Back in Visalia California

Sorry it took so long for me to update the blog.  I slept in today.  As you know, American Airlines (who are saints!) were able to reschedule my flight for yesterday.   We spent about 20 minutes on the phone mapping out a way home so I flew from La Guardia to Dallas to Los Angeles to Fresno and my brother picked me up:  a 15 hour travel day but a good day.   Evidently, I got the last flight out of New York before AA shut down opeations.

I'm watching CNN and can't believe what I'm seeing.  The guy at my last hotel in Howard Beach (4 miles from JFK) said...."Oh - it's not going to be that bad.  Why don't you just stay here and stick it out."  They were right on the water near Long Island. 

In the next two days, I'm going to download a bunch of my pictures that I didn't post and put them on a new blog.   I haven't created the blog yet but I'm probably going to name it:  boring photos by gloria....something like that.    I'll let you know.

Back to New York

This is actually my second post tonighty.  I accidently didn't publish the last one until just now,   Today was relatively horrendous but I took a lot of deep breaths and just tried to chill.  The 138 mile drive to Howard Beach NY (near JFK) took 4 hours.  There was an awful accident in Connecticut, then an hour later, another awful accident, then it took an hour and a half to go through the toll booth to get on the Queens Bridge.  Again....lots of deep breaths.  I got some good texting done (just kidding), 

I thought long and hard about it and, after reading updates on the storm situation, decided to call American Airlines and see if they could fly me back tomorrow without charging me the $100,  They were happy to oblige but re-routed me from La Guardia to Dallas to Los Angeles, then to Fresno - 11 hours.   No problem.  It's better than the alternative....being stuck here possibly without power for several days and 2 feet of snow or whatever horrors they are predicting for this area.   They are even suggesting that water swells could flood Manhatten. 

I'll do one lasts post when I get home just in case I missed any cool pictures or think of something funny.  Thanks so much for following me on my trip,

My very last haunted bed & breakfast- Preston Connecticut

Last night I stayed at the most beautiful B & B in Preston Connecticut.  Once again, I was afforded the "most haunted" room with an incredulously spooky priice tag   Talk about luck, they have their very own cemetary on the property.  No one has tended to this burial ground in years.

Also, there is a cemetary directly across the street fron my B & B (I sure know how to pick 'em).  Anywho..,..I got a voice on my audio recorder fron there as well,.  I'm reading from a gravestone saying "You died in 1861" and the voice said "that was 150years ago".   Pretty chilling.  I thought of sneaking back in at night but there was a sign that said "no one allowed after dark"  I'm sure that this doesn't pertain to me but I am a teeny bit "apprehensive" knowing that there are invisible people there whispering in my recorder.   Evidently, there is a man that haunts my room who likes to touch woman  (Ok...I really did luck out).  Unfortunately, I slept "incident free".  Now leaving for New York

Lizzie Bordon took an ax

I spent the day in Salem which was an experience in itself.  I didn't realize that they were having a Witches Ball and the place was packed.  Witches come from all over the world for this event.  I have never experienced traffic quite like this before.   I was headed to Fall River to stay at the Lizzie Bordon house and it took me 4 hours to travel 111 miles.  My "POS" navigational device decided to take me through downtown Boston at 5:30 in the afternoon.   Here are some interesting pictures from Salem,  This is the home of one of the witches who were hung

If you look closely, this is a memorial to one of the witches hung

The above memorial was alongside several others who were hung

this is the graveyard which was next to the memorial and the house

Ok.  Now for a lighter subject:  I stayed at the Lizzie Bordon B & B where she killed both of her parents with a hatchet. 

I was treated to a 2 hour ghost investigation and tour of the entire house.  I did, finally pick up a voice in my room,   I've been trying to upload the sound byte but not having success.  It's me humming and a little boy saying "yea".  I was both scared and happy.  Scared because....well....it's a ghost!  Happy because...it's about time!!!  Here are some pictures.  As we were coming up the stairs to the 2nd floor, this is a shot into the bedroom where Mrs. Bordon was making the bed and was killed.  The first view the police had of Mrs. Bordon was from the stairs under the bed.

this is the dress Elizabeth Montgomery wore in the movie when she played Lizzie Bordon

I took this picture in my room where there are supposedly three children who haunt this floor. 

This was on our ghost tour,  Check out the guys pocket

After everyone went to sleep, I did something that was either really really brave or really really stupid.  I snuck downstairs to the basement, turned off all the lights and turned on the green laser grid (to detect shadow people of course) and did an audio session.  It was pitch black and I was doing quite good until 15 minutes into the session it dawned on me......OMG.....(I said something different)  .I'm in Lizzie Bordon's basement!!!  This is where she hid her bloody dress....in that corner....OK...then I got scared and threw my equipment in a bag and ran up to my room where, as it turns out, I picked up that little boy's voice. 

 I'm on my South.  Not sure where yet.

On my way to see Lizzie Bordon

I had, what would appear to be a relatively uneventful night.  I did have one experience.  I heard walking around above me on the 3rd floor.  I assumed it was the owner of the B & B.  I found out the next morning that she was not upstairs but in another part of the house.  Finally, I have had something happen.  I have all day to listen to my audio so I'll give you an update once I'm finished. 

I'm on my way to Fall River Mass. to stay at the Lizzie Bordon B & B and..take a tour of the house at 8:00.  I paid way too much for the room but it is the holy grail as they say.  (Actually, perhaps these people know they have a money maker here and they will charge what the market will bear.  

Searsport Maine

Drove 350 miles today and just arrived in Searsport near the ocean.  Take a gander at the cool haunted bed and breakfast I scored!

This B & B was featured in a new TV series:  Maine's most haunted.  The TV show hasn't been aired as yet but I did find the episode on You Tube:  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vrm2vXi4yk4&feature=relmfu    I'm staying in the Rose Room which is the room with all the roses on the wall.    I was upfront on why I choose this B & B and, being the only guest tonight, asked her if she would mind me doing an investigation throughout the Inn,  She said that, as long as I didn't whip out a Ouija Board, I could do anything I wanted,  Evidently, a little boy is said to haunt my room.  The paranormal group that did the investigation, stayed 4 nights because, evidently, they caught so much evidence,.   I promised her I wouldn't run like a little girl if I heard anything. 
I'll try and report anything I find as soon as possible.,   Tomorrow, I'm heading over to Bar Harbor.

One more post before I go to bed

Ok, I know I already posted this evening but I needed to to tell you that my ghost hunting days are over just for tonight,    The front desk guy told me to go up to the 3rd floor landing and take a picture of the door on the right which is a totally haunted room.  I followed his recommendation.  I tipy toed up the creaky stairs so quietly that I only managing to wake up the entire hotel.  There was a "do not disturb" sign on the door but, of course, that does not apply to me.,   I took a lovely flash photo of the door and started tipy toeing backwards on the creaky stairs when all of a sudden you could hear a big man get up and violently trying to unlock and open the door,  I ran on tipy toes so fast, I don't remember touching the ground.  You could hear him lumbering down the stairs.  I was like one step ahead of him and was able to turn tight corners before he could catch sight of me and slipped into my room.   I turned off my light and watched through the keyhole.  He never found me.  I was proud of my stealth like actions and ability to evade detection,.  I will bet you anything that he thought it was the ghost. 

SWF seeking a damn ghost!

I took a nap and set my alarm for 1:00 am so that I could sneak to the 4th floor and do an investigation.   I set up my video camera to cover the entire haunted hallway.  I let it run for a good 45 minutes.   In the interim, I sat on the floor with my audio device and tried to conjure up some serious communication with the spirits.  Take a look at this YouTube video  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6z05twN6OZ4  and  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1CYkEfvenOk  I was sitting right there at at the end of that hall.  I was dying to hear someone tell me to dammit... leave them alone because he knows where I live but didn't catch a thing.  It occurred to me that if this keeps happening, you will get quite bored of this blog.  I would! 

When I woke up to leave I had a major flat tire,  I actually had to replace it as it was not "fixable".  Thrifty Car Rental told me that if it was not repairable, they would pay for it.  After I replaced it, they said, sorry...you have to pay for it ($127)   I figure I'll just diss them on the Internet until the President of the company calls me and begs me to retract my statements!

Today, I spent 6 hours driving to Stowe Vermont.  What incredibly beautiful country this is.  the von Trapp family from the Sound of Music live here and have a lodge "The Trapp Family Lodge".  I'm going to go see it tomorrow,  One of the remaining children run it with a grandson. 

I'm staying at the Green Mountain Inn which has paranormal activity.  They actually admitted it to me at the front desk.  Evidently, some guy fell out of a window and killed himself. 

Tonight, after all the lovely patrons are fast asleep, I am going to go to the 3rd floor and take some pictures and do an audio session.  Also, the guy told me that there is a haunted bridge about a mile from here.  I would drive there tonight but I'd lose my parking place.  I'm losing my sense of adventure,  I know.....I'll just walk there in the middle of the night.  That'll really freak my sister out!

In Utica New York

Well, as promised, I did do a 1:00 in the morning investigation at the Holiday Inn on Grant Island.  I went out to the Gazebo and took pictures where the little girl has been seen.  I took pictures at the pool and took several pictures on the 4th floor where she tends to be seen.  Again....nothing,  I didn't get any audio or visual.  I was a wee bit disappointed.  To appease myself and to stop pouting, I decided to drive over to Niagara Falls and jump in.   Here are some shots:

View from the US side

Getting ready to cross the bridge into Canada to have lunch where I feasted merrily and realized I left my credit card and most of my $$ in my purse in the trunk of my rental in the United States.  He settled for the $20 that I had with me (the bill was for $30)  I didn't even have the fifty cents to go through the turnstile to get back into the US,  I had to "borrow" it from an unsuspecting stranger. (PS  I called the restaurant when I got back to my car and gave them my credit card number.  What a saint that guy was!)



Taken from the Canadian side 

I gave myself one hour to surf the web in search of a new haunted destination or else!!

So, not knowing quite sure where I was going next or what new adventure awaited, I hopped in my car and headed East.  I heard there were some cool haunted hotels in Syracuse and Utica.  I called the hotel in Syracuse and she said..."oh, our hotel isn't really haunted but I'd be happy to reserve a room for you?"   I hung up. Next!!!    I got in my car and just starting driving.  I decided to take all back roads to avoid tolls because I'm cheap.  I spotted this ancient looking cemetery and pulled in like I owned the joint.  I didn't even have to get out of my car because it was like a "drive through" cemetery.  I just drove really slow with the audio device hanging out the window saying "is there anyone here who would like to communicate with me?  Feel free to talk into this device. Blah blah blah..."  Hell, I didn't even really slow down that much.  Do you think I'm getting jaded? 

Soon I tired of the "Thomas Kincaid" scenery and hopped back on the toll roads.  I drove into Utica and called and made a reservation at an old spooky looking hotel.  Scored!!!!  It's haunted!!  One problemo,...only the 4th floor is haunted and because they want to have all of the patrons close together, they are only using the 5th and 6th floors.  I asked her if they would mind if I investigated the 4th floor in the middle of the night,  She said no problem.  I love this job!! 

I also love this hotel because it reminds me of some of the asylums I have stayed in...I mean investigated.  Check out this cool hotel and the lobby.

Tomorrow I will probably head to Maine or somewhere close by,.   

Resting at the Holiday Inn near Niagra Falls

Well, I'm settled at the Holiday Inn (haunted, of course) in Grand Island New York, right next to Buffalo and Niagara Falls.  Since I am a Priority Member (said in a very snobbish tone) I get a river view, some complimentary water and chips and my very own shampoo and conditioner. 

They purportedly have a ghost of a little girl that was killed in a fire on this property in the 1800s that roams the 4th floor.  They recommended doing an investigation at one in the morning which, of course, I will.

My ghost hunting adventure at Hill Manor last night was fun but not the best conditions to conduct a serious investigation.  Imagine if you will, being a ghost, trying to live a normal life, and all of a sudden, one night, 126 people come into your asylum room asking you to "communicate" with them. 

 It was a huge building and they split us up into 5 groups of 25.  We would occupy a certain wing of the haunted manor each hour with one of the "Ghost Hunter" stars as our guides.  There was so much "chit chat", whispering and coughing going on that if a ghost did want to "communicate" you would never know it.  I took tons of pictures but didn't catch anything interesting,   Here is a picture of some of the guys from the TV show.  Check out the huge orbs in the first two photos,    I followed the guy with the white hat on around like a puppy. 

My brother took it upon himself to "enhance" one of the photos that I posted a few days ago.  I actually like this one better as it provides validity to and helps me rationalize the money I'm spending on this trip,  The guys from Ghost Hunters were not amused.

I finally got on the road with a simple plan in mind.  Drive to Lily Dale, New York which purports to be the most haunted entire city in the US.  There are more mediums per capita than anywhere in the US.  However, there are only about 60 homes and almost 50 of those homes have a shingle swinging in their yard that says "medium".  Kind of takes the fun out of it.  I still thought it would be cool to stay in a B & B there but they close up all of the businesses for the winter. 

Out of options,  I decided to drive towards Niagara Falls.  I heard that's haunted too.  It took me forever to get here  because every time I saw a cemetery I would screeeeech on my brakes and pull in.  I'm getting pretty desperate here!!   One cemetery I found had about 300 headstones and every single one of them had an Italian name on it.   Perhaps I didn't get any "electronic voice phenomenon"  because they only speak Italian.  So I changed my strategy and said the only Italian word I know "Caou Baby!!".  since they died in the 1700's, perhaps they were not privy to this vernacular and chose to collectively ignore me.  

Not sure what I'm doing tomorrow,  Maybe actually go to Niagara Falls since I'm here and go on that boat.  I would drive to Canada but the line to go over the border is very long. 

Just got in from my 5 hour ghost investigation with all the people from Ghost Hunters  It's 3 in the morning so I'll look at my 100 pictures tomorrow and listen to my 5 hours of audio to see if I picked up anything strange.  I'm heading for Lily Dale, New York tomorrow (today)  The whole town is haunted so I don't need to spent time looking for a haunted hotel. 

OK.  I did go back to the dark alley with my voice recorder at about 1:00 in the morning.  The streets were empty with the exception of some young ruffians fighting in the street (this is true).   I furtively stalked past them through cobble stoned back alleys until I found prostitute row again.  I asked a few leading stupid questions to try and elicit communication but alas....nothing,..nada.  I furtively crept back to the hotel, tiptoed past the front desk and ran like hell up the stairs to the 5th floor.  I don't think anyone saw me.  I am now enroute to New Castle for my paranormal event.  http://idealeventmanage.com/hillviewmanor.html

OK. so I spent 3 hours on the Internet in a McDonald's in Wheeling West Virginia trying to find a haunted hotel to stay at tonight.  I looked in Pennsylvania, Ohio, West Virginia and Maryland.,  My computer was slow, this guy kept trying to engage me in conversation about politics and their "the french fries are done"  alarm kept blasting really really loud.  I almost went postal so I decided....to hell with staying in a haunted hotel tonight.  Just start driving and find a cheap motel and whip out your wine box.  I still have 3.7 bottles left! 

So I decided to drive to Marietta Ohio because it had a cute name and found this awesome old hotel built in the 1700s called Lafayette Hotel right on the Ohio River.  I checked in and lo and behold,,,a walking Ghost Tour at 8:00.  Bingo!!  I hit the lottery. 

Pretty cool, isn't it.  And because I have no shame, I naturally asked for the most haunted room.  Well, as it turns out, I got the last room available which was only semi haunted.  The most haunted room, 318, was on the 3rd floor.  I told the check in lady that if the patron fled in the middle of the night to please wake me up and let me change rooms.   She turned to her co-worker and rolled her eyes,.  Whatever...I'm so over them!!   Anyway, here's my room.  Now look closely

I had to sneak this in as they have a bar in the hotel so they probably wouldn't appreciate this.  Please note my bin of ghost hunting equipment to the left.  

So, at 8:00 sharp, I showed up in the lobby for a 3 hour ghost walking tour around Marietta.  Actually, it was fascinating.  I learned about a guy who chopped off his dad's head in the mid 1800's and it rolled down two flights of steps into the street.    He said that the guy lived for about 30 seconds after his head was chopped off and watched himself bounce down the steps.  (perhaps I should wait until morning before I actually post this)  The jury found him innocent because his dad was with a prostitute.  Some strange happenings,  We went to this alley where prostitutes would hang out.  The guide spoke to the "spirit prostitutes" really nice.  I was in the small alleyway with another woman and we did actually hear a woman answer.   Not sure if it was paranormal or a woman's voice carrying from somewhere else.  Here is the alley.  It does have a certain ghostly element to it, don't you think?  (don't tell my sister but I may go back there at around 3:00 just to see if what I heard was real or was it memorex

Below is our guide for the evening.  His claim to fame is that he is Captain Whipple from the 1700's, 

Also, we went to the 3rd floor and my Electro Magnetic Field detector went off the charts,  It actually got up to 17.00 which is really rare.  We all felt a cold chill (no open windows in the vicinity) and the temperature on my temperature gauge dropped 5 degrees immediately.  I took dozens of photos but nothing showed up.   Tomorrow, I will head over to New Castle Pennsylvania where I will do a haunted investigation at Hill Manor with the guys from the Ghost Hunter's TV show.  I'll take a ton of pictures and, who knows, mayby I'll finally catch a ghost, 

I stayed at a beautiful historic B & B in Scenic Hill PA where some cool paranormal activity has been noted.  I, of course, experienced nothing; not even one of those ghosts who like to touch you or pull your covers off.  Just complete and utter silence.  I even wore, and fell asleep with, my "super ear".  It magnifies your hearing so when you are on the beach, you can hear other people talking about how good you look in a swimsuit.  I have not given up.  As we speak, I am searching the Internet for haunted cemeteries in either NW Pennsylvania or Ohio for a fun day trip.  I hope I meet nice people there :)

I'll check back in later

Interesting evening in Gettysburg.  As soon as I checking into the Farnsworth House, purported to be the most haunted hotel in the most haunted city ever! (they always say that).  I noticed a group of people congregating outside the building.  They were getting ready for a "ghost walk" of haunted Gettysburg locations so naturally, I filed in behind them pretending to be a "paid up" member of their group.  Well, the first place the guide took them was outside my bedroom door.  Ok...I deserve to get this tour free!!  Evidently, lots of wounded civil war soldiers spent time in my room. 

There were several bullet holes on the side of this building.  we walked around town for two hours visiting several ghostly places but my favorite was this huge grassy area were several confederate soldiers are suppose to still be buried.  Evidently, they buried them where they found them.  There have been several sightings of a civil war soldier who roams the grounds.  Even our tour guide saw him on two occasions. (uh huh!)   I remember seeing this on You Tube so it must be true.  Here are a couple of interesting pictures I took.    I took each of these pictures all within 30 seconds.    

 The first picture shows nothing, the second picture was taken 5 seconds later.

 This picture freaked the guy out when I showed it to him.Check out the cool orb hovering over his head

Here's the part I don't want you to tell my sister (she'd just worry about me)  After everyone went home and the city was deserted, I went to my room, gathered all of my ghost equipment and walked back to this "ghosts on the green" area so I could conduct a serious investigation.  Okay, so this wasn't the smartest thing in the world.  The area was pitch black and abutted a dark eerie haunted forest which abutted the state park with all of the war monuments and historical landmarks.  I was there maybe 20 minutes and started feeling a tiny bit scared.  There were many bushes that men who like 59 year old women could hide so I went back to my hotel to have some wine.  Here is the You Tube video that I saw that was taken at this spot  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_xlyofmznOs 

 I did not experience any paranormal activity in my room and considered asking for my money back. (They promised!)

The next morning, I missed my free breakfast because I overslept and the waitress dressed in period clothes snapped at me when I asked for juice and coffee.  She said "no drinks or food in the room"  I'm sure she didn't mean my box of wine which is the equivalent of 4.5 bottles.  (easy to transport from one haunted B & B to the next.

I just made a reservation for the Century Inn in Scenary Hill, PA which is also suppose to be haunted.  I asked her for her most haunted room so she gave me the most expensive room.  Hmmm, is there a message here?

Made it to New York

Ok.   This is going to be a boring "non-ghost" post.  On the plane I sat with a gorgeous younger man.  It turns out that he is a drummer in the band for Lauren Alaina who came in 2nd on American Idol last year.  She was on the plane also however I got to sit with him (ner ne ner ne ner ner...sang to the turn of "ring around the rosey" )   I stared at him a lot when he was sleeping   Ok  that's creepy...,(he's going to follow my blog so I better just stop!)  ..Anywho....I am now sitting in my cheap hotel in Newark NJ,  I picked the hotel in NJ because I wanted to get the hell out of dodge before day break.  Good decision.  The traffic at 1:00 in the morning was horrendous.  I landed at 9:25, got my 49.5 lbs of luggage (yes - this was verified at the ticket counter)  by 10:30 and it took the bus one hour to get us to the car rental place because of airport traffic. Then it took me 14 days to find my hotel.  the Tom Tom kept trying to tell me to do the right thing but I kept defying it's orders. That loud and abrasive piece of crap is going to be the death of me.  Instead of just jumping on to the Verrinssono (sp) Bridge, I ended up at Times Square in Manhatten (oohing and awing and cussing).  I drove 65 miles to take a 25 mile trip but who cares, right    By the way, Manhatten at night looks exactly like San Francisco with the exception of the Empire State Building, Times Square and all of the buildings.

Today, I decided to drive to Philadelphia because it's only 90 miles and maybe find some cool haunted house to stay in. They have plenty according to the internet which is always true.  Then to Gettysburg for a battlefield investigation. 

Three Months prior to my highly anticipated adventure

In October,  I will be traveling to Hillview Manor in New Castle, Pennsylvania to attend a paranormal investigation with several members of TAPS (the Atlanta Paranormal Society)  These are the guys from the TV show Ghost Hunters.  I've met all but 5 members of the TV cast and, as it happens, these 5 will be in attendance.  In April, I did a two day investigation at the Stanley Hotel in Estes Park, Colorado.  I picked up some interesting paranormal events.