It’s going to be warm again this weekend! Okay, so it might rain on Saturday. And be in the forties on Sunday. And snow on Monday. Or at least this is what the weather report is telling me.

But it might not. It could be 54 degrees and sunny, or at least 54 degrees and not-raining-yet, and if that happens, we all need to get outside and breathe some fresh air.

And where better to do that than a cemetery?

Green-Wood Cemetery, located in Brooklyn southwestish of Prospect Park, below the neighborhood of Windsor Terrace, was begun in 1838 and is now a National Historic Landmark. Back in the 1850s it was popular tourist destination and today it has trolley tours and a variety of events. Last summer they hosted a production The Spoon River Project, moonlight walking tours, and happy hours. I didn’t make it to any of those events but I hope to this year. Because who doesn’t want to go to a happy hour in a cemetery?

Last year around this time I visited the cemetery for the first time, with a friend. We got a map at the entrance, wrapped our scarves a little more tightly, and went on a trek to find the famous people that sounded the most interesting to us.

We’re both musical types, so Leonard Bernstein made the cut.

Along the way we saw the Civil War Monument (at least I think that’s what this is.)

 One of my favorite things about the cemetery is that it’s the highest point in Brooklyn, so you get some great views back across the city.

And down toward the water — that’s the Statue of Liberty in the distance.

I thought this pyramid monument was kind of crazy but awesome.

The main gate to the cemetery is stunning.

 So is the chapel.
 
We made sure to visit Louis Comfort Tiffany, son of the founder of Tiffany and Co. and the company’s first Design Director.

My friend was a history major, so we wandered until we found where Boss Tweed is buried.

After that our feet started hurting, so we headed back to the entrance we came in through, cutting across the grass at one point. There were places where the ground had sunken a little and my friend pointed out that those were graves. We tried to stick to the path after that.

It might be better to check out Green-Wood on a sunnier day than we did, but either way, it’s worth a visit! And walking around it is good exercise because of all the hills.

So now I’ve talked about two cemeteries on this blog. Any others I should visit?