Ghost Adventures: Eastern State Penitentiary

The Ghost Adventures team had pretty big shoes to fill when they headed to investigate Eastern State Penitentiary. That was one of Ghost Hunters best shows. (The first visit. I don't know if I was as impressed with the evidence from their second visit.)

One thing I'm coming to notice about the Ghost Adventures guys is something AutumnForest related in one of her posts at Ghost Hunting Theories: Zak, and Aaron and Nick thrive on taunting spirits. But that wasn't all I noticed.

OBSERVATION #1: PROVOKING EVIL SPIRITS

It was the thing that stood out at me the most though. And what really stood out to me in this episode was that Zak seems to want to provoke evil spirits in particular. (Although, this is the first episode I've been able to watch in a couple of weeks. I've missed shows since the Castillo de San Marcos thanks to hiccups with our DVR. Maybe he's emphasized his desire to rile up the evil ones in those too. It just hit me from this episode though.)

I know taunting is a technique used to provoke spirits into responding, but Zak made it clear this go around he's not just hoping to capture evidence of any old ghosts. He's looking for the evil, mean ones.

I'm not sure why, though. Is he trying to make that his thing? Like his way of making the show stand out and that be his niche in the business? Or is he hoping it'll make the best entertainment?

Who knows. Maybe all will be revealed in future episodes.

OBSERVATION #2: HOW MANY TIME CAN YOU SAY "HUNDREDS?"

Zak was talking with Sean Kelley, Eastern State Program Director, about how many deaths had occured in the prison. Kelley said he could show him a death ledger with hundreds of deaths.

That's when "hundreds" got repeated in a back and forth "Hundreds?" "Hundreds." "Hundreds?" "Hundreds." volley that just cracked me up.

Yes, Zak. It's completely plausible in a jail that had been around since 1829 that hundreds could have died there.

OBSERVATION #3: THE DEATH LEDGER

Speaking of that death ledger, Zak reading through it made for another of the show's more humorous moments. He was reading the causes of deaths and came across one he just couldn't help but comment on: death by masturbation. (Actually, it might have been suicide by masturbation. I can't quite recall how it was phrased.)

Zak then went on to say he'd never heard of death by that before. Hmmm...must not watch the news. I don't know about suicide by masturbation, but I've seen reports on accidental death by masturbation. (Wasn't David Carradine's death thought to be because of that?)

OBSERVATION #4: ZAK, THE "BRUNO" OF GHOST HUNTERS?

I'm not gay, nor am I offended by gay jokes, but I am sensitive about making them. (Or not making them.)

I couldn't help but wonder how any gay ghost enthusiasts watching would feel about comments Zak made about the shower. One of the witnesses they interviewed talked about how she'd been in the shower area and soap had slipped, she'd made a comment, and that's when she'd felt a slap on her butt.

Zak said something to the effect that a place where being touched on the butt happened would be the perfect place for Aaron to investigate on his own later that night. Which reminded me of another jail they'd visited where an inmate had been ganged raped to death and he'd placed Aaron in there alone, too.

At any rate, both times he made cracks that might not be appreciated by some. And poor Aaron's the butt of the jokes, but he seems to take Zak's haranguing in stride.

Recap of Haunt Jaunt to Gulf County, Florida

We're back from our Haunt Jaunt to Gulf County, Florida, otherwise known as Florida's Forgotten Coast. All I can say is, I don't know what was harder to find: a place to eat or a ghost.

WHERE WE STAYED

Actually, finding a place to eat wasn't all that hard. It just seemed that way because we stayed on Cape San Blas. The nearest food was in Port St. Joe, 20 miles away. (With the exception of a couple of smaller restaurants, one right across from where we stayed and the other in Indian Pass, maybe 10 miles away. But both were closed when we tried to frequent them.)

After swimming, body surfing, scalloping, snorkeling, and walking on the beach working up an appetite, driving 20 miles on a hungry belly made it feel like there was no food to be found.

WHAT WE DID, SAW, AND ATE

There isn't a whole lot to see and do in Gulf County. That's part of its appeal. If you want a nice, relaxed, laid back beach atmosphere, it doesn't get much more laid back than Gulf County.

In fact, on Cape San Blas it was even hard for us to get cell phone reception. (Wayne got better than I did. I could sometimes get one bar, but I couldn't really get a connection.)

However, besides just enjoying the beach, we did take in some sights.

ON CAPE SAN BLAS

We checked out the Cape San Blas Lighthouse (pictured above). I was really hoping for some ghosts there, but the woman (who's name I unfortunately did not get) who sort of stays out there and runs it and the adjoining Sleeping Beauty Gift Shop assured me there are no ghosts out there.

"I've heard all the legends but I can definitely say I've spent enough nights out here to know ain't nothing haunting this place."

IN PORT ST. JOE

We strolled around Port St. Joe's historic downtown area. Reid Avenue is akin to a Main Street area with shops and such. It's kind of in the process of being revived. There was an old theater that might have had some promising ghost stories, but it was all closed up and for sale.

However, we haunted Joe Mama's Wood Fired Pizza. (406 Reid Ave, Port St. Joe, FL) Man, that pizza was grub! We made sure to eat there twice during our visit.

IN APALACHICOLA

Also twice we headed over to Apalachicola. Dumb dumb me could've had a Haunt Jaunt t write about there if only I'd thought to check out another haunted travel site first, the Shadowlands Haunted Places Index.

I saw the Gibson Inn when we were walking around the town and had said to Wayne, "Maybe I should get a picture of that place and go inside and ask if they have any ghosts."

But it was hot, we were both thirsty, and Wayne wasn't much in the mood for my "ghost shenanigans" as he calls them. All he wanted to find at that moment was a cold drink.

The next day I checked that index and saw that, yep, the Gibson Inn was listed. Apparently a ghost of a captain haunts room 309 and a lady ghost (thought to be one of the Gibson sister's who ran the hotel in the 1920s) haunts the second floor. As well as sometimes messes with the phones.

Oh well, missed out on that one.

But I can recommend Up the Creek Raw Bar for delicious, fresh seafood. Not to mention it was very reasonably priced. We ordered a dozen oysters on the half shell, a pound of steamed shrimp, a cup of crab soup and a dozen clams in a butter/wine/garlic sauce all for $30. (And that included two teas, sweet of course!)

Also, there were two other big pluses about Up the Creek: (1) it was a doggie-friendly dining establishment, and (2) it boasted an amazing view. We had left Murph back at our digs on Cape San Blas, but had we brought him he would've been welcome to enjoy the view of the water with us on the back deck. And they would've even provided him a fresh bowl of water if he was so inclined.

IN MEXICO BEACH

I would've haunted the volleyball courts they had here if we'd known about them earlier. Sadly, we didn't discover the much more happening St. Joe Beach and Mexico Beach scenes until the end of our visit when we headed to Toucan's our second-to-the-last night for dinner.

Again, no ghosts here. But Toucan's made for a great place to eat. We were seated at a table right next to the beach. (On their outside covered patio. We enjoyed the sea breeze keeping the temps mild, laughed at the sea gulls begging for scraps, and our entertainment was watching the surfers ride the waves.)

If we were more the drinking/bar types, their upper deck is apparently the hip hoppening place to hang at nights.

THE FORGOTTEN COAST IS NOT THE MOST HAUNTED COAST

After having been to more active haunted beach jaunts like St. Augustine or even Charleston, I can safely say Gulf County and the Forgotten Coast is not a happening haunted destination.

However, if you want great fresh seafood, in particular oysters, or if you're looking for uncrowded, unspoiled beaches that also happen to be pet friendly, Gulf County is the place for you.

Planning a Haunt Jaunt to Gulf County, Florida

I'm planning a Haunt Jaunt to Florida's Gulf County for July. When I was blogging at Families.com I wrote about Cape San Blas, a dog-friendly city in Gulf County. I've wanted to go ever since (and so has my pooch, Murphy). Wayne finally agreed that's where we can take our next family vacation! Sort of a getaway to celebrate the end of my hitchhiker haunting me. Yes!

I'm now in the planning stages. I have to find us a place to stay. (Would be nice if it'd be a Spooky Stay, but I don't think Murph would appreciate it that much.)

I'd also like to check out some haunted places, if there are any, while I'm there. (Naturally. I couldn't very well call myself a Haunt Jaunter if I didn't, could I? Plus, it's more material for the blog and the website.)

Speaking of the website, since I don't have all the Jaunts loaded into HauntJaunts.net yet, I can't turn there for help. So what do I do? Why, research of course.

While I'm at it, I thought it'd make a fun blog entry, too. A step-by-step look at how I plan a Haunt Jaunt.

STEP 1: CONSULT MY TRUSTY TRAVEL BOOKS

There might be newer Florida books out dealing with ghosts, but I've trusted and enjoyed these two for many years now: Haunting Sunshine and Haunt Hunter's Guide to Florida. Whenever I go somewhere in Florida, I first consult them to see if there any haunts in the area I'll be.

In Haunting Sunshine I found a story about Magnolia Hall in Apalachicola. In the book it was noted at one time it was a B&B, but that the state was going to turn it into a historic site. I found a Magnolia Hall Guest House at 177 5th St on a list of Apalachicola hotels online, but no link to a website.

So is it a Spooky Stay still? A Historic Haunt? I don't know. It'll be a mystery for me to solve when I get there...

The Haunt Hunter's Guide didn't list anything in the area. The closest would be Shell Mound down in Cedar Key and the Island Hotel, also in Cedar Key. That's too far from where will be to scope out,though. (Over 4 hours.)

Okay, those didn't turn up much. On to the next step...

STEP 2: SEARCH THE WEB

Alas, Haunt Jaunts is not a one-of-a-kind idea. There are other similar sites, we all just present it a bit differently. Which is great, because I can still benefit from something they might have listed that I don't know about. Like now.

These are the sites I checked out to see if they had any info on haunted places in Gulf County, Florida:

• A Ghost in My Suitcase


• The Haunted Traveler


• TravelParanormal.com

A Ghost in My Suitcase and The Haunted Traveler didn't even have any listings for Florida. TravelParanormal.com had a Florida button, but it didn't have any articles relating to Gulf County.

Drat. But all is not lost. There's still one more step.

STEP 3: ASK WHEN I GET THERE

There are several lighthouses in the area we plan on touring. Don't know if any have any ghost stories attached to them, but, much to Wayne's chagrin, it's a question I always ask whenever we're out sightseeing.

I'll also do the same when we go to dinner or hit the shops. The locals always the scoop...and I just may turn up some new Haunt Jaunts that haven't been covered to death yet!

The Ghost and the Mystery Museum

I found this clip of an alleged ghost in a museum on YouTube thanks to a Google alert about an alleged ghost caught on a CCTV in an office building in South Carolina. (I went to YouTube to try and find it, but of course got distracted and found this "ghost footage" instead.)

Trouble is, I have no idea what museum this is or where it is. It didn't say in the description. (That I saw. I'm not 100% YouTube savvy so perhaps I didn't click through to something else that would shed some light on the mystery.)

However, I did find another posting of it and this one alluded that the museum was somewhere in Mexico.

And I'm not all that certain what it is I'm viewing in the clip. Is it an entrance and revolving doors? Is it something in a glass box? (Like one of the museum's displays, perhaps some kind of toy?) Is it a piece of machinery?

I don't know, but I can tell something starts moving when nothing else is there to move it.

But I'd rather know (a) what it is I'm looking at, and (b) where this museum is. What if someone wanted to make a Haunt Jaunt there? Don't these people on YouTube understand there's a whole bunch of us ghost enthusiasts out there who'd like as much info as possible?

Sheesh.

Haunted Golf Courses

I found a story about haunted golf courses when I was slogging through my backlog of Google alerts today and stumbled upon a posting by Stephen Wagner at About.com: Paranormal Phenomena called "The Latest Paranormal News."

Wagner was listing ghost-related or otherwise odd stories he'd found, among them one entitled "Even golf courses have ghost stories" by Joe Morelli at the New Haven Register.

Apparently a book called Haunted Golf: Spirited Tales from the Rough was released this past April. It details incidents like the murder of a woman at a golf course in British Columbia whose spirit is said to haunt the seventh hole. Or the mysterious incidents at the Canton Golf Course in Connecticut. And, my personal fave because it reminds me of Cheeseman Park, the "remnants of corpses discovered at Lincoln Park [Golf Course] in San Francisco."

I never would've thought of adding golf courses to the Jaunts listings. Or amusement parks or anywhere else people go for relaxation and fun. However, this has opened my eyes to a whole new dimension of Haunt Jaunt possibilities!

And I can't help but wonder if any ghost hunters have ever investigated any golf courses? Hmmm...golf anyone?

Camp Grounds as Potential Haunt Jaunts

I never considered camp grounds as potential Haunt Jaunts until I stumbled across an About.com: Paranormal Phenomenon post called "Camping Encounters with Monsters and Ghosts" by Stephen Wagner.

The only thing I normally think about when it comes to camping and ghosts is telling ghost stories around the camp fire. But Wagner's article related incidents of ghost and monster encounters around camp fires and campsites.

MONSTERS IN THEM THAR' WOODS

I used to camp all the time with my family when I was little. I loved it. I have a pretty active imagination, but I don't remember ever being afraid of the forests we camped near. The only time I ever got a little creeped out was when my cousin Mike started scratching on the roof of the camper shell covering the back of my dad's truck. It woke me up and I didn't know it was him at first, so...there was a wee bit of chaos until my dad told him to knock it off.

However, Wagner told some good monster camping stories. One about a family who encountered some kind of bear-like creature with yellow eyes in the White Mountains of Arizona. (Lucky them. I don't know which is worse: being scared out of your wits by some creature roaring and then suddenly charging into your camp, or camping near that same region and having your dog suddenly bolt out of the tent only to get sprayed by a skunk. Oh yeah, that made for a pleasant experience...)

Anyway, Wagner also told of other stories: a glowing beast that showed up in a field next to where some people had set up camp, and a green "humanoid like" creature that surprised campers near a lake in a nature reserve. (The last one creeped me out because apparently they fled the scene only to return later to pick up their gear but found their tent destroyed and all their gear in the lake.)

GHOSTS IN THEM THAR WOODS, TOO

Well, the ghost stories in Wagner's post didn't really have much to do with woods. But people did spot ghosts while camping.

One was a silver lady a girl in Australia spotted while camping with her family. The other one recounted a tale of a guy who had been camping with his girlfriend and woke up to see a ghostly form hovering over her body.

WHERE CAN I LOOK FOR THESE MONSTERS AND GHOSTS?

That's what I didn't like about the article. It didn't tell specifics about the ghosts sightings, as in where they happened, except in a couple of cases.

Like the creature that surprised the family camping in the White Mountains of Arizona. It at least gave you that much, but where exactly did the family have the experience? I don't know.

The other two monster stories were vague. The settings were described, but states weren't even mentioned.

The ghost stories did give some indication of place. The "silver lady" was spotted at "a beachfront caravan park near Killala Beach, New South Wales, Australia." The hovering ghost encounter happened "along an unpaved forest road in the Manzano Mountains in northern New Mexico."

Wish I could give you more to go on if you wanted to set out this summer on a camping Haunt Jaunt of your own to investigate these places, but...that's all I got folks.

Haunted Landmarks

Today I stumbled across a pretty good article on Digg called "Someone Grab Scooby-Doo: The World's Most Haunted Landmarks."

What I liked most about the article: the pics and details of the ghosts supposedly haunting each haunted landmark.

What I didn't like about the article: I was surprised some places were left off. (Stanley Hotel, Myrtles Plantation, Waverly Sanatorium...)

So what were the haunted landmarks listed in the article?

1. Edinburgh Castle - Edinburgh, Scotland
2. The Whaley House - San Diego, CA
3. Bran Castle - Transylvania, Romania
4. Alcatraz - San Francisco, CA
5. Borley Rectory - Essex, England
6. Winchester Mystery House - San Jose, CA
7. Pollepel Island - Hudson River, NY
8. The Queen Mary - Long Beach, CA
9. The Bell House - Adams, TN
10. Rayham Hall - Norfolk, England
11. The Tower of London - London, England

I also learned of a few new places I wasn't previously familiar with (Borley Rectory, Pollepel Island, and Rayham Hall).

Speaking of learning things...I also learned Edinburgh Castle has a canine graveyard, which I didn't previously know, or that there are only two in Scotland.

Which made me wonder: How many canine graveyards does the U.S. have? How many do other countries have?

I like articles that make me think! (Duh. I suppose that's what everyone appreciates about a good article, right?)

But something else I want to know: why was it so slanted towards England and the USA? Besides Romania and Scotland, no other countries made the list. I know darn well there are other haunted landmarks out there.

Maybe the author is saving them for a follow-up article? If not, for any of you more worldly Haunt Jaunters out there, I'd sure appreciate an article on more international haunted landmarks. (Either for HauntJaunts.net's travel articles or to be referred to an already published one.)

The Titanic Exhibit - Haunted?

If you're a fan of the Sci Fi Channel's Ghost Hunters like I am, then you know last week they investigated a very unusual spot: The Georgia Aquarium, which had been one of the stops for the traveling Titanic: The Artifact Exhibition.

A HAUNTED EXHIBIT?

Man, I sure wish I had known the exhibit was rumored to be haunted when we'd seen it in Denver a couple of years back. It certainly has a creepy, haunted feeling, but mostly that's due to the fact that you knew the stuff on display had once belonged to real people --and which had spent a great deal of time resting in what could have been a permanent watery grave if it hadn't been excavated like it had.

Except, now I'm wondering if that's not the only reason for the exhibit's haunted feeling. I certainly never expected the TAPS team to find anything. The last thing I would have expected was them to see shadow figures or capture an EVP, but...that's what happened. Crazy!

But very interesting. I can't help but wonder which artifact or artifacts has someone's energy attached to it. That would be neat to figure out. Even neater if you knew who had owned that artifact. Then you could better communicate with that person's spirit.

TITANIC: THE ARTIFACT EXHIBITION

If you've never been, it's worth the price of admission. (Which is about $27.)

You have to buy a ticket for a specific viewing, it's not just one of those exhibits you can drop in on any old time you want. They have set entry times.

When you get there, you're given a boarding pass which tells you who you are (a real life passenger aboard the ship), where you were traveling from, who you were traveling with, what class you were booked under, your cabin number, your reason for travel, and even gives a passenger fact, if known. Then at the end of the exhibit you can scan the list of survivors or those who didn't make it to see what your fate was.

I kept my husband's boarding pass. (I thought I had kept mine too. I was a first class passenger. some kind of lady with a title, but I don't remember either what her name or title was now.)

But my husband was Mr. Michael Navratil (aka Louis Hoffman). He was traveling in 2nd class with his two small sons, Michael (3) and Edmond (2). He was from Nice, France, but booked them all under the false name of Hoffman because he was going through a nasty custody battle with his wife. He thought this would make her follow, and they'd all be reunited again in New York.

He ended up dying, but I believe his sons survived.

The Titanic exhibit is interesting, sad, eerie, but amazing. I've made my husband watch Titanic the movie over and over and over again. He was not looking forward to me dragging him to the exhibit. But he ended up enjoying it immensely and found it extremely interesting.

To see where Titanic: The Artifact Exhibition can currently be experienced, click here.

Introduction - Here there be ghosts

What is Haunt Jaunts?

Simply put, it's a travel blog for restless spirits.

I've had the idea for a while now. When my husband Wayne and I moved from Phoenix, Arizona, to Jacksonville, Florida, we took a day trip to St. Augustine. As we drove past the fort (officially known as the Castillo de San Marcos), I remember whispering to him, "Here there be ghosts."

We didn't go in that day. We just walked around the town, then went to eat at Harry's. We were seated upstairs and after we ordered I went to use the bathroom. (There are two, one downstairs and one up. I used the upstairs one.)

That's when I met my first ghost.

Well, not "met" exactly. Experienced would be a better word.

THE BATHROOM INCIDENT

I was all alone in the bathroom, but I got the oddest sensation I wasn't. It's hard to explain. There was a chill in the air, and it felt as if there was a presence lingering. Watching. Waiting. I remember as I washed my hands looking in the mirror and scrutinizing the area behind me. I swear it felt like someone was right behind my shoulder, but no one was. I have never hustled out of a bathroom faster.

When I was once again back at the safety of the table, I felt foolish. I sort of laughed to Wayne that something odd had happened in the bathroom. But since nothing had really happened, I'd just had a weird feeling more than anything, there wasn't much to tell. He just shook his head and the matter was forgotten.

THE GHOST BOOK

A few months later, though, I came across a book, Haunt Hunter's Guide to Florida. It's broken up into regions. Region Two caught my eye because it was where we lived. A couple of the places listed we'd either been to or had passed by, but some I hadn't heard of. Like "Site 13 - 46 Avenida Menendez."

"What's that?" I wondered, knowing we'd likely been by it. Avenida Menendez was one of the main thoroughfares through St. Augustine.

So I started reading and learned that at one time it had been the Chart House restaurant, but before that it had been a house. One that had a history of fire and a woman named Bridgett died during it. The author had talked to former restaurant owners who shared some experiences with odd happenings they'd seen. But the line that almost stopped my heart was, "Psychics came in, and they said there was an obvious presence in the ladies' room upstairs."

I pleaded with Wayne to take me back to St. Augustine that weekend. I had to know if Harry's was at 46 Avenida Menendez. (I knew it was, but I had to see it in person for myself.) Sure enough, we found that's exactly where it was...and I was convinced then that I, too, had experienced the presence in the upstairs bathroom.

Thus was born a new kind of travel regimen for us. I used Haunt Hunter's Guide to Florida as a travel guide to take us to other places in Florida where ghosts were alleged to dwell.

THE QUEST

I think part of me was on a quest to again have an experience like the one I'd had at Harry's. Because that wasn't the first time I'd encountered ghosts on my travels. In the couple of years leading up to that, I'd had some other ghost experiences at other places. One a pub in Phoenix and one a hotel in Salt Lake City.

Mostly I was hoping to put myself in a place where I'd perhaps see an actual apparition and have the "Holy Grail" of ghost encounters. But what happened was that Wayne and I ended up going around and seeing a bunch of really cool places and having a blast in the process.

THE BIRTH OF HAUNT JAUNTS

That's how I got the idea to chronicle our travels, and our travel dreams. Haunt Jaunts the blog will be a combination of places we've been, places we'd like to go, and interviews with others who have had similar experiences.

I welcome comments, be they suggestions for places to travel to that you've heard of where ghosts may live, or experiences you've had on your travels. Thanks for your interest!