Watertown's "Vortex"- Monday, October 9, 2023

      We had saved one more site from the Haunted History Trail for today.  It was one that Julie had spotted the blurb for in last year's brochure, and she had wanted to check it out ever since.  It's called the "Thompson Park Vortex," in Watertown.  The vortex is a rip in the "very fabric of space and time."  People who have wandered into it have disappeared, only to reappear at another part of the park.   The actual details of who this has happened to are not very apparent, and as you might guess, there is no guarantee that you will actually find the vortex working.  More over, it is said to move around the park, so there is no way to predict where it is or will be.  

     The park itself was designed by Frederick Law Olmsted, so it is a pretty place to see.  It sits on a hill above Watertown, and the views are nice.  There are lots of picturesque stone walls, trees, and stairs.  It was very chilly, though-- in the 40s-- and we did almost all of our exploring by driving through the park.  There was an interesting playground that we let Abby play on a bit, but it was wet from the rains that had continued through night, and we had to wipe down the equipment before she could go on it.  But it was so chilly there that she didn't play very much.

     Through Google, we found pictures of a sign marking the supposed vortex and we drove around a little bit to see if we could stumble across it.  Julie did spot it, on a path a little ways from the road.  She, Abby and Scott walked over to it for some pictures, and we saw that there was a path being marked there.  Scott said goodbye to Julie (just in case) and walked a little ways down the path, but didn't see anything unusual and didn't want to leave them waiting in the cold.  When he got back, he asked how long he had been gone for.  Without hesitating, Julie said, "Two years.  We've come back here every year on the anniversary of your disappearance to remember you."  We all laughed, but were getting chilled, so we hurried back to the car where Emma was.  We wanted to get home today, after all, and still had work to do to get ready for school tomorrow.