LET'S TALK ABOUT TAKING THINGS FROM A HAUNTED LOCATION. IS IT OK OR ARE WE JUST ASKING FOR TROUBLE?

Spanish Fort, Texas

We've all heard that you are never supposed to take something from a haunted location, right?  Well, what if curiosity gets the better of you and you just can't stand it, you have to take SOMETHING?  Just a small rock, just a small bottle of dirt, or maybe just this little, bitty piece of glass.  That won't hurt anything and nothing bad will happen. Right? Wrong.

Everything that is anything has an energy and sometimes that energy can be attached to an object and sometimes it can be attached to a location.  Stories and stories have been told about someone just picking up the smallest of objects from a haunted location only to find that they soon start experiencing paranormal activity or bad things start to happen or they suddenly start "seeing things" that they have never seen before...hence...ghosts.

Think of it like this.  You are sitting in your living room just minding your own business when someone steps inside your house and takes your coffee cup you left sitting on the coffee table and then they just walk out.  I'm pretty sure you would be like WHAT THE HELL and go after that person to give it back to you.  Right?  That coffee cup belongs to you in your house.  That's what happens when you are in a haunted location and you take something from it.  It is not yours, and it should stay where you found it. 

So, before I tell you my story just let me say...I KNOW BETTER!  But here we go...

A couple weekends ago, my boyfriend, Deak and I decided to take a long drive out to an abandon cemetery I had heard of Red River Station.  Let me say, it was quit the chore to find this cemetery!  We literally had to drive through farm land full of cattle to get to it.  And it was in the middle of NO MAN'S LAND let me tell you!

Before we found the cemetery, we went to a very small community called Spanish Fort.   At its peak, the town had numerous businesses and churches, a Masonic lodge, five physicians, four hotels, and several saloons. Spanish Fort became known as a very rough and tumble cowboy town, and at least 40 murders are said to have occurred during the cattle drive heyday.  Native Americans long used the fertile areas near the Red River for farming and hunting. Taovoyas took over an abandoned French garrison here around 1750 to defend against Spanish incursions in the area. In 1759, in the Battle of the Twin Villages, a Spanish army under Col. Diego Ortiz Parrilla attacked the Taovoyas' fortified position, but were defeated by a force of both the Taovoyas and Comanche tribes. Anglo settlers later misnamed the area Spanish Fort after assuming that the Spanish forces had built a fortification there, rather than the French.

There is nothing left of this town but an old store front and a small wooden house that sits beside it.

Well, of course, we parked, got out to explore the two remaining building.  There is nothing inside them and the windows have been broken out and the ceiling is all falling in.  The perfect place to have a ghost hunt.  Just sayin...:)

As I was walking around the old buildings and I found a piece of glass that I could tell was very old.  Greenish in color and very thick.  Not like you would see today.  So, I picked it up and looked at it pondering as to what it used to be and stuck it in the pocket of my hoodie.  Now, wasn't that a good idea???  NOT!!!!

Literally as we were getting back in the car, I pulled the piece of glass out of my pocket and showed it to my boyfriend, Deak.  He asked me was I going to take it?  And Deak has been with me long enough and been to many haunted locations and knows the "law of the lands" per say.  I could see it in his eyes he thought I should put it back.  I had one foot in the car and the other out, just staring at it, rolling it around in my hand, while my curious mind was saying, "Take it.  It's just a piece of glass but how cool would it be to have something from that long ago".  Then, the Becky Ghost Hunter voice was kicking in, saying "Don't do it!  You know better!"  But after a few minutes of the battle of the minds, I decided that it wouldn't hurt anything and stuck it back in my pocket.

This was on a Monday.  We were off because it was a holiday.  Martin Luther King Day.  We finally found the secluded, abandon cemetery and I will tell you about that, next time.  You won't believe THAT story!!!

So, the whole time I have this piece of glass, this nagging little voice keeps saying, "You shouldn't have taken that." And I keep thinking, "It will be fine".  So, we found the glass on Monday and Tuesday comes along.  I have a miniature schnauzer named...you guessed it Kasper, yes after the ghost but spelled with a "K".  You know how you know your dogs habits and how he or she acts, well I noticed that Kasper would sit on the end of the couch just starring at the staircase.  Like, intense staring.  This is something, I had never seen him do before.  He wasn't barking or growling, just staring.  I would ask him, "What's wrong boy?" and he would just look at me for a minute and go back to staring. hhhhhuummm Clue-number one that something is not right.  When I tell you this went on all day and night, it went on all day and night.  Finally, we go to bed around 10:00 and he sleeps with me at the foot of my bed.  

It was around 10:15pm and I was on the phone with Deak telling him goodnight when all the sudden, Kasper jumps off the bed and starts barking and runs into the living room. (Just for the record, he is not a barker.  Very rarely does he bark other than when I first arrive home)  I can hear a loud man's voice but can not tell what he is saying.  I tell Deak "Just a minute" because I am so confused as to what is happening.  Even Deak hears it on the other end of the phone and asked "What is that"?  Well, I have an Alexa in my living room as well as every other room in my house but ONLY the living room one had turned on.  It was a man's voice not a song, but it was so loud that I just turned it off without really paying attention to what it was saying.  Here's the even stranger part.  I have all my Alexa's connect to one group.  This mean whenever Alexa is on, it plays on all the Alexa's in the house NOT JUST ONE!  So, not only am I puzzled about how it came on by itself, I am confused as to why it is not playing on all the Alexa's.  hhhhuuummm  Clue number two something is not right. 

Now, it's about 3:15am in the morning and again, Kasper awakens me by jumping off the bed, barking and runs into the living room.  I sit straight up and from my bed I can see down the hallway a bright light and I can hear that the TV is on.  What the hell?  I didn't leave the tv on.  Can I   So, I get up and go to the living room, and sure enough the tv is on.  I turn off it off, and go back to bed with Kasper. Clue-number two something is not right.  I do find it strange, but not strange enough to keep me up so I fall back to sleep, as does Kasper.  Then, 4:00am rolls around and all the sudden my living room Alexa comes on with some man talking!  Can this really be happening in the same night???  I jump up and run to the living room and nothing was happening and the Alexa was off.  What the hell???  Am I losing my mind?

I finally go back to sleep and before I knew it, it was 6:00am and time to get up for work.  As I got ready work, I couldn't help but think of all the things that had happened the night before.  It was just to much!!!  Holy cow!!!  WHY?  Why was I having so much activity in my house?

The thought did cross my mind, could it be the piece of broken glass I picked up and brought home?  Of course not!  It was just a small piece of broken glass lying on the ground. So what?  

I went to the kitchen to make myself my usual glass of chocolate milk.  I got out the milk, mixed the chocolate syrup in, stirred it, and set the glass on the counter to put the milk back in the refrigerator as I do every morning.  But THIS morning, I turned around and knocked the glass of chocolate milk off the counter and it fell to the floor shattering into pieces and milk went everywhere!  Damn!  I had never done that before.  As I started to pick up the pieces of broken glass, I suddenly had some clarity on what was going on.  I am a BIG BELIEVER in signs and how much more of a "sign" do I need than picking up a piece of broken glass?  My sign was obviously the glass I had picked up from Spanish Fort was the cause of all the things happening in my home.  It couldn't have been more clear!!!

So, I went to my bedroom, got the piece of glass out of my nightstand and immediately took it out to the garbage, which how perfect that it was trash day as well.  I dropped it in the garbage bag and said a little prayer then took it out to the street to be picked up by the garbage truck.

Here's what I want people to know.  It doesn't matter how big or how small or how insignificant an object may seem, IT DOESN'T BELONG TO YOU!  You have to think of it like this.  A stranger walks in your house and takes something of yours, and turns around and walks out.  Are you going to just sit there and let them go, or are you going to try and find them and get the object back?  Spirits are no different.  These things belong to them.

So please, don't take anything that isn't yours.  What started happening to me at my house, was very minimal compared to what really could happen.  Much more dangerous things can be attached to an object.  So, be careful and be safe. 

Seems harmless enough.

Just a little broken glass.

In the trash it goes!

Inside the old store.

A piece of tin the tree grew around.

Love this pic for some reason.

RIP BURT REYNOLDS-BURTS CREEPY ABANDON RANCH

                                       

Well we lost a good didn't we?   Burt Reynolds, good looking, smart and funny.  What more would you want in a guy right?

One of my all time favorite movies was Smokey and the Bandit.  Boss Hog and Sally Field....I still laugh out loud just thinking about this movie....and that black Trans-Am!!!!! I'll get back to you guys later...I have to go watch Smokey and the Bandit! LOL

I wanted to dedicate this week's blog to Burt and say he will be greatly missed.  I hope that Burt will pay me a visit if he wants to say "hi".  Lord knows I have plenty ways for him to communicate with me.  lol  So, Burt if you are reading my blog, this is your invitation to say "Hi" to me in anyway you can from the "other side" or show me that shadow of the Black Trans-Am and I'll know it's you.  LOL

Below is Burt's abandon ranch and guess what?  He had a mausoleum built for he and his family and it was just abandon.  That's a little creepy.  I mean, I don't think I would want to be buried in a place that was made for someone else's body.  Know what I mean???  If they had sold the property to someone else.

Anyway, below is a video of some boys that was roaming the property.  And then, because Burt was really good at making us laugh, I included a couple video's that I thought really shows his personality and have one more laugh in his honor.  RIP Burt.

Burt's Abandon Ranch

The Match Game

Johnny Carson

THE KINECT SLS CAM-CAN IT REALLY DETECT GHOST SO THAT WE CAN ACTUALLY SEE THEM??? SEE WHAT OURS CAPTURED AT AN ABANDONED CEMETERY!!! YOU TELL ME???

So, the latest new "toy" in the paranormal world seems to be the new Kinect SLS Cam made by Gotcha Ghost.  You have probably seen this used on Ghost Adventures a lot (maybe not this exact one from Gotcha Ghost but it does the same thing)  It detects a spirit and it shows up on a screen as a "stick figure".



 

Gotcha Ghost description of this new Cam is "This camera will detect humans and animals in absolute darkness or full light.  It also seems to see bodies when there is nothing there the naked eye can see, spirits?  It works much like the SLS Camera at a fraction of the cost!  You can record video directly to the tablet or to SD Card.  Here's how it works:  It uses an RGB camera with depth sensor infrared light projector with a monochrome CMOS sensor which sees everything not as a flat image, but as dots arranged in a 3D environment.  These 1000's of infrared dots allow the camera to "see" depth and detail like a sonar."

Soooooo, I have wanted one of these for a while but they are fairly expensive.  The one from Gotcha Ghost is $400.  Well, guess what??? I finally broke down and bought one because I just COULDN'T STAND IT ANYMORE!!! I HAD TO HAVE ONE!!!!

I have only had mine a couple of weeks, but me and "the girls" took it out for a test run last Friday.
Ruth Vickers and Tammy Hightower who are part of my team...took it out to one of our favorite old cemeteries.......Skinner Cemetery.  This is an old abandon cemetery dated back in the late 1800's.  We have had TONS of activity at this location.  Now, I wish I could share some of the EVP's we got from Friday's investigation but I just don't have them ready yet and I am still going through our evidence.

Ok... the SLS Cam.  Does it work, doesn't work, what do I really think about this new high tech toy? First, it is really easy to put together and it looks super cool. LOL

It came very well packaged and arrived in about 10 days from the date that I ordered it.  Ok....lets get to if it works or not.

We were set up trying to communicate with a young boy spirit and we did not use the SLS Cam at first.  We were using other equipment and recording as video.  We were getting some activity on the Parascope (see the live feed on FB) and a couple other things so we did not use the SLS right away.

We decided to take the SLS Cam and walk down and around and video some really old tombstones.  We were also doing a FB live so that everyone could see exactly what we were seeing.  We turned on the SLS Cam and it takes it a minute before it starts to detect what's in front of it.  Ruth was standing beside one of the graves, I was filming with the SLS Cam and Tammy was recording for FB Live.  All of the sudden....it started detecting a figure (spirit) sitting ON THE GROUND kinda leaning up against the tombstone itself and like looking down as if it were sad.  The reason I can say that it was "sitting" is because Ruth is standing right beside it and it is obviously much lower to the ground and it does not look at all like Ruth's "stick figure" as she is standing up right beside it.

We start asking for it to stand up and at first it DOES but then it jumps right back to the position it was originally in.....sitting up against the tombstone.

The two tombstones that two figures appeared.

We then ask that it hold Ruth's hand.  You will see that now, it totally stands up and holds Ruth's hand for several seconds.  WAY COOL!!!!!!!!!  Then as we start to scan and show more tombstones, it suddenly detects ANOTHER FIGURE DOING THE EXACT SAME THING!!!!  So now we have TWO figures leaning up against two different tombstones that are side by side!!!!! What the heck?????

 

So, what do I think about the SLS Cam?  IF it really was detecting spirits and we were able to communicate with them and see them at the same time....then 's it's PRETTY DARN COOL!!!!  We did take the SLS to a different part of the cemetery and got NOTHING which to me just helps prove that it DID actually pick up on something at the other location.

One of my favorite things about the SLS is that it automatically saves the file to the tablet or you can save it to a micro SD Card.  The screen is very clear and the software is pretty easy to use.  

Here are just a couple things I noticed that I think could be improved.  First, to adjust any of the settings  on the screen, it is really hard because they are really small.  And one more thing......there is a "screen capture" software that comes pre-loaded for you.  I really like it because it too seems to be fairly easy to use and I like EASY!!!  The only thing is...that once it starts to "screen capture" a little screen pops up almost in the middle of the screen showing it is recording and I found this to be in the way of being able to see the "whole" screen and what was going on in real-time.  

Can't wait to try it out at other locations.  So stay turned.......the more I use it, the better I can review it for you.  But for now........I LOVE IT!!!!!

This is a cool picture even though it is blurry.  Not sure if the figure to the left is actually a spirit or just one of us passing by.  Dang it!!!!

Lots of trigger objects for the children spirits.

Ruth Vickers and Tammy Hightower during our investigation at Skinner Cemetery.

Here is the video that we recorded during FB Live.  What do ya think???

RE-POST -THE VERY HAUNTED SKINNER CEMETERY-SEE WHAT I CAUGHT ON FILM!!!!

This is an old cemetery that we just found by chance out driving around one day in Pilot Point, Tx.    It's not very big and a little run down but definitely old!   I know it's weird to describe a cemetery as "charming" but it was.  The headstones you can tell are old.  Some are broken, some have fallen over completely and here's the REAL CREEPY PART!!!!!  There are big holes where the dogs or some other animal has been digging up the grave!!!!  I know......RIGHT!!!!!  A couple of them appeared to have the casket showing.  So if you are going at night be careful not to fall in a "hole".  CREEPY!!!

And let me tell you...it was FULL of paranormal activity!!!


On this night we communicated with a young spirit we were calling Timothy but later learned his name is Josiah Taylor. He is the first person or should I say child to be buried here.

It was a slow night and I was setting up the video recorder as everyone else was walking around just taking pictures.  We were getting some really cool pictures of orbs btw.  Then just as we started recording, about 4 minutes in....well.....just watch the video. :)

On this night, there was not even a breeze blowing.  It was eerily calm.  We brought a ball and asked if Timothy would like to play with it....and you can see that HE DID!!!!!!!!!  You can hear the excitement in my voice as I didn't expect to have such activity right off the bat!!!  You'll notice, that the first time the ball rolls, it rolls to the left.  Ok...if there WAS a breeze (which there again, there was not even the slightest breeze blowing) let chalk it up to the wind although the ball rolls in two different directions.  The second time, Timothy rolls the ball....he actually pushes it off the brick...and it appears to roll backward and then rolls forward  It looks like he caught it and rolls it back.  And not only that, THIS TIME it is in a completely DIFFERENT DIRECTION!!!!!!!!  I can tell you, being there and experiencing it first hand was AMAZING!!!!!  And I can't WAIT to go back!!!!

I would love to hear what you guys think of the video. :)

THE MINERAL SPRINGS HOTEL-MAY BE ONE OF THE MOST HAUNTED PLACES I HAVE EVER BEEN!!!! SEE WHY!!!!

The Mineral Springs Hotel, Alton, Illinois

Well, I may have just visited the MOST HAUNTED HOTEL YET!!!!!!  I can't even begin to tell you how HAUNTED this place really is!!!!  It has everything....the "CREEP FACTOR", beauty, tons of rooms to investigate and of course, a very HAUNTED history.

I attended the annual Troy Taylor's Haunted America Conference again this year and for the first time the Mineral Springs Hotel was offered as one of the places you could investigate.  Man, am I glad I picked this!!!!

Now, I am going to be posting about this place in two different posts.  This week I am posting a video with the AWESOME EVP's that I captured, believe it or not, the next day when the owners allowed me and my good friend Michele Pellegrino of White Dog Paranormal to go back in and do a private investigation.  Can I just say, the owners of this place are WONDERFUL!!!!  They have the coolest little shop in the front of the hotel called It's Raining Zen.  You guys go on-line and check out this store of stones, pendulums, sage and all kinds of fun stuff for the paranormal.

And just a little "tease" for next week's post.......one of the most paranormal experiences I have EVER HAD happened here!!!  That's right....but you'll find out more about that next week.

Now the EVP's you are about to listen to were taken down in the bottom of the hotel in a Slaughter Room that was used for killing pigs and storing the meat.  I can tell you that VERY FEW places have ever made me sick BUT this particular room was almost more than I could bare.  I sat down in the floor(which was a BAD mistake) and all I could feel was death not to mention the vision in my head of pigs hanging from the ceiling and blood dripping to the floor.......the floor in which I was sitting on.  After about 15 minutes, I started telling Michele that I was feeling sick.  And minute by minute I started to feel worse almost to the point of physically throwing-up.  I mean I was really getting sick to the point of when we started up the stairs I was so dizzy I almost feel back on the stairs. Michele was more than willing to pack up and get the heck out of there!!!  As soon as we did and I reached the top of the stairs...I was just fine!  CRAZY!!! 

Below was written by Troy Taylor.  See what he has to say about the Mineral Springs Hotel.  And you guys be sure and check back next week....you aren't going to want to miss what happened in this VERY HAUNTED HOTEL!!!!

The Mineral Springs Hotel opened in 1914 and it was a pretty spectacular place. Early advertising boasted that the hotel featured the "largest swimming pool in Illinois", mineral spring "cures", and the biggest table in the city of Alton, said to seat 26 people.

The hotel was constructed by August and Herman Luer, successful meat packers, who intended to open an ice storage plant on the property in 1909. As excavations began on the site of the new ice storage plant, a natural spring was discovered during the digging. A chemist tested the water and he declared that the water had medicinal qualities. He recommended that the brothers build a spa on the site instead of a building for storing ice.

Construction was started in October 1913 with the excavation of the basement swimming pool and the hotel opened the following June. The building was five stories high and done in a beige stucco in Italian Villa style. The ornate interiors contained terrazzo floors, marble staircases, decorated plaster cornices and designs and art glass throughout. It was elaborate and luxurious and an immediate success, especially after the mineral pool opened on the lower level.

This was the biggest draw for the hotel and was said to have caused "remarkable cures". It became a popular place for swimming lessons, water polo clubs and for those seeking the healing powers of the mineral waters. A man named "Doc" Furlong also organized hydrotherapy baths and while his methods may have been questionable, the guests and customers went away pleased.

Thanks to some savvy advertising, the water was soon being shipped to customers as far away as Memphis and New Orleans. In July 1914, the hotel was bottling and selling more than 100 bottles every day. Consumption of the water increased that year to 350 gallons weekly and the hotel boasted that its curative powers equaled those of water found in Hot Springs, Arkansas. People began pouring into Alton to partake of the healing waters and the hotel held its grand opening in September 1914. It was said that one point, the swimming pool attracted over 3,000 people in a season.

The hotel enjoyed its heyday throughout the late ‘teens and the early 1920’s. In 1918, Hollywood actress Marie Dressler spoke at the hotel on behalf of the Liberty Loan committee. A number of new rooms were added to the hotel in 1925, the same year that an orchestra was hired to play on Sunday afternoons and for the evening dining.

August Luer sold the hotel in 1926 but it continued to thrive for many years afterward, although it finally began to deteriorate in the 1950’s. In 1971, the Mineral Springs closed down for good, despite efforts to restore the place to its former popularity with the addition of a huge ballroom. In 1978, it was restored by Roger Schubert, who developed the building as a mall featuring shops and restaurants. Years later, it would see life again, thanks to further renovations by the Love family.

Once the hotel re-opened again, this time as an antique mall, stories started to be told about the place. Only these tales had nothing to do with "miracle cures" and the golden days of the hotel... these stories had to do with murder and ghosts.

You see, the Mineral Springs Hotel is a very haunted place.

The legends of the place say that three very different ghosts haunt the corridors and rooms of the Mineral Springs. The first is said to be that of an itinerant artist who was unable to pay his hotel bill many years ago. His ghost apparently haunts the former hotel bar. This section of the building is an antique store today but the saloon that once existed here was decorated with fine woods and marble, ornate trim and gargoyle-like figures on the crossbeams. All traces of the bar have since vanished and all that remains behind is an unfinished mural of the city of Alton that has been pained on one wall. The stories say that the artist who lived here was allowed to paint the mural in exchange for his bill. Unfortunately, he died before he was able to finish it and his ghost has remained here ever since. Building tenants and visitors who have encountered him say that he is more of a benign presence than a frightening one. He is usually seen simply standing around, as though he has no idea of exactly where he is. Many have described him as looking slightly drunk and others, not realizing that he is a phantom, have recalled the faint smell of liquor around him.

If any of the ghosts in the old hotel are truly frightening, it might be the phantom that allegedly haunts the hotel swimming pool. It isn’t so much because of his tendency to scare the living but more because of his reason for lingering behind. That reason is a thirst for revenge.

During the early days of the business, the swimming pool was one of the big draws to the place. When it was built, it was called "the largest swimming pool in Illinois" and throughout the 1920’s, parties and receptions were often held in the pool area and guests used the pool on a daily basis. Today, the pool is located in a basement area of the building that is closed off to visitors.

The story of the ghost began in the 1920’s, during the heyday of the hotel. One evening, there was a large reception held at the Mineral Springs and people were gathered in the pool area for the party. One of the couples attending the event had an apparently volatile relationship, probably because the husband had quite an eye for the ladies. Throughout the evening, he flirted and danced with a number of young women until his wife could stand it no longer. In a fit of anger, she came over and started shouting accusations at him. Laughing, he attempted to just brush away her concerns but finally, she took off her shoe and smashed him in the face with the heel of it. Blood spurted out between the fingers of the hand that he pressed to his face and he stumbled over, colliding with one of the columns next to the pool. Stunned, he reeled and tumbled over into the water. Whether he was dazed by the blow to his face, or simply a bad swimmer, we’ll never know. Before anyone realized what was going on, the man had slipped beneath the water and had drowned. What became of his wife is unknown.

In the years after the tragic event, and after the hotel closed down, the man began to be seen standing near the side of the pool, or in other lower parts of the building. His ghost has been described as angry and brooding, but impeccably dressed in black tie and tails.

And he has is said to have a reason for staying behind here.... revenge. According to the legend, he is waiting here for the return of his wife’s spirit. It is believed that when he finds her, he intends to kill her by pushing her into the swimming pool and allowing her to drown. Will he ever find her? Perhaps someday he will and if that time ever comes, then maybe he will finally rest in peace. If not, well, then he may not be the ghost you would want to encounter on some dark night in the hotel basement!

Undoubtedly, the most famous ghost of the Mineral Springs is the legendary “Jasmine Lady”. The accounts say that she has haunted a particular part of the old hotel for years. This area is a staircase that is located a short distance from the former lobby. According to the hotel legend, this lady was once a guest at the hotel who had come here to take in the “healing waters” with her husband. While she was here, she became involved romantically with another guest and started an affair with him. One evening, while her husband was away, she took the other man up to her room, with disastrous results. Her husband returned unexpectedly and caught the adulterous couple “in the act”. Needless to say, he was enraged. In the course of the violent encounter, she ran away from him and started down the steps. What happened next remains a mystery....

The stories vary as to whether the woman may have tripped on the stairs or whether her angry spouse pushed her down the staircase. In the end, it didn’t matter, because somehow she fell and broke her neck and she was instantly killed. Her despondent husband then returned to their upstairs room and committed suicide.

In the years that have followed, staff members and visitors to the building have caught glimpses of this woman’s tragic flight down the stairs as her apparition replays the terrible event over and over again. Stranger still, they have also caught whiffs of her pungent perfume, a jasmine scent, near the staircase and in other nearby places in the building. Even people like Bob Love, the former owner and a man who is not a believer in ghosts, have puzzled over the coming and going of this strong odor.

I had contacted him back in 1998, when I first heard about the haunting of the former hotel. He admitted that he was unsure about the existence of ghosts but never could explain one odd happening that had taken place in the building. "I have to say I’m not a believer," Mr. Love had said, "but one morning I walked in the Alton Street entrance and I smelled a strong, almost putrid, jasmine scent. It was strange."

And employees of the place have not been the only ones to have unsettling encounters with the Jasmine Lady. One woman approached me about her own incident at the former hotel. She was shopping one day when she passed the staircase. "I had no idea the place was supposed to be haunted," she said, "I wouldn’t find out until later that everybody knew about the ghosts but me."

As she passed the bottom of the stairway, she caught a sickening, flowery scent but as mentioned, she had no idea that it usually signaled the presence of a ghost. What happened next though, shocked her. "Just after I smelled the perfume, I felt this cold chill, almost like a breeze blowing. It didn’t just hit me... it, well, I guess sort of brushed past me, but it was real cold, " she said. "Then, I looked up. See, there are these signs that hang out in front of some of the stores down the hallway.... and all of the ones close to me start swinging back and forth."

That was enough shopping for her that day. "I just left after that," she told me. "I have been back there since and nothing else has happened, but I’ll never forget that."

         

While these three spirits may be the most famous haunts of the Mineral Springs Hotel, they may not be alone here. Hotels are notorious for the ghosts the living leave behind. Imagine, if you will, just how many people pass through a hotel in a single year. Then, recall how many guests an old hotel might boast after decades in operation. It isn’t a reach to think there might be a ghost, or two, around. If you factor in the deaths, murders and suicides that sometimes take place in hotels.... well, then you may be talking about a regular infestation! And it is unlikely that the Mineral Springs is an exception to this rule.

Besides encounters with the notorious trio of spirits, the building boasts other strange encounters as well. Michael Love, the son of the building’s owner, once had an apartment in the building and he collected his own strange reports, including unexplained cold chills that have been reported by customers, items that have been seen to move about, voices and laughter than come from nowhere and more. He also heard distinct footsteps on the back stairs when he was home alone one evening. When he checked to see who had come to visit, he found no one there.

Do guests from the past still walk in the Mineral Springs Hotel? You’ll have to be the judge of that. I invite you to go down and do a little shopping some afternoon.... you just might find more than you bargained for!

THE GHOST BUILDING IN DENVER COLORADO-JUST LOCK ME IN AND THROW AWAY THE KEY!!!

Deak and I took at short trip up to Denver back in December and as we were walking around guess what I saw????????  A building that actually says "The Ghost Building"!!!  Man...I tried to go in but it was completely locked up.  Can you imagine working in a building actually called The Ghost Building!!!!!!!!1  My dream job is just behind those doors. 
What do they do here??  Nothing.  LOL  It is for rent.  I looked up some information about it the minute we got back to the hotel room and found out the following:

Ghost Building made its way to 18th Street By Penny Parker
While fans were lamenting the closing of the Rocky Mountain Diner on Sunday, the story behind the creation of the 800 18th St. building where the diner dished out comfort food for 20 years was lying in wait for discovery inside The Denver Post archives.

Archived newspaper accounts told the tale of the stone facade of the historic 18th Street building, which was first erected in Denver at 15th Street and Glenarm Place.

The Ghost Building, named for real estate developer Allen M. Ghost, was built in 1889 and designed by William Lang, Denver's most famous residential architect and who also designed the Molly Brown House, according to historian Tom "Dr. Colorado" Noel.

In 1979, the Ghost Building faced the wrecking ball even though it was listed on the National Register of Historic Places.

The Public Service Co. of Colorado had signed a 20-year lease on the property contingent upon demolition of the building. The PSC's control of that lease trumped the National Register designation.
The Lang-designed building seemed destined to become a parking lot for the PSC, but Denver architect Brian T. Congleton proposed dismantling the facade stone by stone — all 1,700 of them — and reassembling it elsewhere.

"If they can move London Bridge to Lake Havasu, Ariz., we certainly can move the Ghost Building," Congleton was quoted in a 1979 Denver Post story.

The price of dismantling and preserving the stone pieces? Roughly $25,000, which was incurred by the PSC. The stone blocks sat in a warehouse for six years before they were affixed to the building at 18th and Stout.

It sat empty for roughly four years during Denver's oil bust, but in 1990, Tom Walls and his business partners leased the space to install the Rocky Mountain Diner, a restaurant patterned after the upscale Fog City Diner in San Francisco.

The diner dished out classic comfort food such as meatloaf and hot turkey sandwiches — later adding the popular pan-fried chicken — for 20 years to downtown workers and judges, lawyers and jury members who had business at the adjacent federal courthouse.

Unable to come to a new lease agreement with landlord and attorney Frances Koncilja, the Rocky Mountain Diner dished out its last dish Sunday afternoon.

It is said that this place doesn't retain tenants for very long because they hear voices or things move on their own.  Could this be because of the original stone's were put back where they belong and Mr. Ghost himself is "clocking in" as normal??? 

When I can get into this place.....I will let you know. :)

Let me in!!!! Let me in!!!

Every now and then...I have to do something non-GHOST related with Deak.  We do manage to have fun when we are not ghost hunting. LOL And no comments about how non-flattering my coat is.  I have two hoodies and another jacket on under it.  Did I mention I HATE THE COLD!!!!!!!!!!!!

ARE YOU KIDDING ME? HOW HAVE I NOT KNOWN ABOUT THIS VERY HAUNTED LOCATION!!!-THE CLIFF HOUSE

On vacation a couple of weeks ago, my boyfriend Deak surprised me while we were up in the San Franciso with a stop and lunch at the MOST incredible place!  The Cliff House Restaurant! If you have NOT been here it is AMAZING and you must see it!!!

The restaurant is so beautiful over looking the ocean and beach but that's not the BEST PART!!!!  Right next to it are what remains of the Sutro Baths.  And they are EXTREMELY HAUNTED!!!!  I had not heard of this place but could hardly wait to get down in them!!!

The Sutro Baths were a large, privately owned public saltwater swimming pool complex in the Lands End area of the Outer Richmond District in western San Francisco, California.

Built in 1896, it was located near the Cliff House, Seal Rock, and Sutro Heights Park. The facility burned down in June 1966 and is now in ruins.

On March 14, 1896, the Sutro Baths were opened to the public as the world's largest indoor swimming pool establishment. The baths were built on the western side of San Francisco by wealthy entrepreneur and former mayor of San Francisco (1894–1896) Adolph Sutro.

Before it burned to the ground, the structure filled a small beach inlet below the Cliff House, also owned by Adolph Sutro at the time. The baths struggled for years, mostly due to the very high operating and maintenance costs. Shortly after closing, a mysterious and catastrophic fire in 1966 destroyed the building while it was in the process of being demolished. All that remains of the site are concrete walls, blocked off stairs and passageways, and a tunnel with a deep crevice in the middle. 

Photo credit: nps.gov

Hauntings at the Sutro Baths

Photo credit: flickr/20939975@N04

Whether it’s the same force that plagued the Baths when they were open, or something new since they were ruined, there is no question that something draws denizens of the spirit world to the Sutro Baths.

Urban explorers braving the tides, cold weather, and unsteady footing of the ruins report a multitude of ghosts.  Psychic mediums who have visited the area report feeling an “unnerving force”.  Old patrons of the baths are the most common supernatural sighting.  They’re most often seen at night and could be mistaken for mortal visitors, if not for their wildly incongruous turn-of-the-century swimming garb.  Given the typical nighttime climate of San Francisco, they make quite an unusual sight in their sun dresses and swimming pants, wielding umbrellas and towels.  These ghosts are harmless if shocking. They seem to reenact the heyday of the Sutro Baths, roaming the stone ruins, laughing and playing.  Faint sounds of singing and the hubbub of a crowd can be heard on a quiet night. Bringing an EVP recorder to the Sutro Baths can definitely bear fruit.

Photo credit: flickr/thomashawk

The resort was also home to a large museum, full of relics and artifacts found by Adolph Sutro during his travels around the world.  Many of these items were of religious or magical significance to their original owners, and many of them were none too happy with Sutro after he left. Although the museum is gone now, ghosts and spirits from a hundred different cultures can be spotted around the Baths at various times.

Everything from an Irish banshee to a South African Tokolosh seems to haunt the baths now. It’s quite the multiculturalsmorgasbord of horror.

You’re lucky if they’re the only paranormal find you make on a trip to the San Francisco shore, though.

The Mystery of the Tunnels

Photo credit: flickr/wallyg

The ocean tunnels were a main feature of the Sutro Baths when they were open.

An engineering marvel for the time, water would be pumped in from the Pacific Ocean, using the tides themselves to provide pressure.  After the baths shut down, though, the tunnels remained, and some very strange things moved in.  Strange noises, footsteps, and unidentifiable claw marks have been seen throughout the tunnel system.  Locals think that something living just offshore in the frigid Bay waters likes to travel up the tunnels and make a lair in the old Baths.  Nobody knows quite what this creature might be, though. There shouldn’t be anything that walks on clawed feet moving around out there.

And no ocean creature should be collecting piles of bones and fur. Explorers have come across small alcoves in the tunnels where half-eaten carcasses of everything from fish to raccoons lay rotting.

Photo credit: flickr/jef

There is no known ocean-dwelling animal that maintains a lair in this fashion, and certainly not one that will pile up remains.

Some even swear the bones are arranged in a distinctive pattern, almost as though a ritual of some sort was being carried out. The few investigators who have made a serious effort to locate the resident of the Sutro tunnels have come back empty-handed.  That’s better than not coming back at all. That’s bound to happen sooner or later, though.

An Underground Cult

Along with all the paranormal and cryptid activity, there are signs of some ill-advised human endeavors.  San Francisco was the birthplace of modern Satanism. Anton LaVey founded the Church of Satan in the so-called Black House, not far away from the Sutro Baths.

The Church became almost mainstream as time went on. More of a social movement than a concerted attempt to engage in the Black Arts, many Satanists weren’t bad sorts.  Every religion has its extremists, though, and the Church of Satan was no exception.  Dark rituals intended to bring forth harmful spirits. Animal sacrifice. Even human sacrifice. The Church disavowed these activities, but they are known to occur to this day.

Photo credit: tumblr/celteros

It is said that the tunnels under the Sutro Baths are where this dangerous cult practices their séances and rituals. Steering clear of the monster but perhaps embracing the ghosts, these people are not to be trifled with.

If you come across a pentagram drawn on the walls in the tunnels, turn and run. Please just run.  It may already be too late.

The cult seems to have met some success in their doings. A local story goes that if you carry a lit candle to the very end of the tunnels, where they open up onto the ice-cold ocean, an invisible force will seize the candle up and fling it into the waters below.

The exact cause of this is unknown. However, quick and violent paranormal phenomena almost always point to an angry spirit. It’s possible that the spirits simply want all living beings out of their underground territory.

It’s equally possible that this being was conjured up by dark forces, and seeks to harm anyone who comes near.

One particularly chilling tale goes that the spirit is that of a human sacrifice.

The being seeks only to prevent more deaths like its own. Candles are a common element of Satanic rituals, and so the ghost extinguishes any that come near.

Ghosts are often unable to distinguish between different mortals, though, and the spirit takes a terrible vengeance on everyone who comes close.

Whatever the case, it would be best not to anger it further. Left in pure blackness, the bearer of the candle must make his way back to the entrance. Often, they fail and are simply never seen again.

I did take lots of pictures and took my recorder.  Yes, I did get a couple of EVP's but it is hard to be sure what is an EVP and what is someone else talking.  People are walking around everywhere.  This had the strangest feeling about it.  Not super scary.....but the only word I can think to describe the experience is.....different.  You definitely feel "not alone" but you also feel....like "what happened here"????

Anyway, here are some of my pictures and I hope to post the EVP's in a couple of days.

Scratches on the wall