Escaping the heat of Washington, DC, Mary Todd Lincoln and her children
spent two summers at The Equinox in Manchester Village, VT. The family planned
to return the summer of 1865, but plans changed following the assassination
of Abraham Lincoln. The family's ties to the area continued and strengthened
with son Robert Todd Lincoln's purchase of neighboring estate Hildene.
Employees at the hotel report seeing images on the third floor of a woman
and a child that are consistent with descriptions of Mary Todd Lincoln and one
of her sons. Perhaps through their visits they are trying to recapture the
are free days of those summers.
The Renaissance Mayflower Hotel in Washington, DC hosted its first
Inaugural Ball, honoring Calvin Coolidge, on March 4, 1925, just two weeks after the
hotel opened. Mourning his sixteen-year-old son's tragic death from blood
poisoning, the president did not attend the ball. In 1937, Inauguration Day was
changed to January 20. The hotel has since experienced unusual occurrences on
January 20. In the Grand Ballroom, the lights seem to dim and flicker around 10:00 p.m.
It was at this hour tha the fanfare announced the guests of honor at President Coolidge's
Inaugural Ball. The electrical circuits have been checked by experts who can find nothing
wrong. Hotel staff have reported finding a plate of exquisite hors d'oeuvres along with
a glass of fine wine left in the Grand Ballroom balcony.
Strangely, neither item was served at any function on that day. One elevator
refuses to move from the eighth floor to the lobby level until 10:15 p.m.
This is the approximate time the President would have arrived from his
holding room to the ball. Knowing that he missed his Inaugural Ball at the
Renaissance Mayflower, perhaps "Silent Cal" Coolidge is making up for that
historical evening and attending, in spirit, each January 20.
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