Once Upon a Midnight Dreary... (Update)

Boogiedowner readers with us from the start will remember that one of the first BD posts featured Poe Cottage.

It took me a while, but I finally made the trip over there to check the place out for myself. A friend and I signed up for the $5 tour (along with a Bronx mother and daughter team as well as a lone female tourist who was “seeing the sights” of our much under-appreciated borough. Very impressive, girlfriend!) Unlike some of the larger historical homes (i.e. Bartow-Pell and Van Cortlandt) Poe Cottage is really, well… cottagey. Cute and sweet! And unlike the residents of the other grander homes, Poe had financial woes throughout his short life, so the furnishings are sparser and simpler. But still a must for history, literature and antique aficionados.

And mystery buffs – the theories surrounding the poet’s death are as varied as are those regarding the true identity of Jack the Ripper. Who knew! After a guided tour, there is a short documentary that visitors can watch, which ends with a reading of the author’s eerie but romantic Annabelle Lee. Quaintly chilling and should remind you of the first time you read The Raven in school. I get goosebumps just thinking about it!

~Simone Davis, http://www.thebronxrocks.com/

Urban Plunge Out and About

Our "Listing of the Day" today was so convincing that we decided we needed to to take a stroll down the Grand Concourse/Kingbridge Road area today to check the hood out.

We were happily surprised when we arrived at Poe Park and saw a group of about 15 volunteers scraping and repainting the gate around the historic Edgar Allan Poe Cottage. The volunteers were part of Fordham University's "Urban Plunge" program, which exposes freshmen to all sorts of great community service projects in the neighborhoods surrounding Fordham.

The students also volunteered this morning with Women in Need, Inc., an organization which provides housing, help, and hope to New York City women and their families who are homeless and disadvantaged.

As a past "Urban Plunge" volunteer, it was extremely inspiring to see the program still going strong a full decade later (geez, I'm getting old...). Keep up the good work Urban Plungers!

~ErLu