The My Ghost Story episode that will include a brief visit from ”Stella” (not my real name) will air on Saturday, August 21, 2010. It will be on the Biography Channel, consult you local listings for the time. In my area it is on at 9:00 pm central time. Oh boy…here we go!
A Chapter That I Never Saw Coming!
July 1, 2010 – 9:00 am
I received a call back in January from a producer at A&E TV. She had tracked me down through this blog after someone recommended this site for the pictures of the ghostly activity that we have caught. She asked if I might be interested in being interviewed for an upcoming series called My Ghost Story. I was flabbergasted. Never in a million years did I anticipate something like this coming from my little blog site about fun travels with family and friends! I definitely was flattered that they would want me for this, but also a little horrified at being on TV talking about seeing ghosts! I will have to admit to you, that not many people in my life know that this is my interest and hobby. Stella is my pen name and anonymity has always been my goal. The thought of coming out of the ghost hunting closet scared me more than the ghosts! However, after many assuring conversations with the producer and encouragement from Erica, Bridget and my family, I decided that it was a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity and that I had to take it.
The episode that they wanted me for was featuring The Menger Hotel in San Antonio, Texas. If you have read the accounts of our visits there, you are well aware of the interest in this very historic hotel. They also wanted Bridget to tell of her experiences at The Crescent Hotel in Arkansas. The next thing that I know, the two of us are on a plane headed for Los Angeles to film our segments. I can’t begin to tell you how many times the two of us looked at each other and said “How in the world did we get here?!” and “What the hell were we thinking?!” I think that you can follow my drift here. Excited and mortified all at the same time.
The people at A&E treated us very well and everyone that we had contact with were so nice and hospitable, we could not have been more impressed with all of them. It would have been a completely positive experience, but something strange happened when we arrived at the studio to do the filming. I had been having a little sinus pressure that morning, but nothing intense. We walked into the studio and suddenly I felt as though a vice had gripped my head and shortly thereafter, I became violently ill. Nothing like this had ever happened to me. I struggle with sinus problems rarely, but this almost knocked me to the floor. I got through it though and due to some miraculous tricks by makeup artist, Roxy, I was presentable enough to shoot my interview. The interview went well (as far as I know) and was a fascinating experience. After it was completed, we took some pictures of the soundstage, crew and some group shots with the producer that conducted my interview. When I got home and examined them, there were orbs were all around me. I truly feel that explained my sudden illness…something was in that studio that really didn’t want me telling their story, or was robustly cheering me on.
About a month later, I was given the opportunity to travel to The Menger and do some location shots for what they refer to as the B-roll. That was a blast! Bridget went with me and we wished that Erica could have gone, but she had another commitment. I have never done anything like this in my life and it was so much fun. I learned a lot about how these shows are filmed and by the end we had a little gallery of onlookers trying to figure out who the heck I was! I could hear them talking and trying to remember if they had seen me on the news and then someone exclaimed, “No, she’s a famous ghost hunter!” How hysterical! Me..a famous ghost hunter? During the next break I turned to them and said “No, I’m just a suburban housewife…that may have seen a ghost.”
The Menger location shoot was produced and filmed by Barry Conrad who is a very famous and accomplished film maker, producer, ghost hunter and author. It was a thrill and a treat to get to work with him and hear his amazing stories. Please visit his website at www.barcon.com to learn more about him and to find out about his book A True Account of the San Pedro Haunting. It is a fascinating and true tale about a horrifying experience with this very haunted house. It is actually featured in the pilot for My Ghost Story which aired last fall to rave reviews and a demand by the public for more. This is what started the upcoming series that they included me in.
We come to the end of an exciting and fun day of shooting at The Menger, when I ask Bridget to take a picture of Barry and me. The camera unexplainably zoomed in on us and captured a wild image in front of Barry’s face. Look at this!
Then a crowd had gathered in the original lobby area to talk with Barry and ask him about his experiences. I started taking pictures and was stunned by what I caught. He had been telling them about the ghost maid, Sallie, that haunts The Menger and that I was there because I had personally encountered her , along with other things. I took a picture of him talking to the group about this and then I turned and took a picture directly across the lobby from them, aimed at a mirror. When I returned home and put the pictures on the computer, I noticed that there was a woman right in the middle of the group, that was not there at all that day. She has her hair pulled back in a bun, on the left side of the mirror image and has a wild look in her eyes. I swear to you, This woman was not in this group and that is verified by looking at the picture that I took immediately before this one. It still gives me chills to look at this photo. From all accounts that I have read about her and my memory of what she looked like when I ran into her in person, this is definitely Sallie.
Before:
Who is this?
I think that this is probably the best ghostly image that I have caught so far in a photo. I hope that you can see it well on this site and would love to know what you think about this one. I also, hope that you will tune into My Ghost Story when it airs sometime this summer and support your old buddy Stella…not my real name.
*Update: The premier of the new series My Ghost Story is scheduled for July 17 on the Biography channel. Consult your local listings about the time and at this time I do not know when my particular episode will air, but I am sure that they will all be great!
Ghost Tour – New Orleans, LA
June 30, 2010 – 9:00 am
Nothing says “Thanksgiving” like packing the family up and heading to New Orleans for a ghost tour. This should give you some insight to how “original” my family is. Stan, two grown daughters, one son-in-law and I took off for a festive adventure in Nola. We stayed at The Sheraton on Canal Street with magnificent 49th story views (thanks to an awesome friend in the travel industry that had our rooms upgraded!) of the French Quarter. I have never heard of it being haunted, but some interesting orbs appeared in pictures of the grand lobby.
On to the more important information about the ghost tour. Before we went on the tour, we had dinner at Pat O’Brien’s. The food was great and it is reported to be quite haunted. We took some pictures and there were some fairly interesting orbs.
We then went across the street and joined our tour. Haunted History Tours is the tour company that we used and you can view their website at: http://www.hauntedhistorytours.com/Haunted.htm
Our tour guide was from Scotland and he was incredibly entertaining. I would have to say that he put on one of the best tours, of any kind, that I have ever taken. Maybe it was his accent or his theatrical flair for storytelling, but I was riveted from start to finish on his tour. We walked all over the French Quarter and heard shocking and spooky stories about the history of many of these old buildings. One of the most interesting places that he took us to was the LaLaurie Mansion. It was most recently owned by Nicholas Cage and then auctioned off to Johnny Depp. Believe it or not the story of the home’s history is even more interesting. It is very long and way too gruesome to tell in my little blog, but I encourage you to travel to New Orleans and book this tour immediately. We had many spooky feelings and experiences while on the tour and a few good pictures. Any way you look at it though, the tour will be a blast.
Later during this trip we ventured out to the plantation district, along River Road. We toured Nottaway Plantation, which has been featured on many ghost hunting shows, but most recently on Ghost Lab. I felt ill at ease and a cold spot in the main dining room of this stately home, but other than that, really nothing else to report.
I am hoping that Erica, Bridget and I may return together and do some more in depth research at a later date, but until then, here are a few of my pictures from the trip:
The Hotel Galvez – Galveston, Texas
June 29, 2010 – 9:00 am
The Hotel Galvez is a step back in time that I think we should all take from time to time. The lobby and front gallery area are so exquisite and charming. It takes you away from the “real world” which should be what a vacation does for you. There is an “Old World” charm and elegance that greats you when you drive up and then enter the lovely appointed lobby. You can feel the history and the gentility of a different time embrace you.
Now on to the subject at hand: “Is it Haunted?” Well, where do I begin? I visited with Stan for one night in April, 2009. I made a return visit with my partners in crime, Erica and Bridget, in August, 2009. On both trips we took the famous Dash Beardsly ghost tour of The Strand area. This is one of the best tours that I have taken and I learned so much history about the island. I am a native Texan and spent a lot of my childhood visiting Galveston, so I though there was not a lot they could teach me about the subject. I was so wrong! I couldn’t begin to go into the many tragedies that have taken place there, but you learn that there is a reason that this place is extremely haunted. Take the tour, but be forewarned: some of the stories are so graphic, that at times it turned my stomach. Here are some pictures from the tour:
As you can see, there was no shortage of orbs in the pictures. I don’t think you can take this tour and not get a haunted feeling and be sure to take lots of pictures…there is no telling what will turn up!
Now, about The Galvez. There are many stories and legends about ghosts residing there. The fifth floor in particular is supposed to be a hotspot. On my first visit, we stayed on a different floor, but did walk the haunted fifth floor hallway. I did not feel anything unusual and nothing turned up in pictures that I took. The second trip, the girls and I stayed on the fifth floor, but not on the haunted hallway or wing. When we arrived in the afternoon, we settled into our room and then walked over the supposed haunted area. We all felt something unusual as we turned the corner into that wing. It felt like the air was very heavy and we all felt the urge to leave immediately. As we started to leave we all smelled a very sweet floral fragrance. There was no one else around and it was not a perfume from one of us. This has been reported to signal the presence of a woman that tragically died in a room on this hall. Later that night, we revisited the area and did not experience anything. However, our K-2 meter did display some activity in our room. We sat in the bar/lobby area late in the evening and caught some interesting orbs in our pictures. I would say that we all left with the feeling that The Galvez does have some activity and the island itself is very spooky at night! I recommend staying at The Galvez and you must take the ghost tour.
Travel Tip: Eat at Luigi’s! Some of the best Italian food ever! A bonus is that it is reported to be haunted.
The Catfish Plantation – Waxahachie, Texas
June 28, 2010 – 12:59 pm
I have heard about the very haunted Catfish Plantation restaurant in Waxahachie, TX, for years! Every Halloween there are articles about this place in the newspaper. Well, Bridget, Erica and I needed a little adventure, so we decided that this would make a nice outing. One night in early October we set out to hopefully have a good dinner with a few ghosts added in.
When we arrived our first impression was that it was a lovely, quaint frame house that looked like it might belong in Mayberry with Barney and Aunt Bea coming out to great us. How could this sweet little place have anything spooky going on? We proceeded in and were greeted by a very sweet hostess and then were attended to by a friendly and efficient server. The food was very good and we enjoyed our conversation with our server. We asked her about her spooky experiences and she said there had been a number of them. They were currently having trouble keeping spoons or sometimes knives from disappearing after the tables were set up. The owner locked up the thermostat because he thought the staff was constantly changing the temperature. That didn’t help…it wasn’t the staff. Countless personal experiences have been related and retold on their website and you can also read the history and legends there: http://catfishplantation.com
I’m going to tell you the truth here. None of the three of us felt anything unusual or detected any spooky vibes while we were there. Of course, as is our way, we took tons of digital photos. We could tell that there were some orbs showing up, both inside and outside of the building, but it wasn’t until we got home and zoomed in on the computer, that we found more than orbs. The following are some of the best pictures:
We thought that these were pretty interesting and we couldn’t wait to catch the episode that would feature this establishment on Ghost Lab. We were told by the staff that it would be airing in November and that all they knew was that the people with the show said they caught some of their best evidence yet of paranormal activity. It turned out to be one of the best ghost shows that I have ever seen. They caught some incredible evidence and I recommend that you try to catch a rerun of the show or look for it on line via The Discovery Channel website.
Go to Catfish Plantation and indulge in some tasty fried delicacies, but don’t forget to take lots of pictures!
The Adolphus Hotel – Dallas, Texas
April 21, 2010 – 6:21 pm
Bridget, Erica and I were looking for a fun getaway in the Dallas area. If you investigate haunted hotels in Dallas, The Adolphus is sure to pop up. It is steeped in Dallas history and has had many famous and non-famous guests through the years. Some of them refuse to leave and like to hang around…so to speak. The top floor is supposed to be the site of a jilted bride who hanged herself. Is it just me, or does every single haunted hotel have a similar story? Note to potential brides: If you get left at the alter…do not, I repeat, do not kill yourself! Thank your lucky stars that you didn’t get stuck with what was most certainly a cad! You dodged a bullet… celebrate!!!
We decided to spend a Friday night at The Adolphus and as an added bonus we took a guest ghost hunter with us. It was Erica’s little sister, Tabitha. Do we all use fake names? You betcha! Anyway, we were excited to share this fun time with her and felt like she might stir up some paranormal activity. Her family has sited many instances where this has seemed to be the case.
We settled into our junior suite and were delighted at the size of it. With four of us it was helpful for the room to be so spacious. Bridget started feeling some very weird vibes the moment that we entered our room. It became so intense, that we decided to head downstairs to give her some relief. Before we left, we did take some pictures of the room and noted that orbs were present.
Research had told us that the Old Spaghetti Warehouse, near the hotel, is haunted. Again, has anyone ever heard of any Spaghetti Warehouse that isn’t haunted? We decided to eat there and sure enough many orbs turned up in the pictures. One picture in particular caught my attention. See if you see anything odd in this picture taken outside the restaurant:
Now it was time to head back to base camp and start our investigation. We took many pictures in the lobby area and then settled into the French Room Bar for a nightcap. Some lovely live jazz was regaling us in a warm and elegant sitting area. We caught more orbs in pictures and had a lovely, laugh filled evening. Bridget was no longer having a reaction to her surroundings and the K-2 meter did not turn up anything.
While we enjoyed our stay, none of us had the feeling that we were in an extremely haunted location. It could have just been the night we were there or the location of our room and you may have an entirely different experience there. It is still a lovely hotel for a little adventure.
Get Ready!
March 31, 2010 – 1:31 pm
I am sorry that we have been so delinquent on posting about our trips and findings and there are many stories that will be posted within the next two weeks. We have captured great evidence and have many exciting pictures to share. Here is a bit of a teaser…I think that one of the pictures that I will be displaying is the best one yet! I think that is saying a lot if you review what we have captured so far. So stay tuned and thanks for being patient…more is on the way.
Where Have We Been?!
October 19, 2009 – 8:43 pm
The Whole Haunted Story
There have been way too many months that have past with no word from Stella or Stan. Does this mean that there have been no ghost hunting or golf trips? No way! I can guarantee that will never be the case. In fact, there have been so many trips that there has been very little time left to write about them. I will try to give a synopsis about the ghost hunting end of things and later (Hopefully!) Stan will tell about his many golf adventures.
Jefferson, Texas
In April Bridget, Erica and I traveled to Jefferson, Texas to see if it really is the most haunted little city in Texas. I am going to have to say that it should definitely be on the list of spooky places to check out.
The first night that we were there, we stayed at The Jefferson Hotel. That is a spooky place…in every way. Just be aware that when you stay overnight, there may not be any staff that stay on site. They leave an emergency number and a security code to come and go through the main lobby. Just letting you know. Also, if you are not there at a busy time, it is possible that you would be the only overnight guest…just so you know. Our night was filled with scary sounds of dragging noises in the hallway. We could not find any human activity to explain this. We took many pictures and found a lot of orbs, but the picture that Erica took in our room was the most unusual. There is a shadow that shows up in the mirror, over the lamp shade shadow, that has no explanation.
The next day we had the privilege of touring the famously haunted Grove House. Celebrated author Mitchel Whitington is the owner of this Jefferson treasure and a most gracious host. The day that we were going to be in town was not on their tour schedule, but I called ahead and they accommodated us by arranging a private tour. It was a wonderful time and we did have orbs show up in many of our pictures. Be sure and put this on your list as a “must see” if you are in Jefferson and also check out The Grove website and pick up a copy of each of Mitchel’s books. He is a grand story teller and I had a blast reading his spooky books. I highly recommend the tour and all of his books. Here is a picture of The Grove at night:
We took a ghost tour that evening and it was very thorough and informative. I would definitely recommend this tour when you are in town. It is long and a lot of walking, so take comfy shoes. I will include a few pictures from the tour:
The top picture is a close up of an image caught at The Shluter Mansion in Jefferson. It may be difficult to see, but I see a little girl with a bow in her hair looking down over the balcony. This is cropped from the picture, in it’s entirety, in the middle. The third picture is of an orb covered building in the downtown area.
That evening we stayed in the President Grant Room at the Excelsior Hotel in Jefferson. I love this hotel and we all really loved our room. It is rumored that this is the second most haunted room in the hotel and that the Jay Gould Room is the most haunted…I do not agree. I have never stayed in the Gould Room, but I can’t imagine that it has more activity than ours. We had a number of experiences in our room. Right after we turned in for the night, Erica had someone get into bed with her that was not on the approved list! She said that she could clearly feel something sit down at the end of her bed and the impact was undeniable. Erica was startled, to say the least, but being the trooper that she is…she soldiered on! Later in the night Bridget and I were awakened to hear clear footsteps cross our room and enter the bathroom. A number of other thumps and bumps were heard as the night turned into day. We were big girls and did not run screaming into the night. The next morning we took full advantage of our complimentary plantation breakfast and it was to die for…so to speak. I would recommend this hotel and our particular room if you ever go to Jefferson!
Many More Stories to Report…Stay Tunned!
Snuffer’s Restaurant – Dallas, Texas
March 25, 2009 – 11:43 am
Bridget, Erica and I were looking for a fun dinner out that might also combine a little ghostly activity. Our obvious choice was to dine at Snuffer’s. Snuffer’s is a fun and delicious place to grab a burger, cheddar fries and a margarita in the heavily atmospheric area of Lower Greenville in Dallas. There are other newer locations, but this is the one that caught our interest. It was originally a biker bar and was reportedly built over a children’s cemetery. According to many books on paranormal activity about the Dallas area, Snuffer’s is supposed to be the most haunted restaurant. We will see about that.
We knew from our research that we should request a table in the original part of the restaurant, hopefully with a view of the hall outside the restrooms. This is where many people have reported seeing apparitions. It was a Wednesday night at about 8:00P.M. and unseasonably warm. Due to the nice weather, most of the patrons were seated on the patio making it easy to pick our own location inside. We were promptly greeted by our server and she was a delight. The talk about her ghostly experiences would have to wait until later. We try not to barge into an establishment firing off questions about what people have seen. What we try to do is get a feel for the place and the staff to decide who, if anyone, we should approach about the ghost stories. While Erica was visiting the restroom, another employee just offered up that the place was “very haunted.” This was unsolicited, but welcome news. It seemed unusual that this conversation seemed to pop up out of no where and continued until Erica left the room.
Now it was time to find out what our server has experienced. She has had some unusual experiences, especially after closing, but she had not been working there for very long. She told us that legend had it that when the place was a biker bar, a fight broke out, a man was stabbed, stumbled into the hallway and fell in the doorway of the men’s room where he died. Supposedly the door to that room opens on it’s own from time to time. Many people have reported seeing a milky apparition coming briefly out of this area and retiring back into the hall. Another apparition of a woman dressed in black is seen wandering through the restaurant, oblivious to the patrons.
It was getting late at this point and most of the customers had left. This was a perfect opportunity to take some pictures without bothering anyone. During our photo session the manager, came to visit with us. He was so nice to talk with us and was a very gracious host. He recanted the many legendary tales, but also told one of his own. He often has to take items up into the attic of the restaurant. There are two lights up there and it was annoying that one of the lights would only work on some of his visits. It was eerie up there and he would have appreciated all of the lights doing there jobs. Sometimes when he would enter, the light in question would already be on, when he knew he had turned it off. Finally he had an electrician come to fix the problem. The electrician was seriously puzzled. There was no wiring to that light at all. How in the world could it ever have been on?
Several other staff members stopped to talk with us and were so generous with their time and stories. One even took my camera back to take pictures in the kitchen area where he had seen a black misty shadow. The place scares him enough that he avoids going into that part of the building, yet he braved it in the interest of my research. Bravo!
As we walked past the bar on our way to leave, Bridget saw a bottle tip on its own accord and clink the bottle next to it. While I did not see it, I did hear it. Bridget, as always, was stone-cold sober at the time. This phenomenon is reported to happen frequently (The bottles moving, not Bridget being sober.)
We said our goodbyes and headed for the car. Just before leaving I took a number of exterior pictures of the building. Look at all of the orbs! This is an interesting spot.
After reviewing the other pictures from the evening, we found many orbs inside, as well. The most interesting interior picture is this one. I see a face in a transparent orb, with something red behind it. We took many pictures in this area, from many angles. There was nothing in the area that would have looked like this in the reflection of the mirror on that wall. 
I can’t wait to go back to Snuffer’s for the great food, the lovely staff and the hopes of seeing a ghost!
Revisiting The Menger
March 10, 2009 – 1:10 pm
If you haven’t already read about our first encounter with this haunted hotel, you will want to read that post first. You can find it under “Pages” at the bottom of this site.
Week before last, Stan and I had a chance to revisit The Menger Hotel in San Antonio, Texas. It was a last minute trip and we only stayed one night, but it was eventful. First of all, I took many pictures, as I always do, and some interesting orbs appeared in the original lobby and in our room. During the night, there were many unexplained noises and we believe an “incident” happened in the room next door to ours, but we could never find out what it was.
Here is the interesting part. We left our car in the hotel garage all day. That evening, when Stan and I went to get it and head out-of-town, he saw something. While I had stopped by the restroom, he was looking out at the valet stand. He noticed an oddly dressed maid in a rather old fashioned uniform. She appeared to be taking care of the trash can, but would never look up for him to see her face. Suddenly it dawned on him. She fit the description of the ghost maid “Sallie” that my friends and I encountered on an earlier trip. He looked back down the hall to see if I was coming, so I could verify this. When he looked back to see her again, she had disappeared. Finally, I returned to see a puzzled and startled Stan. He recanted what had just happened and then asked the valet what he saw. He too had seen her, not seen where she had gone and had never seen anyone dressed like her doing that job. He was clearly shaken! Have we both seen Sallie now? You never know.