Going home tomorrow

Before I start, if you see ads on my blog, they are unsolicited and I don't know how to get rid of them so try and ignore them.

I spent the entire day walking around Boston.  I walked about 3 miles across the bridge to the USS Constitution and took a ferry back.  I'm toured out.   It was a nice day because I didn't get flipped off once today,  Oooo...I just heard thunder.  Hope I get out OK tomorrow.   Going to bed now so I can get up at 4:30 to fly out by 8:00.  See everyone in a day or two

Napanoch, NY to Boston Massachusetts

I decided to just get to Boston, turn in the rental car and settle in until Thursday morning when I fly back home.  When I got to Boston, the driving nightmare began.  Because my sister will freak out, I'm not going to tell her that I almost drove into someone else's lane on the freeway.  He hit his horn so loud and for so long, you would have thought I pissed him off or something.  What a jerk!!  I feel free once again.  Tomorrow, I'm going to take a subway to downtown Boston and do some touring. 

I'm still in the process of listening to the audio from my fright night at the Shanley Hotel in Napanoch, NY.  While driving today, I did listen to 5 hours of me sleeping.  The owner of the Inn said that I'll probably pick up a bunch of paranormal activity.  Is snoring paranormal??   I still have 6 hours of audio to listen to.     . 

When I was in Reading Pennsylvania at the Overlook Mansion, you can not believe the huge breakfast they served me.  I told the owner that I would love to take some of the meal with me as I couldn't finish it...could you???

I was able to pick up a female voice in my room in the middle of the night but I couldn't understand what she said.  She probably said "Quit spending your money on box wine and ghost equipment and a get a life!"

These are some of the things I learned on this trip:

a)  Drive the speed limit and don't let the person behind you dictate your actions. Even if he flashes his lights and gets so close behind you that you can't see him flashing his lights but you can see him flipping you off.

b)  Throw your Tom Tom  away (the first one ever made that I bought refurbished") and get something invented in the 2000's.  I've decided it wants to kill me.

c)  If you go through the wrong ticket toll booth at the turnpike and don't take a ticket, it will cost you $21.15 even if you only go 3 miles.

d)  If you accidently drop all of your cash ($35) in the parking lot at McDonalds, don't bother going back to look for it.

e)  People are really nice no matter what state you're in except people on the freeway in Boston.

f)  People will charge a lot of extra money if you ask if their hotel is haunted and if they know you want a really haunted room.

g)  People don't seem amazed or give a damn that they live next door to a building that was built almost 400 years ago and that a President slept there. 

h)  Egg foo Young tastes terrible on the East Coast.

i)  There is a McDonalds at almost every exit with free Wi-Fi and all you have to do is buy a diet Pepsi and you can literally set up an office in their dining room.

I'm going to sign off and will do one more post tomorrow night.  It will be either really boring with a travel log type format or very interesting if I find something paranormal when I go and visit the gravesite of Paul Revere. 

Hi Everyone. I'm alive

I arrived at the Shanley Hotel in Napanoch, New York. They have had so many ghost investigations here, they have a wall of fame in the dining room with autographed pictures of some of the best known ghost investigators.  The owners and I chatted for some time then began a 4 hour ghost investigation.   Not sure if we caught anything yet.  I have to listen to the audio on the way to my next destination.  I'm going to buy some new ghost hunting equipment before I leave.  He has an entire retail section in the spooky foyer.  (I know....sucker!)   I'll do a proper blog this evening when I arrive wherever. 
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Here is an interesting 1 minute and 17 second video from youtube about the hotel.  Also, at the end, there is a great video of a ghost cat:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HU9cs0bsCBU

Middletown Virginia to Reading Pennsylvania

I had an interesting travel day.   Every time I saw a brown "historic attraction" sign on the freeway I felt like I had better go and see what all the fuss was about.  Just FYI, I would make a great contestant on Jeopardy now.  I've learned so much history in the last 10 days.  I went to a graveyard today that had veterans from the American Revolution in the 1770s and the Civil War.  I didn't use any of my ghost hunting equipment in respect for these soldiers.  It was a rather sobering experience.

I did manage to land the best B & B ever.  The Overlook Mansion in Reading PA.  My room has a 12 foot door, an original 1873 claw foot tub and marble sink.  Here are some pictures on facebook:

 https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.407938522552357.103611.181665295179682&type=3

This Manor and the room I am staying in were featured on "My Ghost Story Caught on Camera" last season.  After watching that episode, I wrote down the name of the Inn and made sure that I made a visit  Tonight I will put out all of the stops and investigate until I die of boredom.

Last night I did get a little action.  So far, for the first 10 days of my trip, my electromagnetic field detector has been relatively quiet.  It just sits there saying "Hey sucker...I cost you $50 and I'm worthless!"   Well, I was sitting in the dining room and after about 10 minutes, I asked if there was a little boy in the room and it started going crazy.  It actually responded to several direct questions.  Not sure what it means but it's about damn time!!

Roanoke Virginia to Middletown Virginia

Because I stayed in a generic hotel last night, I don't have any interesting experiences to share relative to ghost hunting.  Actually, it was kind of nice just watching TV and going to bed normally for just one night without the fear (or pleasure) of being accosted. 

Having said that, I was looking through some of the pictures in my camera from previous investigations that I forgot about.   In January, I did an investigation at the Pasadena Playhouse with the guys from "Ghost Hunters".  I was up in the balcony by myself and I took this picture.  Here are two pictures with orbs.  I don't put much stock in "orbs" but check out my second one. Both were shot with a "full spectrum" camera.

This is not an unusual photo.  I've taken many photos with lots of "orbs" so I didn't pay much attention to this one.  Check out this next one.  I did a close up so you can see what I see.

 

I swear I didn't do any Photoshop magic.  I'm not that good.   Does it look like a face?  I'll let you guys decide.

I spent a few hours in Lexington Virginia touring Stonewall Jackson's house and the cemetery where he was buried.  I whipped out my EMF detector and audio device and did my due diligence but to no avail.   I'm staying at the Wayside Inn in Middletown, Virginia.  The Ghost Hunters have investigated this inn.  It is the longest running inn in the US since around 1750 or so.  Here is a painting of the place done in the 1800s.  Just like a puzzle picture.  She basically guaranteed that I would experience activity tonight but we've all heard that before.  

Greensboro No Carolina to Roanoke Virginia

The first thing I want to tell you is that I may have debunked the YouTube Video from my last post.  They put an orange on the dresser and were able to video it moving on its own.  I happened to have a ball with me.  I put a flashlight behind the ball and set up my camera.  I started asking the ghost of room 37 to move the ball and, lo and behold, within 2 minutes, it moved just like the You Tube video.  At first I was startled.  The problem is that the top of the dresser is sloped in such a way that there were few spots you could put the ball where it wouldn't move in one direction or the other.  On my second attempt, I was only able to find one spot where it would stay put.

This begs the question "why did it take two minutes for the ball to move the first time".  Perhaps a truck drove by or the building shook just enough to force the ball to move.  I would have loved to just show you my video and claim that I, too, have experienced paranormal activity but...a)  the video quality was so dark, it was difficult to see what was happening and....b)  a truck probably did drive by. 

I did have a minor experience.  I was listening to the audio portion of my "investigation" at the Biltmore and heard some old fashion music.  I didn't think much of it at the time.  I just assumed that someone had some old 78 records on in the next room (That's so common).  When I was checking out, the guy at the desk asked me if I had any paranormal experiences.  I said no.  He asked me if I heard any "parlor" music.   He said that one of the paranormal claims is picking up old fashioned music on audio that they don't hear at the time of recording.    Perhaps this was a minor success?

Today, I  had a wonderful lunch with some friends from Visalia, CA in Greensboro, NC.  His grandson and granddaughter were graduating and the whole family flew to NC to attend the graduation.  After lunch, I headed North.  I have 6 days to get back to Boston for my flight back on Thursday.  I only drove 2 hours before  I got tired.  Am I getting old or what?   With Friday afternoon Memorial Day traffic, I decided to stay at the Roanoke Hotel in Roanoke Virginia.

Pretty cool, huh!  I like the fake moon at the top!  I just didn't have the time today to scope out a legitimate haunted location for tonight.  This place looks like it could qualify for "spook central" however.  I had a wonderful dinner with my new friend Susanne and her partner who played bass with the jazz group who were playing in the "uber-expensive" restaurant.  Perfect night!!

Tomorrow I will be traveling to Middletown, Virginia to stay at another B & B that is, of course, haunted.  We'll see. 

Biltmore Hotel video - Post #2 of #2 today

I found this video on You Tube.  This is the room I'm staying in,  I'm going to try this experiment as well.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XSbNIfqmBsE&list=WL0FEF7DA682121FD9