The Ghosts of Christmas Past
We went to Illinois for Christmas. It was a very nice trip, except for the fact that my sweety got sick. He caught an upper respiratory infection.
It happens. When you are underslept, over worked, and very stressed, the bugs will find you. Could be worse. Thank God it’s not.
I got to see a lot of interesting stuff in Illinois. My sweety took me to the Alton mall. It is bigger then the one around here. Two floors woohoo. 
Where the Mississippi river and the Missouri river converge is a small town called Alton. Alton is said to be one of the most haunted small towns in America. It has a pretty macabre history. For instance, there is this place called Hop Hollow Road.
The story goes that back in the mid 1800’s the military took over the Alton Penitentiary.
When prisoners died and needed to be buried, soldiers would be assigned to burial duties.
This was usually dished out as a punishment. The soldiers that received these punishments were the worst. Let’s just say they weren’t the brightest of the bunch, either.
Legend has it that the men would load the bodies onto wagons from the ferry and would never actually make the entire trip up Hop Hollow Road to the cemetery. Instead of doing what they were told they would stop somewhere down the road and take the corpses and dump them in the woods. Then they would sit, drink, and play cards until it was time to head back to the prison.
Legend says that the ghosts of these poor Confederate soldiers refuse to rest in peace. They haunt Hop Hollow Road. Over the years the ghosts have been seen along the roadway and even sometimes spotted hitchhiking hoping to get a ride to where their bodies were supposed to have been laid to rest, instead of being dumped along some old road.
So if you happen to be traveling down in this area, and see a hitchhiker near old Hop Hollow Road, you might find yourself staring at the ghost of an old Confederate soldier looking for a ride to the cemetery.
Can’t say that I blame those old soldiers. If my body were to have been dumped alongside an old road, instead of being buried in the cemetery, I might go out haunting too.
A Brand New Year
It’s a brand new year with not much to fear.
What will be in store for me this year? 
Will I have adventures? Will I sail the seas?
Or will I just be eating black eyed peas… 
Or maybe I will just end this post.
And leave you with these old soldiers ghosts.. 
And leave you with these thoughts to ponder..
Why these old soldiers were left to wander.
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