Mario et al-
 
Anne Rice's house is _not_ open for tours to the public.  Every year on
Halloween she used to host a party for the fan club at one of the houses that
she owns (not the large orphanage compound that she's restoring or the house
she lives in, which is the house from "The Witching Hour'), but last year it
was so big they held it at a public hall, and she wasn't even there because she
was doing a promo tour for "Lasher."  (Anne Rice news is pretty popular down
here - it's all in the newspaper).
 
Someone asked about the name of the Voodoo Museum down here:  It's the Historic
Voodoo Museum, with gift shop and a Mambo to do ceremonies.  It's open to the
public even though it's a private collection.  Also, the Musee Conti Wax Museum
has a display devoted to Marie Laveau, the grande Mambo of the 19th century,
whose alleged grave is still a pilgrimidge site in St. Louis I Cemetery just
ourside the Quarter.
 
I remember (yes, another of my childhood memories; I made my long-suffering
mother take me to a lot of museums and theme parks) a Museum of Witchcraft and
Magic on the wharf in San Francisco that had a number of items from Gerald
Gardner's collection.  I'm pretty certain that it's long gone.  Maybe that's
the same collection that you mention moved on to new pastures in Gaitlinburg.
 
Leslie Johnston
Historic New Orleans Collection
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