Winchester Mystery House Celebrates Centennial and Ripley's Saves Rare Lobster
In recognition of its centennial, the Winchester Mystery House in San José, California, is in the middle of a year-long celebration. The party will culminate on June 30, 2023, with a 100th birthday celebration and the unveiling of a Centennial Exhibit exploring the Winchester Mystery House’s effect on pop culture.
The Winchester Mystery House was the enormous home of Sarah Winchester, heiress to the Winchester Repeating Arms fortune, who passed away in the residence on September 5, 1922. Often described as “beautiful but bizarre,” the home has long been the focus of spiritualists and fans of the paranormal. As a part of the Centennial celebration, the House launched “Walk with Spirits,” an intimate and interactive tour focused on spiritualism and the paranormal.
On Sept. 5, the Winchester Mystery House welcomed guests to the “Celebration of Life of Sarah Winchester,” which featured tours of the house. A nighttime event named “Beyond the Veil,” hosted by renowned psychic medium James Van Praagh, allowed 25 guests who paid $250 to join Praagh as he walked the halls of the home and attempted to connect with Sarah Marshall and other spirits.
Ripley’s Aquarium Helps Save a 1-in-30-Million Lobster
Recently, employees of the Red Lobster restaurant in Hollywood, Florida, noticed something extraordinarily unusual when unpacking fresh lobsters: One of the sea creatures destined to be served to guests had a beautiful, bright-orange color unlike anything they’d ever seen. Intrigued, they contacted Ripley’s Aquarium of Myrtle Beach, which gladly took possession of the unique lobster when they realized its existence an incredible rarity.
The restaurant and the aquarium named the lobster Cheddar, an affectionate nod to the restaurant chain’s Cheddar Bay Biscuits. As it turns out, the birth of such a lobster is remarkably rare—a one-in-30-million chance—and its likelihood of survival into adulthood was tiny because its unusual coloring makes it attractive to predators. Cheddar is now safe in her new habitat at Ripley’s Aquarium of Myrtle Beach.
