Ghost Hunting in Charleston

Well, I finally got to go ghost hunting in Charleston this weekend. It was a lot of fun. Part of the fun (in fact most of it) was just getting to go with my friends to Charleston again after all this time. It is a beautiful city. There are so many restaurants, shops, and interesting historical sights, that it would be impossible to see everything in just one day. It keeps you wanting to come back for more. Still, we did discover two new places that we will definitely need to revisit next time.

First of all, to get this out of the way, as usual we didn't find any ghosts. That's why there's no picture in this particular post. We didn't even do very much ghost hunting. At the end of the day we went on a "ghost tour" that was featuring some of Charleston's most famous haunted graveyards. Our tour guide let us in and explained what some of the symbols on the graves meant and told us a few famous Charleston ghost stories. She was an ex-school teacher, and it showed in the way she emphasized certain words, etc. It gave me a warm fuzzy, making me remember when story tellers would come to tell folktales at my elementary school. Anyway, we heard the story of the Fisher couple, some murderers who preyed on travelers new to Charleston in the early 1800's, the sad story of a girl sealed into a tomb prematurely, and a few other stories of premature burial. We also saw a picture taken in one of the cemeteries we couldn't tour of an apparition kneeling at her own tomb. The last stop was Philadelphia Ally, and I have to admit, the place gives you a very creepy feeling. Here we were told the story of "The Whistling Doctor."

We thought we caught something in a picture taken in Philadelphia Ally (the "Dueling Ally"). We zoomed in on a spot in the picture that looked like half of a face, a green skeleton grinning in the top corner. We got all excited, but then as we looked at the other pictures, we realized it was just a clump of green leaves that just happened to be clustered together in such a way that it looked like a face in that particular picture. Since the green spot was in the same place in all of the pictures and didn't look like anything in any of the others, it had to be leaves. Bummer.

Still, it was a very fun trip. We spent the first part of the day walking towards the Battery. We didn't actually go there, but we walked along a nice shaded trail in a park that overlooked the Harbor. We saw what appeared to be a boating class practicing in the harbor and I dubbed the term "Sailboat Jousting" because it seemed that the boats were actually trying to hit each other. We walked around for a while, reading monuments, looking at houses (there were so many for sale, it made me really wish I was rich enough to buy one), and taking in the sights. Then, we headed back towards the main drag and decided to eat in a restaurant/pub/museum (I kid you not, it was also a museum) called "The Buccaneer." We have to go there again.

The Buccaneer is dedicated to the early days of piracy. The floor was stone/cement, the tables look like something in a boat, and there are relics and pirate themed pictures hanging everywhere. The only thing that wasn't pirate themed was the music (which sadly was nineties pop at the time), but still, it was awesome. The food was good, the drinks were good, and the atmosphere made me wish it was "Talk Like a Pirate Day." We just missed it too, because "Talk Like a Pirate Day" would be Sunday, the next day. I won't lie, we did a little talking like a pirate anyway.

After that was over, we dropped by the parking lot to get my purse, and there was a very sudden and very bad rainstorm. So, we hung around in the parking lot and talked. It was kind of a nice break from walking around and gave us a chance to unwind a little and kill a little time before the ghost tour. Plus, thankfully the rain dropped the temperature significantly so we finally got to cool off.

When it stopped raining we made an appearance at the tour office so that they would know were were coming and then went to an old-timey looking general store nearby to wait. I don't remember the name, but the theme there was moonpies. There were moonpies everywhere, but that wasn't the best part. In the center of the store was an ice cream/malt shop sort of area and it was here that I discovered "Red Velvet Cake Ice Cream." Best discovery ever. That had to have been some of the best ice cream I've ever had, so next time we go we have to drop by there again.

After that was the tour, which I already mentioned. It was fun too. I didn't expect to see any ghosts on the tour, but by the time it was over we were all too exhausted to do anymore ghost hunting. We decided to go home and review the pictures. While we were taking a few of our other friends home, one of our friends told us some real ghost stories that happened in his family, and let me tell you, they were far more frightening than the ones that the tour guide told us. It made me kind of happy we were going home. I'm reasonably certain that my current house isn't haunted. Getting home safe and sound is part of the fun of ghost hunting. It's an adventure that you return home from feeling more appreciative of your non-haunted house.

Anyway, we'll have to go back to Charleston again sometime soon. I think next time we'll do a bit more ghost hunting, but we'll have to at least revisit "The Buccaneer" and that General Store. Next time, I would also like to browse some of the antique stores and pay more attention to main street. But, we'll save that for later. In the meantime, possibly in a few months, we're thinking of inspecting a different sort of ghost tour. In Savannah, they have a "Haunted Pubs" tour. Sounds like a plan for the near future.

A Sad Experience

Well, as usual, ghost hunting was less than productive. We were a little last minute about deciding on a place to look, so we decided on three places that we've already visited before; Thomas Cooper Library, the Apartments at Olympia Mill, and Longstreet theater. We also decided to try to find Old State Road that is supposed to be close to our house.

For those who don't know, in Thomas Cooper Library, the bathroom stall doors are known to slam shut, along with plastic toilet paper containers suddenly banging open when no one else is in the restrooms. (This has happened to me along with two of my friends.) Olympia Mill is supposed to be haunted by the ghosts of children who used to work there. People in the new apartments hear the sound of footsteps running up and down the hallways and have seen the faces of children in their windows and heard them laughing or crying. And, Longstreet Theater is said to be the home of a Confederate ghost who doesn't like Yankess. The basement was made into a morgue during the Civil War. At the end of Old State Road, there is a set of old railroad tracks that are said to be haunted by children who were killed during an accident. According to the story if you put your car in neutral on the tracks, someone/something pushes the car off to safety. Hand prints have been seen on the bumpers.

Well, to make a long story short, we didn't find anything. (Truthfully, I didn't expect to find anything, but it was more disappointing than usual.) The high point of the night was looking for Old State Road, mostly because we got lost the first place we turned and were laughing because we fit every horror movie cliche in the book. (We were speculating as to which one of us would die first. Since I was the only girl we determined I would be first, so I put on my reading/driving glasses to add some to my survivability, becoming the "geeky girl".) Still, either way, we didn't find the road. Next time we'll know to take the GPS.

Looking in the city was a total bust. First of all, people who aren't students are no longer allowed in Thomas Cooper Library. They asked for our student IDs and we were left slack jawed and having to go back to the car. I find this hard to believe Thomas Cooper is only for students since it's listed among other libraries on all other library computers, and I know for a fact they didn't used to check for ID. Still, the point is we weren't allowed in.

Olympia Mill apartments are very secure with key locks on the doors and cameras. We debated about waiting until someone came out to sneak in, that would be creepy and stalker-like. Not to mention, Olympia Mill is a very bad area and we didn't want to hang around that long.

The only place where we had any success was Longstreet Theater. We walked right into the student lounge, but it was very anti-climactic. Even though it was creepy and oppressive feeling, as always, we didn't find anything and nothing came up on the few pictures we took.

The evening ended with everyone taking solace in fresh Krispy Kreme doughnuts. I may be dieting, but I'm not proud. I splurged and had one just this once myself. Hopefully next time we'll have more luck. I really do plan to go somewhere new next time we do this, possibly even Charleston. Still, it'll probably be a few more months before I try it again.

Update on Ghost Hunting

I almost forgot to mention that we're planning on going ghost hunting with a group of friends this weekend, Saturday night. I'm really excited about it since I haven't gone ghost hunting since my college days. I'm not sure where we're going yet, but I'll keep you posted. Our friend Chad has some good ideas about creepy places to go, so we'll probably leave it up to him. This blog is as much a reminder to me as an update for you. I need to charge up the digital camera, the video camera, and try to locate the tape recorder and compass. Wish us luck! I'll blog about it after the fact, though given our past history I'm pretty confident we won't find anything. Still, it's worth a shot, and going to creepy places and taking pictures is always fun and interesting.