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| This is the actual Hotel |
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| 120 rooms of Paranormal Goodness |
Item: Location: Somewhere in Waldo County Date:
February 20, 2006 In my research around the state,
I kept coming across a story about a hotel in Northport, that had burnt down, killing two children and there guardians. The
story goes that ever since, the place, now is haunted by these poor souls. Also several photos of the chimneys have been taken,
once developed the burnt down hotel appears fully restored in the photos. Now, I hear a story like this, I’m thinking
wouldn’t that be nice? Why hasn’t the photo been published? Just where is this diner, that has the picture on
its wall? Finally, how long till spring, so we can make the under an hour journey to attempt to find this site, to find whether
it has any merit or not? In the meantime my ever
spinning squirrel cage that is my mind is thinking, “maybe, just maybe there is similar sites closer, and well worth
investigating in the meantime.” One such hotel, a spiritualism retreat burnt down at the turn of the last century, on
the nearby Verona Island. Well, after a brief prodding in that direction, turned up, more camps, houses and private property,
per acre, then what seemed to be a city block. After driving down the extremely steep, narrow tar and then dirt road. I quickly
found nothing readily available to investigate, without drawing any attention to myself. So I quickly retreated and moved
to plan B. Plan B, turned out to be a cornucopia
of possible paranormal activity (say that four times fast). When sizing up sites to investigate, of the non-residential variety,
besides the obvious, cemetery. Next down the list for me would be foundations, forts and light houses. Well I struck a gold
mine, this next unmentioned site, (I have hopes to go back, without getting dogs turned loose on me). This site for starters was a huge 120 room hotel, that only lasted for
30 years or so, back in the late 1800’s, burning down in 1898. Turns out, most of the humongous foundation, is still
on site, while most of the granite blocks from the foundation had been moved close by to make islands and car stops in the
nearby parking lot and roadway. My co-investigator
and I had trooped down the long 1 ½ mile or more to the site from the closed for the season gate. This having helped
my newly discovered technique of wearing my digital camera inside my sweatshirt to keep it warm, so it would actually work
when I needed it. Having been there before, over the years for other reasons, mainly for artifacts, the foundation had basically
gone overlooked by me. This time it was different. Camera in one hand and digital recorder in the other, I hit the site wide
open. Snagging a nice first evp, I did a continuous
evp sweep, while snapping picture after picture, in hopes of catching the outline of the former hotel, like Northport. After
about ten, one minute clips, I handed the recorder off to my usually lucky co-investigator, while I continued snapping pics.
We swept the area, and then moved off to the fort foundation, eyeing the well inhabited light house, catching myself actually
drooling a little, at the site of the light, and making a mental squirrel cage note, to do a complete investigation in the
spring, when we can pass ourselves off as out of stators, a little too camera crazy, and a recorder disguised as a cell phone.
The fort didn’t really have much of a vibe,
at least from my co-investigator, but from there she picked up quite a bit back by the foundation, down a path that went around
the back of the hotel. We abandoned the fort, for a more thorough investigation later, and headed back up to the hotel. On the first walkthrough of a site, I always try to hit everything equal,
and then later after the evidence is sifted and sorted, if another more thorough investigation is called for, we’re
better prepared. I had been watching a lot of those
travel type shows about ghost hunters, and had seen a team do a almost séance type evp sweep with eyes closed, concentrating
on images from what was in the past. I quickly sketched out the plan to my co-investigator, leaving out the part about closing
our eyes. We stood at the door of the hotel, or
where it once had been, she ran the recorder, while we both concentrated. I had closed my eyes and she had closed hers without
the other knowing. She first saw a young lady in a ballroom gown, and a man in some kind of uniform. With her eyes closed,
she turned her head, from side to side around me, who was standing in front of her. The image disappeared at each turn of
the head, and returned when she again faced me, as I concentrated. When the minute or so was up, I opened my eyes and she
excitedly told me what she had seen. It’s not a pretty sight when you see a full grown man, almost jump for joy, and
do a cart wheel. I quickly handed her the recorder
again, while I ran the video, taking a movie of another concentrated effort. This time she saw the same woman, but with a
different person, talking to an older lady, in what looked like an apron, or some servant/staff type outfit. I was hoping
it wasn’t a scene from Bleak House she had seen the night before. If I could have only gotten a camera inside her eyelids,
to see what she saw. The hotel was known for its
huge ballroom, and the upper crust of society. We are definitely going back, and as I sort out the hour’s worth of evp’s,
I’ll post them up as well.
PARANORMAL
INVESTIGATION: RETURN TO THE GHOST HOTEL LOCATION: BETWEEN SANDY POINT AND SEARSPORT DATE: LABOR DAY SEPTEMBER 3, 2006 Labor Day
in the Forester family is unlike most people’s idea of the perfect holiday. I had storyboarded a return trip to the
famed Hotel foundation, of my above investigations, as a Victorian Family Picnic. My Sister, Thibs short for Theodosius decided
to try her hand at the Paranormal Investigation racket. My mother Beatrice had been anxious to get back to the Foundation
with her last effort, producing visions of a ball room dance, and a lady in gown, and a man in uniform/tuxedo. I had hurriedly tried to separate Beatrice from Thibs and her family, because
it is almost impossible to get a uncontaminated EVP, with a group of people present, especially with one mimicking the demon
from Amityville growling, “GET, OUT!” at every chance. After the picnic and quick trip to the beach, I left Thibs,
and bustled Mom up and to the parking lot, hotel area. In fact carrying all the bags, picnic baskets and equipment, short
of tucking her under my arm and carrying her up as well, stowing them hurriedly into my trunk, only to turn and find Thibs
had somehow made it all the way back up from the beach area, not wanting to be left out. Not to be disheartened, I still attempted an EVP sweep of the foundation with Beatrice. We attempted the closed
eye, concentrating while recorder running, sweep. I as usual got no visual, but plenty of EVP action, Beatrice on the other
hand saw her Ball Room, again. I left her to run a recording on her own, and joined Thibs and family as they lounged in the
field just off the fort foundation. Thibs excitedly pointed
in the direction of a downed tree, and proclaimed, “I just saw a man in uniform standing there, with a long mustache”.
Of course, I quickly grabbed her arm and led her to the spot, to run a separate EVP sweep, while I took photos. The tree itself
managed some faces. But the EVP sweep came up negative. To the dozens of families that continuously traipsed through the area,
in between our recordings, we must have looked like a bunch of loons coming home to roost. By this time, Beatrice had exited the hotel woods and joined Thib’s family, as they
reclined on the lawn. We quickly joined them in an almost football like huddle, to compare notes. I hadn’t seen anything,
but the two girls had seen everything, at which I was quickly becoming the Charlie Brown of the equation, stifling a “Rats!”
I know I come off as sounding negative, but in actuality it was one of the better investigations I’ve been on. I managed
several EVP’s of my own, including conversations. My only drawback was not seeing the Ball room, yet again. I knew getting these two together, although relatively safe without the other
two sisters of the Coven present, but with all 4 of them together, would have been like having the four horsewomen of the
apocalypse, saddle up. Thankfully, Glenda and Margaret Hamilton couldn't make it, one could be heard to exclaim, "I'll
get you my pretty!" as her knobby knees raced her rackety bike out of sight. We avoided the whole mid-day eclipse, turning
day into night, and heck the seas didn't even boil. I would have had to bring my atomic flash blinders, because there
would have been a mushroom cloud. I pointed the two towards
the hotel foundation and turned them loose. They managed a clear EVP, and my sister quickly laid claim to one of the photos
she might have managed to take, without knowing how to use the camera, around the photos I took of the same general spot.
The figure of a woman, hair in a bun, with a long flowing dress, or it might be a tree trunk, I’m pretty sure if it
wasn’t my photo, then it was a tree trunk. Isn’t Sibling Rivalry Grand?
PARANORMAL INVESTIGATION: LOCATION: SAME AS THE ABOVE Late
September, a Sunday Morning, on a foggy rainy weekend. You'd think the perfect time to sneak into a Park Area to
run an investigation without anybody for hundreds of feet. Well you'd think so if you were me. Of course you'd
be wrong like I was, but hey that's the biz. The
rain had let up and the fog was so thick you could cut it with a knife. All the way to the park there wasn't a hint
of wind. We pull into the parking area, and there turns out to be about a 30 knot gale blowing in on the point.
Not quick to give up, the minute I stepped out of the car, a visitor from some other part of the country pulled in right behind
us. Still not one to blow a gasket, (but the
pressure was cooking) I quickly trudged off towards the bell tower, in hopes of running some EVP's before the other hearty
vacationers swarmed the area in the dense fog and wind. As
I scurried like a mad hatter towards the bell tower, there of course was a member of the ground crew, using a chain pole saw
to trim the apple orchard. In the fog and the wind. I reached for the bell tower door and it of course was locked.
Turning around, my co-investigator had made it as
far as the memorial for a fallen General at the fort foundation. The vacationers had already run past everything else
and were behind me as I turned. How, the age of the 3 was well over 270, could move that quick I still haven't figured
out. But I hope they enjoyed the locked bell tower, and the wild life fun of the worker gas sawing apple trees.
The attempt at the Hotel Foundation, once the others
left, proved to be uneventful. My Co-Investigator saw none of the previous Ball room, the dancers, or the Man in uniform.
The EVP's came up empty. I did manage an
unexplainable outline of a person either stepping behind a tree all dressed in black, or walking away from us with a tree
blocking half of her. I can guarantee we were alone, and it wasn't my co-investigator who doesn't own a stitch
of black clothing. Also I can sneak in a shadow
matrix of a man in uniform. On the way home,
we stopped at a cemetery, in the fog, thinking it would be a safe place to work. Within minutes a red truck had backed
behind my parked car, and was sitting there watching us move through the cemetery. Mad enough to storm back to the car
and drive it into the cemetery to show that we didn't appreciate whoever it was, or whatever they thought they were doing.
Once we had settled back down, and started to work
the cemetery, I caught a flicker of a shadow out of the corner of my eye. The same cemetery as my paranormal video page
evidence. I quickly converged on the area, attempting to EVP and film the area, in hopes of recapturing the flickering
shadow. When the rain started. I
after having a hissy fit, attempting to dissuade my co-investigator from continuing in the rain, explaining that my electronics
do not like being soaked. Caught an unknown disembodied grown, complete with echo. I can't explain it, but
it does provide Goosebumps.
Paranormal
Investigation: The 4th trip to the Hotel Location: Point your compass at the North Star and straight on till morning. Date: November 25, 2006 A lot of Paranormal Investigators have favorite spots. Teams have a place
that feels like home. Be it a hotel that a certain Maine Horror writer wrote a book about. Be it a sanitarium where thousands
died of tuberculosis. My team has officially found a favorite spot. 4.5 investigations in one year, makes it a favorite. The previous trip, had yielded little, with the high winds, and die hard tourists, dedicated to seeing the
place in its closed state. This Saturday investigation, we had absolutely no excuses to
make, and from my view, we got some of the best photographic evidence. The day was crystal clear, around mid 50's out,
and not a hint of wind. No tourist in site, we put our heads down and marched towards the hotel foundation. We tried our meditation
technique, while running EVP's. The last trip yielded nothing. This trip was a different story. My Co-investigator now
infamous for the girl in ballroom dress, and man in uniform, at this site. So different spirits inhabiting the ruins, this
time. Adding credibility to the vision, if she witnessed the same people every time, the power of suggestion would come into
play. This time she witnessed an older lady, in (You'll never catch me saying Victorian wear), period dress. Either a
cook, or maid or some other such domestic. Skirts, and maybe a shawl, with the cool weather. My
first attempt yielded a woman walking from the back corner of the foundation, towards us in a bright light. I haven't
quite got the focus technique down, so I soon lost the vision. The lady in the above picture was exactly where my vision came
from. Sure my camera batteries were full, when I left the car, basically died moments after we hit the foundation. Causing
me to trot out, and get the replacement batteries, and head back into the foundation. But I was way to excited to be disappointed,
by the brief interruption. We managed an EVP with a man saying a woman's name. Possibly
attempting to help us identify the person, we both saw, and photographed. Avoiding the
negative view of most of my pics, these photos, shadow matrixes at best appeared to be all over the park. As we walked the
fort, the road that leads up from the beach and orchard we could feel as if someone was watching us. I even mentioned it at
the time. With little hair on top of my head, the hair on my neck was definitely standing up. Causing me to snap pic after
pic, back towards the hotel foundation.
| Different Photo, same Grey Lady |
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| Looks like she's cooking at a stove |
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