Travel Library Topics Cemetery, Graveyard Travel

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Cemetery Travel

Are you a tombstone tourist? Do you like to explore graveyards and cemeteries? They are wonderful places to visit, especially those that are hundreds of years old. Whether you visit one locally or on a visit to another country, they almost always have interesting architectures and epitaphs in a picturesque setting. If an inscription (epitaph) about the person buried there goes beyond a name and dates, it is almost always insightful, if not inspirational. It is as if God whispered in the ear of the writer "let your soul speak to the world." Although on some days, God obviously whispered, "Hey. make them smile or laugh. They are still serving out their time here."

Cemetery Reflections The "last resting place" goes by several names: graveyard, burial ground, and cemetery. See the box at the bottom of this page for some reflections on visiting a cemetery.

Are They Still With Us or in a Happier or Darker Place?

Don't know if a famous person is still with us? Unfortunately, once they leave the limelight and you miss the evening news or an issue of your favorite magazine, or have been in the Borneo jungle for a month, you may have missed their passing or be pleasantly surprised to find out they are still alive. Two good websites to discover the truth are DeadorAlive which lists everyone famous regardless of whether they are someone you think is helping, or helped, make this a better world and the Dead Person Server where they have some criteria about who is listed as still alive or dead. We recommend both sites.

Death and Dying

Yes, they have passed from us. Here are some sites that try to explain it!

Wikipedia: Death Heaven Hell Afterlife Cemetery Grave Tombs Epitaph Reincarnation

About.com - Death and Dying
Crossing The Creek practical guide to understanding the dying process
After-Death Communications
The After-Life Google
The Hereafter Google
Heaven and Hell Google

General

Find A Grave. The best website for finding a grave worldwide. Whether a famous person, an ancestor, or anyone else.

The Association for Gravestone Studies. This is an American organization for American cemeteries. Their mission "is to foster appreciation of the cultural significance of gravestones and burial grounds through their study and preservation." See if your country has a similar association. Here is their External Resources with links to other websites covering American cemeteries.

World Cemeteries. This is the Google search results with many excellent sites. We have picked four of the best:

Internment.net ● World Cemeteries ● World Wide Cemeteries ● Dead Space - Cemeteries of the World

Worldwide Cemetery. A place where you can create a memorial to a loved one in words, pictures and other media.

The Famous

Find A Grave. The best website for finding a grave worldwide. Whether a famous person, an ancestor, or anyone else.

Graves of Famous People. Google Search results for "Graves of Famous People" with an excellent list of websites.

Political Graveyard. If they were a politician, chances are you will find their "last hurrah" at this excellent site.

City Morgue Gift Shop. This is a great site that covers celebrities and their gravesites. This includes recent obituaries and their Celebrity Cemetery. The Celebrity Cemetery includes a photograph of the gravesite for most celebrities, as well as, where they are buried and other interesting facts.

Military Cemeteries



	**When You Go Home, Tell Them Of Us And Say, For Their Tomorrow, We Gave Our Today.** -On the World War II memorial to Allied soldiers who died at the battle of Kohima (these words on the memorial are misquoted but this is the more understandable version.)

Military Cemeteries. This is the Google search results for "Military Cemeteries". A good list of links. To find a specific cemetery, enter their name and the words "military cemetery" France Military Cemeteries, or name of the war World War 1 Cemeteries or the cemetery name Arlington National Cemetery.

Arlington National Cemetery The United States National Cemetery outside Washington, D.C.

Some Wonderful Epitaphs

"The tales told by tombstones are not spoken for the ears but are whispered softly to the soul." - John Bolgiano.

Gravestone Quotes	Famous Epitaphs
Death and Dying	Death World

Frank Sinatra

The best is yet to come.

Joan Hackett

Go away - I'm sleeping.

Popular in some New England cemeteries

Stop and note as you pass by
As you are now, so once was I.
As I am now, so you will be.
Prepare for death and follow me.

Benjamin Franklin

In his will, Ben asked that his tombstone simply read:
"Benjamin and Deborah Franklin: 1790" And that is what is on his tombstone. But when he was 22, long before his death, he wrote "Epitaph on Himself" which friends have placed on a bronze plaque at his gravesite. This is the one that is known to the world.

The body of Benjamin Franklin, Printer, like the cover of an old book, its contents torn out and stripped of its lettering and gilding, lies here, food for worms; but the work shall not be lost, for it will, as he believed, appear once more in a new and more elegant edition, revised and corrected by the Author.

Cemetery Reflections

Cemetery Reflections
Loved Ones	Here is the place where you can visit your loved ones. On their Birthday or Transition Day or whenever you feel like remembering their presence and the time they spent with you. Thank them and tell them you look forward to meeting them again in the hereafter. Have you lived up to their expectations lately?
The Heroes	Here are the graves of the heroes who have passed through this life. Stop by to thank them for passing this way and making it a better world by their efforts.
The Villains	Here are the graves of the villains who have wrecked havoc during their stay on Earth. Go ahead and curse them if it makes you feel better. This is truly one of the great mysteries of life. Why God brings evil-doers into the world! Perhaps it is because we have recently begun our evolution as humans and we have yet to learn how to prevent evil or limit it's affect on humankind and the planet.
The Fallen	Here are the graves of the soldiers who died in battles to save our country and the world. If our country and the world self-destructs, they will have died in vain. Don't let that happen. Walk among the graves and silently tell them you will fight for truth, justice, and equality no matter how unpopular it may be at the moment. Be a living hero in honor of the fallen ones!
The Others	The nameless multitude who have passed through this world on their way to another place. The good, the bad, the wise, the fool and the indifferent. Each with a story to tell. A little over 100 billion humans are estimated to have made life's journey on our planet.

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