Luck in north Hope Township, no luck in Clarington: Today in a cemetery hunters travels.

For me, a great day is one where I find all the cemeteries I'm looking for. A good day is when I at least find some of them. Today was a good day.

Mondays are my cemetery days. Monday is the only day when I don't have work commitments or family commitments, and my son spends Monday with my parents. So I plan these gorgeous days out ahead of time, figuring out just how much time I can devote to my little hobby and still catch up on the housework, get dinner ready and be home for my son by 5. Monday morning, bright and early I get up, get ready and head out the door. I've used my "spare" time in the week planning exactly where I'm going to go, figuring out the routes that will get me the most bang for my buck.

However, I don't have a data plan on my phone, so I do it the Amish way, pen and paper. Sometimes. Other times I just plan it out in my head and hope for the best. I've checked my directions, looked it up on Google maps whenever possible, I'm good...sometimes! This means that on good days I actually find what I am looking for, other times I drive around searching and hoping and getting nothing.

Today was one of those not writing it down, just hope I find it days. I had planned to find 5 cemeteries: Elizabethville Methodist Cemetery, Oak Hill Cemetery, McLean's/Elliott Cemetery, Lawrence Back Cemetery and Beach Family Plot.

I found Elizabethville Methodist first, which I knew I would because I had driven past it before. As I was mucking around the cemetery I happened to look up across the road and notice a second cemetery, the Elizabethville Anglican Cemetery, which I had heard of but I thought was just a myth. Ok, not quite, but it's not listed on many cemetery sites, in fact, most sites only list a single cemetery in Elizabethville, and it's the Methodist one. When I had found out that there could be a second Elizabethville cemetery I tried to find it on Google Maps, but couldn't. I knew it was in the same area as the Methodist one because they were listed as plot 28 &29. I started thinking that maybe they had been joined into one when the monuments were moved. How excited was I to find this place, a Holy Grail find for me!

Elizabethville Anglican Cemetery, hidden in the trees. No wonder Google Maps couldn't see it.

Elizabethville Methodist Cemetery, the easy one to find.

My next stop was Oak Hill Cemetery, which is supposedly abandoned but has burials up to the last few years. It was easy to find as well, about 10 minutes up the road from the Elizabethville cemeteries. The only issue with this place was the big bush in the centre that seems to be owned by a large, angry bird. It screamed at me the whole time I was there, but as soon as I approached the bush it chickened out.

Oak Hill Cemetery, see that bush right in the middle? Bird hell.

The next stop though, it was my first misstep. I had looked it up, knew where it was and what it looked like from the road, but I was driving around by memory...and I forgot the street name I had to turn down. I knew the name of the street that the cemetery is actually on, but the street leading up to it just flew out of my head. So I spent a good twenty minutes driving around the very small town of Kendal, trying to find The Dell Road. I did eventually find it. It's a cool little place, very old. I had to park on the road, and some lady with a Border Collie was out walking and gave me a dirty look like I wasn't allowed to park there...or visit the cemetery? Too bad Dog Lady, I did!

McLean's/Elliott Cemetery, a beautiful old place.

Unfortunately, this is where my luck ran out. My plan was to continue on Hwy 9/Ganaraska Rd into Clarington and visit Lawrence Back Cemetery, and I would have too...but construction had closed the part of the road that the cemetery is on! Jeez, Louise! I'll have to head back up another time, but it really sucked because there is little else up that was for me. There is a small farm cemetery somewhere in Leskard, but it's on a private farm.

My next stop was hopefully the mysterious Beach Plot on Hwy 2 in Clarington, another cemetery that may or may not exist and may or may not be publicly accessible. Every single website I've checked save 1 says it's on a private farm, but that one site that said it was accessible gave me hope. I had to try! However, it is supposed to be located right as you get off the 115 on HWY 2, which is a crazy busy area. Needless to say, I couldn't find it...this time. I did find St. George's, but that one will have to wait for another day.

Overall, a day that was not wasted. I'm still hoping to one day find the Beach Plot, and I know Lawrence Back Cemetery exists. I'll be posting for each of the cemeteries I visited today. If anyone has any information on the Beach plot, please drop me a line!