Our Field Trip to Gillette Castle

Saturday we ventured up the coast and crossed the Connecticut River to visit the Gillette Castle, home of the late William Gillette.  William Gillette was know as a playwright and actor, most notable for his portrayal as Sherlock Holmes.  Although Arthur Conan Doyle created the Sherlock Holmes character, it was Gillette who developed some of the defining characteristics of the Sherlock Holmes we know today.  The curved pipe, cap, and magnifying glass were all coined by Gillette, along with the well known idiom "Elementary my dear Watson".

The castle sits atop a beautiful hillside overlooking the Connecticut River.  The intricacies of the architecture were designed by Gillette himself.  The castle construction began in 1914 and was completed 5 years later in 1919.  There are 24 rooms and 47 doors, all with hand-carved puzzle locks, which were also designed by Gillette.  No two doors are alike in their design...they were one of my favorite parts!

Well enough history, here are some photos of our trip to the Castle.

The view overlooking the river from the balcony

The door on the left is the main entry. See what I mean, the doors are amazing.  And check out the light switch below the lamp...so cool!  It was intended to resemble a train conductor's switch board and/or something that you would find in a theatre.

A door to his secret passage so he could sneak up on people while they were visiting him, we were told.

Me, baby, and Mr. Gillette

The main floor of the Castle

The architecture was so grandiose, but beautiful

Another light switch.  They were so cool looking.  Of course we weren't supposed to touch anything but try as I might, I couldn't resist.

Michael happened to catch my excitement as I caught a glimpse of stained glass art featuring a lighthouse in the corner.

A beautiful Study

Another view from the Castle's balcony

The baby's first trip to a castle

The beautiful Castle.  (taken by Michael-well done!)

The train station outside of the castle

I wanted to pose with each of us climbing one side of the bottom of the arch.  Michael thought the rule still applied that we shouldn't touch anything, much less climb it.

The baby's first hand stand.  However, it's possible the baby is doing hand stands in my stomach all day long.  It sure feels like the little tike is being acrobatic in there.

I'm grateful Michael took the time out of his busy schedule to visit the Castle with me.  It closes on Columbus Day for the winter, so I'm glad we got it in.

So there it is, our most recent adventure.  As you can see I am getting bigger by the week.  Although I expected this, it still feels weird to be getting so round!  Today I hit my 29th week.  It blows my mind that I will soon be in the 30's (as far as "weeks" go) with the 40's approaching before I know it.  My prediction is that I will be about 7-10 days late, we'll see.  Anyone else care to venture a guess??

My next doctor's appointment is later this week.  I had my glucose test done on Friday, but have not heard back on the results yet.  Hopefully all is well.

As for Michael, he has his first set of finals this week.  The first block is already over!  He is eagerly looking forward to the end of the week!  Keep him in your prayers.

Love you all and hope all is well!
Jodi, Michael, and Baby Escalante