city manager.

Bishop Kee holds the title of being the southern most conch shell blower.

The founding father of the Conch Republic.

Some other miscellaneous graves.

The adventure continues...

The USS Maine exploded in the Havana Harbor on February 15, 1898 and around 260 American soldiers were killed. After initially being buried in Havana, most of the remains were later disinterred and moved to Arlington National Cemetery. A few of them are buried here in the USS Maine portion of the cemetery.

Another section of the cemetery memorializes the Cubans who fought for their freedom from 1868-1878. The only known person to be buried here is Cuban Consul Antonio Diaz y Carrasco (1865-1915).

There are over 80,000 bodies buried here so there's a lot of ground to cover. Some of the graves are in rough shape but it's an altogether enjoyable and interesting place to explore.

There are some rules, and wildlife.

Thomas Romer (1783-1891) was a privateersman in the War of 1812. He lived to be 108 years old and was a good citizen for 65 of those years 😊

The lastly, here is the grave of Manuel Angel Aguiar III, who lived a short life but will always remember his so-called friends.