Episode 29: Haunted America: Midwestern States Pt. 4

Join us as we complete our exploration of hauntings in the Midwestern states. Have a haunted experience or story to share? Send us an email to readytoconnectpodacst@gmail.com or reach out to us through our social media. Consider becoming a supporter through Patreon and get access to bonus content. Get Ready to Connect! 

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Transcript

SPEAKER_05 0:00

This podcast is for entertainment purposes only and does not constitute professional advice. The views, thoughts, and opinions expressed are the speakers' own and do not represent the views, thoughts, and opinions of their affiliated organizations.

SPEAKER_01 0:22

Hey everyone, welcome back to Ready to Connect. I'm Ryan. I'm Heather. And I'm Lisa. And today we're continuing our Haunted America series, continuing with the Midwest states. Can't wait to hear all about North Dakota, South Dakota, Nebraska, and Kansas. But before we get into that, does anyone want to share anything fun or interesting that happened over the past week?

SPEAKER_00 0:50

Yes.

unknown 0:52

Okay.

SPEAKER_00 0:54

I want to talk about how we take energy for granted for like a hot second here. Sure. You know, energy truly has no boundaries. Energy, I think we we limit our thinking just because we're in such an instantaneous society, but it is a real thing. It is a real something always happening, whether it's static or clean energy or renewable energy or just the sun's energy moving through. But over the weekend, uh decided to do some antiquing. Um, love going to antique stores, love listening to all the old pieces talk to me where they've been, where they've come from, and why they're in the stores. But we decided to go to um we decided to go up to Westfield Mass. And Lisa and I actually have some friends that live in Westfield Mass, and we haven't seen them in very, very long time. And uh so to myself, as we rolled into Westfield, I was like, gee, I wonder how you know my friends are doing and and left it there, completely left it there. Went into the antique store, and no sooner, about 20 minutes later, my phone is binging, and it's my friend, it's our friend messaging me, hey, I miss you. Can we come for a healing? Um, would also like to do a reading with you. And I was like, you know, it just goes to show you when you think about somebody, that person, if they're tuned in, they're getting the message. You know, if you ever get that feeling you need to call somebody, call them. If you ever get the feeling you need to check on someone, check on them. Energy just has no boundaries whatsoever. And I'm totally excited that they're coming to visit. Like it's been it's been several years. So, how exciting is that? It just resolidifies over and over again that we are energy, we are one, we are what we think. And you know, if if you're manifesting, keep working at it because it really does work.

SPEAKER_04 3:06

That's amazing. I think that's so cool. Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 3:09

I know, like, hadn't thought about them in years because we haven't seen them, right? And like, boom, with literally within 20 minutes, she's blowing up my messenger. I want to come see you. And I I mean, it's just incredible. So, you know, when you're sitting there and you think you need to talk to somebody, you're wondering how someone is, call them, FaceTime them, do whatever it takes because that's a real, that's a real interaction happening, right, Lisa? Right, right. Yeah.

SPEAKER_04 3:39

Often, often when you get that kind of nudge, when you say, Oh, I'm thinking of somebody like randomly out, you know, even if you're not visiting their town like you were in Westfield, um, and and you think of somebody, it's more more often than not, they're doing the same thing, and you're getting that energy transference to yourself. You're getting that nudge. And either they're thinking about you, they're thinking of contacting you, or they're wanting to talk to you and they just aren't reaching out. And so always follow that little um spiritual nudge, I say, that energy nudge. So um yeah. Uh and it's funny because when you messaged me, I think you sent me a picture um of a Darth Vader mask, which I now want to have. Um, and you said you were in Westfield. I thought you were actually going up to see them.

SPEAKER_00 4:25

Oh no, no, I actually haven't.

SPEAKER_04 4:28

So I was thinking of them too at that moment. So that's really kind of cool. Yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_00 4:32

It was really cool. So don't ever give hope, right? Like don't ever give up faith. Always listen to that that kind of speak in the back of your mind or in your ear if you're clairvoyant or in that gut feeling where you just know, you know, it was incredible. Like it was it was just a gee, I wonder how they are, you know, and boom. She heard super cool. How about you?

SPEAKER_04 4:58

What did you guys do this weekend? I um well on Friday, I I I had a full day of clients Saturday. So Friday I kind of took for myself a little bit and I met up with my sister-in-law, and we did what one of our sister dates. We're getting together once a month to do something fun. And we went to the Korean um soul spa in sauna for body scrubs and massage. And I'm gonna just say that it was a really interesting experience. I would repeat it. Um, I would do it again. I'm just not gonna repeat exactly everything that went on. Just put it that way. I had a great time with my sister in one, I always do. Um, so it was a it was a fun experience to have. And um, I feel very close to her now. So there you go. Um and and another cool thing happened this this weekend. Um I called my daughter. Um, I had wanted to talk to her about something, and I and I had asked, Was it okay to call? I think it was on Saturday I called. And she said, Yeah, go ahead, I'm home. And unbeknownst to me, both her and her husband were in their living room on the floor with Cole, my grandson, doing tummy tum, you know, he's practicing trying to call. And um so I called, and she usually he loves the phone. He likes to go towards electronic devices. I don't know, our kids are being born exact as digital babies, I guess. But um apparently she didn't show him the phone, and but she had me on speaker and he just heard my voice and he stopped what he was doing, turned his little body around, and tried to crawl to my voice. I'm like, do you think he actually recognized it was me? Because of course he did. So I that just made me so happy. My my little grandma heart just exploded, kind of thing, and um yeah, so he's really starting to do the army crawl now. So that sees him, he's mobile. He's mobile. I was watching him yesterday and he I forgot to tell my daughter about this, but he went over to one of the little cupboards, but on their TV, you know, the table that's under the TV and started trying to open it. And I went, uh-oh. And he stopped immediately and he turned around, like, oh it's gone. He turned around and he tried to like fake play with a toy. It was the cutest thing ever. Cutest thing ever. But yeah, that was my weekend. Otherwise, it was just kind of chill, yeah. Yeah. How about yeah, so wow.

SPEAKER_01 7:22

Well, uh, speaking of uh connections and everything, I I felt like I had a connection in a in a different way. Um, speaking of energy and whatnot. So usually I I as as I've talked about on this podcast as well, like I have a strong connection with my grandmother that passed, and uh it's incredible because she still pops up on Facebook, like in the chats area on the side, whenever if I need a message or if like someone in the family needs a message, her face will just pop up there. And so that's what happened again the other day, and I was like, okay, who needs a message? Like so it was just it was just so cool because it's been she passed away, I'd say maybe almost seven years ago. Um and no one has access to her Facebook. Like years ago when my grandfather was around too, um, and he was on the computer, it was like, okay, maybe he logged into Facebook and it just happened to still be like her her Facebook. But but yeah, but since then like no one has access to the laptop or or the uh phone or anything, so it's just incredible that it's like she'll just still just pop up every now and then. And I just find it cool that that still happens.

SPEAKER_00 8:36

It's super cool. I have a similar thing. My my grandma didn't have Facebook, but um every now and then it's a a picture that pops up and it says your grandmother's prayers are still with you. And for whatever reason, whenever I need to hear from my grandmother, that that little post or picture just pops up into my feed and it's like, okay, I hear you, Sunday, you know, and uh it's cool, right? We get these little signs, even if it's not, you know, full-on connection. We get these little signs of that they're watching over us, right?

SPEAKER_02 9:14

Right, right. Exactly.

SPEAKER_04 9:16

My my mother who's passed, she had a Facebook account, and I thought I had deactivated because I had the password, you know, after she passed away. Um I must not have done it correctly because every now and then it'll come up, uh, you know, her face will come up, or um, you know, something from Barbara Hesketh will show. And it's just like, wow, this is crazy, you know.

SPEAKER_00 9:39

I think it was on Saturday, Lisa, that your mom popped up on my Facebook feed, and I wasn't friends with her. Um, but it popped up in my feed that I should be friends with her, and I was like, hey, how's it going?

SPEAKER_04 9:55

Yeah, yeah. Uh and I could have sworn I deactivated it because you know when you're grieving, though, yeah, I don't know. I didn't need to see that, but um yeah, it must still be active though. I I'll have to I now I've forgotten the password, so I don't know what it is. I mean, I could try different things, but I probably don't know. Anywho, uh, so should we get to our haunted America series, right? Yes, yes. Why don't we start with a northernmost state, North Dakota?

SPEAKER_01 10:25

Yeah, so um North Dakota, I found a couple things here. Um, to be quite honest. I've always been okay, another side story here. I've always been interested in North Dakota ever since fourth grade because we did a project where we had to like write to a state and like get information back. And so whoever was the awesome person at the information building desk in North Dakota sent back a packet of like from Bismarck, North Dakota. I'm like, I gotta go there. So anyway, I have yet to go there, but it's still on my bucket list to go to North Dakota. Okay, because you never know.

SPEAKER_00 11:09

So we should wait though with gas being almost five bucks a gallon, but we can do it.

SPEAKER_01 11:17

Yeah, I still have that packet of information from fourth grade. So yeah. That's awesome.

SPEAKER_04 11:24

Oh, that's just amazing.

SPEAKER_01 11:25

It's probably in the box somewhere at this point because I've moved so many times, but I still have it. So whoever that person was that put together that packet, it's appreciated.

SPEAKER_04 11:34

So you know, that's something. If you haven't gotten rid of it since fourth grade, and it's not got your mother holding on to it or anything like that, uh, that means it really is something that should be on your bucket list.

SPEAKER_01 11:45

Yes. Yes. Going to going to Bismarck.

SPEAKER_00 11:50

All right, I'm game.

SPEAKER_01 11:52

Yeah, let's do it.

SPEAKER_04 11:53

Big side country. No, that's Montana, right? I don't know. Anyway.

SPEAKER_01 11:57

Um, so I found a couple of places within uh it's in one area. And uh so basically it's it's inside there's Fort Abraham Lincoln State Park, and there's two um areas that I focus on within that park. So the first area is the Cusser Home. Um it's actually one of the most famous quote unquote haunted historical sites in North Dakota. Um so it's a reconstructed 1870s military fort just outside Bismarck. Um but this house recreates the home of uh George Armstrong Custer and his wife Elizabeth Libby uh Bacon Custer, who lived there from 1873 until Custer left uh for the campaign that ended with his death in the Battle of Um the Little Bighorn in 1876. So um, but in this home you may find uh the spirit of his wife. Um they're saying visitors have reported seeing a woman in a black morning dress in the house, or maybe she's uh looking out upstairs in throughout the wind uh through the window. Um believe that she may be searching for her husband uh because he didn't return from uh little bighorn. Um objects in the house, I thought this was interesting, such as dishes or candlesticks, they've been reported to move when no one's around.

SPEAKER_00 13:30

Oh, telekinetic energy, fun, fun, fun, right?

SPEAKER_01 13:34

Yeah, yeah. So found that interesting.

SPEAKER_00 13:36

Wait, so are you telling me that this wife is the lady in black? I picked up on that one too. You kind of slipped it in there, Ryan. Yep.

SPEAKER_01 13:51

Um, you may actually see General Custer himself. Uh some uh visitors have encountered his spirit. Uh or at least they they report they think that it could be him. Uh signs that it could be him are is maybe hearing like heavy footsteps in empty rooms, um, seeing like shadowy figures in military clothing. Um they think that that could possibly be him. Uh they're also thinking because like some of the house was used as headquarters for him, so that his presence may be there. There's also some um soldiers that you might see as well. So um basically you might see soldiers in blue uniforms that uh they've been seeing on the property. Uh you'll hear their voices or whispers throughout the house. Um sometimes like the doors open or lights flicker on their own, and they think that that could be the soldiers just kind of coming and going. So I thought that was pretty cool. Let's see, and then what's I'm trying to see right here? There's also um inside the state park is also so aside from the fort and everything, there's it's called Reconstructed On a Slant Village. It's a historic Native American village site that many visitors think that it could be quote unquote haunted. They have sea spiritual energy or sense it. Um but basically uh it's uh on a slant village. It was originally originally a large earth lodge settlement of the Mandane people. I don't I might have been butchering that. Uh but it existed from left roughly like the late 1500s to the late 1700s. Um so at its peak, the village had dozens of earth lodges and hundreds of residents. Um it sat along the Missouri River. Um it was also a major trade center for plains tribes. Um and then the site was abandoned in the late 1700s. And let's see. So but what they're saying is let's see, I'm trying to find here the spirits I had it in my nose. Here we go. Um so the most commonly mentioned spirits are believed to be ancestors of the Mandane people who once lived in the village. So you may see shadowy figures moving between the reconstructed earth lodges, uh silhouettes standing on the ridge overlooking the village. Um I feel like this is kind of common in what we talk about, like the feeling of being watched. Um but I could see it as maybe they're just curious. Uh there's also a woman seen near the lodges, uh, a woman in traditional clothing. Um she usually appears briefly at dusk and then just disappears. Um and Heather, you may find this interesting. You can also hear distant drumming or like the chanting sounds as well, uh footsteps near the lodges.

SPEAKER_00 16:54

So and that's what I was looking for at the trail of tears. I was looking for, you know, that residual energy of is there drumming, is there chanting happening, is there prayers happening, or right? So this is confirming like when you do go to a native site that you couldn't possibly visually auditorial, right? Like hear some native tradition happening. That's very cool. I'm glad you were able to find that.

SPEAKER_01 17:21

Yes, yes, yeah. That that's why I was like, Oh, I gotta share this because that's just so cool. Like it would be incredible just to be there and experience, you know, hearing the drumming, the chanting, and and possibly seeing, you know, spirits from from that time period as well.

SPEAKER_00 17:37

Absolutely. I've seen them in their regalia and just their everyday kind of life, and yeah, that's very cool. Well, there's a reason for me to go with you on this road trip.

SPEAKER_01 17:47

Yeah, we're gonna go outside Bismarck's like stop by the information area first and thank people for so yeah, but that's what I found at North Dakota. Um, just a tidbit, but it is just interesting to see a lot of historical um I wanna say artifacts, so that's not the right phrase. But anyway, a lot of historical things happening there with spirits.

SPEAKER_00 18:14

So absolutely, that's very cool. Good find. Good find. Yeah, awesome.

SPEAKER_04 18:21

Well, in South Dakota, in South Dakota, we'll go just the state below it. I focused on two different hotels. Now I've been to South Dakota by family. When the children were young, we did an RV trip, Colorado, Wyoming, we in South Dakota. I think we poked into North Dakota just to say we went there, but we didn't actually stop. Um, but in South Dakota, there is a town called Deadwood, South Dakota. They actually do like reenactments of gunfights and stuff in, you know, in the town center because it's a tourist place to go. Um, but Deadwood is the whole town is known to be pretty haunted. Um, but there are a few buildings in the town that um most people from South Dakota would say belong on the list of most haunted places in South Dakota. And one of those is called the Bullock Hotel. Um, so the Bullock Hotel, just a little history, it was built in 1895, and it was it's named after the Deadwood's first sheriff, uh Seth Bullock. Okay. Um, and that sheriff is said to be the main haunter of the Bullock Hotel. Um, but it started first as a warehouse, not a hotel, and it turned into a three-story hotel after that. The hotel was originally built and decorated in Italian and Victorian style.

SPEAKER_02 19:39

Oh.

SPEAKER_04 19:41

So that would just be like Heather's like dream right there, being Italian and loving of the Victorian style. Um, the original hotel has a large dining area, a big lobby, a kitchen, and a pantry. Um there's a place called Branch House, um, which is just adjacent to the building. And that today houses seven of the most beautiful suites in South Dakota. Um, the Ayers family purchased the hotel in 1976 and they made it into a hardware store. So won't but in 1991, that building was purchased by the Bullock Properties and it was converted back to a hotel. And um, even though the hotel, the original furnishings and stuff inside of it had been sold off, they were really careful to restore it back to its original glory. With the with the changes that the former 63 rooms were now only 28 because they were made into larger suite style rooms. So it's apparently a really beautiful place to stay. Uh, so you can stay there. Um, but it is reported that Seth Bullock will haunt that hotel to this, still haunts it to this day. Um, he died in the hotel on the 23rd of September in 1919 in room 211. Uh they're very specific. Died in room 211. Uh, so many people guess the hotel staff, they've reported seeing a ghost of the sheriff throughout the hotel. Um the claim is that the sheriff never hurts them, only called them and touched them as if gently passing by. Um, the sheriff merely checks on the employees of the hotel and makes sure that they are working. Um when the employees take breaks, um, he would make his presence felt so that they would get back to work immediately. Um yeah, it's interesting. Now, there have been several ghost hunts here at at the hotel, and um never has a night gone by where something paranormal hasn't happened on one of those ghost hunts. So that's a good one to get on to, you know. Um so the second and third floor rooms of the hotel uh is probably a little bit more active. The guests have reported. Seeing um different kinds of occurrences such as alarm clocks going off by themselves, televisions turning on, even when they are unplugged. Wow. Yep. And an antique clock will chime on its own accord, even though it hasn't been working for several years. Love it. And showers will turn on. Okay.

SPEAKER_00 22:26

Smell? I mean, what's going on? Do they realize we use deodorant in the stage meet?

SPEAKER_04 22:32

I don't know, but if I'm sleeping and all of a sudden the shower turns on in the bathroom, that's a little creepy. Um so so if you're not interested in paranormal, probably don't go uh stay at this hotel. Um it is said at the basement of the hotel is another active area. Um, the sheriff is joined by several other spirits because you can hear piano play on its own. And apparently in the basement, I think there's a bar or like a lounge down there. Uh glasses and dishes are frequently get thrown around.

SPEAKER_02 23:04

Oh, okay.

SPEAKER_04 23:06

There you go. So that's the Bullock Hotel in Deadwood, uh, South Dakota. Now, our our family did go through Deadwood. We didn't stay at the hotel because, like I said, we had an RV. Um, and it was a very interesting town, very worthwhile staying and checking, you know, going there and checking it out. It's a lot of fun. So when we do our haunted America road trip, we'll definitely have to stop into Deadwood. I think my kids panned for gold or something nearby, or it just fun. Um, but now here's uh if we go over to Rapid City, South Dakota, which is in the Black Hills area, um, there's the Alex Johnson Hotel. So now back in early 1920s, the um the vice president of the Chicago Northwestern Railroad uh was named Alex Johnson, and he decided to build a grand hotel in South Dakota's Rapid City. And he wanted to make it spectacular, and it um he wanted something spectacular and he wanted it to be a tribute to the Lakota-Soo tribes that lived in the area, as well as the stunning black hills of the area. So trying to kind of meld those two. So construction of this hotel began in 1927, and uh they were open the following year on July 1st in 1928. And the resulting building was designed to blend together Germanic tutor architecture for the tremendous German pop presence that was there and the plains Indian heritage. So that would be something to see.

SPEAKER_00 24:32

Absolutely. I have met um several natives that have come from that area, and their folklore and their traditions are very steeped because they've managed to keep their um their heritage together, even their language is getting written down now because they have enough tribal members that are able to translate into uh onto paper now. So that's that's a great find.

SPEAKER_04 25:01

Yeah, I I would love to see this hotel. Just being German myself, I would love to see how that's all blended together. Um here's an interesting note about this particular hotel. Um, as it relates to its use, um it was used as lodging for Alfred Hitchcock, Carrie Grant, and even Marie Saint when they were filming uh the classic North by Northwest movie. Oh wow. Wow. Um, in fact, Alfred Hitchcock even incorporated the name of the hotel into the dialogue of the film. Um, so that's interesting. On multiple occasions, uh during the film's dialogue, the speakers reference the Sheraton Johnson Hotel. Um, so yeah, it's interesting. The the hotel history, it's been a place that people used to do weddings, social events, business gatherings, but not all of the hotel, uh Alex Johnson's history has been positive and happy, though. Uh, there have been a considerable number of tragedies in the hotel. There have been reported eight deaths at the hotel. Some of those deaths remain unsolved. Some people um may attribute those deaths a part or in total to the fact that the hotel Alex Johnson is ranked as one of the most haunted places in South Dakota. So here's what happens at the hotel. Apparently, they've had ghost hunters, like even some of the um, you know, TV shows that you see, the ghost hunters and stuff come out and do ghost hunts. And those paranormal investigators have had quite an experience there. Um there was um there was a crew member of one of these teams that was staying in room 304, and they captured deep voices on a recorder. They've captured on their um uh those cameras, what are the infrared cameras or the um thermal camera, picked up figures uh in rooms that you know those people weren't there, uh squeaking noises, footsteps, uh door opening um in room 802 when a crew member was staying there. And apparently this crew had a dog um that is trained to pick up paranormal activity and ghostly presence, and they refused to go into room 802. Wow. Um, yep, and apparently that room had a lot of EMF uh readings, um, strange knocking sounds, uh things moving on their own. Um one of the crew members from this paranormal team had um the feeling of breath being uh blown on them, like exhales near them. Um yeah, when nobody was like close enough to do that. Um so let's see, there have been um ghostly figures seen, uh, three different people. One of the people that have been supposedly seen at this hotel is, of course, Alex Johnson, who died in the hotel, another death in the hotel in 1938. Uh, many people believe he remains on this property um to ensure that it's operating properly, just like the sheriff was at the Bullock Hotel. Uh, people have said they have witnessed a ghost of a little girl on the eighth floor of the hotel. Uh, according to guest statements, the little girl likes to run up and down the hallway, knock on doors, but then will vanish. They also say you can hear her red rum, and she she's just running. Running, knocking on doors. They say you can hear her giggling in the hallway. Right, at least she's giggling up and down the stairs. A little bit of a happy girl ghost, not not the uh shining red rum. Yeah. Um, and of course, one of the most tragic and controversial ghosts um for this hotel is a bride who died on her wedding night. Um people have given her the name Lady in White, because when she is seen, it is said she's still in her wedding dress. Um, although uh some people claim she committed suicide. Friends of the woman claim she was murdered because of large inheritance that she had waiting her. Um no evidence was found to confirm murder, though. So it remains a suicide. Some people um say that the woman haunts room 812. So we have room 802, uh 302, what was it? 304, and now 812 that we could stay in. There's three of us, three rooms.

SPEAKER_00 29:30

Absolutely, we got this.

SPEAKER_04 29:32

Yes.

SPEAKER_00 29:33

Um I feel like we should back up for a second, though. Um, you know, you myself, you and Ryan, we all know who Alfred Hitchcock is, but for our younger listeners, Sir Alfred Hitchcock was actually a British-born filmmaker who made classic original horror movies. It's where, you know, film industry and cinema industry um came forth. And it's, I think, you know, with our generations maybe possibly being younger, they don't know who Alfred Hitchcock is. But Alfred Hitchcock was well known for what, the birds? Was that like his famous horror movie? Black would be his most famous. Yeah, but he did like over 50 movies, and they were all primarily like mystery, suspense, back in the day kind of horror, right? So if you're into that kind of stuff, definitely check out you know, the old black and white movies of Alfred Hitchcock. You know, I I feel like sometimes we forget we're a little older than some of the generations listening, maybe. So I wouldn't want someone to be like, who the hell's Alfred Hitchcock? They have Google. They have Google. And second of all, you think Robin would let us train uh Watson to like, you know, snuff out some some ghost or probably he's kind of a scary pants, it'd take a lot of work.

SPEAKER_01 31:01

I think I think he could do it. He's he's pretty brave. So we we can test it out. There you go.

SPEAKER_02 31:12

Yeah.

SPEAKER_04 31:13

All right, back to this bride in room 812. Um she wrong haunts this room 812, and it said that she fell to her death from the window. So if you're staying, um, people who stay or have stayed in this room state that drawers are turned upside down in the dresser when they get there, when they weren't like that before. So you pull out the drawer and it's upside down. Um and it is not uncommon to find the window in room 812 open in the morning after it was left closed during the night. So you go to bed with a window closed, you wake up with it open. Um and even more to with respect to this young bride, some will say they can still hear her crying. Yeah. Um, yeah, it's it's really kind of of interesting. There's one story which I think has probably been debunked, but a guest staying there said they went to the bathroom and when the steam went on the window, it said help me. And it was thought that the bride wrote that. Um, but you can easily write something on a window before you leave on a mirror before you leave, and then the next guest will see that, I would think, you know, if it wasn't properly cleaned. But yeah, I don't know. So those are the three ghosts that haunt this place. Um, it's interesting. This hotel, you can actually purchase a ghost adventure package.

SPEAKER_01 32:43

Oh.

SPEAKER_04 32:44

Yeah. There you go. Um, so they get the opportunity to be checked into the rooms where the paranormal activity has been reported. Um, yeah. And then there's a lot of other additional activity in this hotel, an unexplained phenomenon. Um, you can anticipate like seeing shadows in unusual places, door opening and closing, unusual knocking and growling sounds. Um growling. Yep. Yep. Um apparently um it's possible to experience some have perceived a very aggressive entity that lives in this hotel. And it is said that this entity likes to shove or bite guests without any type of obvious provocation. Um, so to go along with that, there have been reports that chairs have been thrown across rooms by someone not living. Other people state that chairs are simply pushed from one area of the floor to another. A former employee of the hotel claims that every morning he was tasked with consoling those guests that claim to have been visited by ghosts during the night. That was his job. To console the guests that have been visited.

SPEAKER_01 33:50

I mean, that's gotta be an interesting job.

SPEAKER_04 33:54

Well, could you imagine having to employ somebody to do that? Yeah, um, people running to cold spots throughout the hotel, feeling with someone sitting next to them. Others believe that someone is watching or following them, wandering around the hotel. Um, so the ghosts there remain very active. So it's definitely one of the hot spots I would like to definitely check out. You know? Yeah. I don't know if I want to be bit, but um.

SPEAKER_00 34:23

And then my question is that whole biting thing. I don't know about you guys.

SPEAKER_01 34:28

Yeah. You know, if if a spirit is biting you, does it leave a mark? Or do you just feel being bit?

SPEAKER_04 34:36

I think you do have a mark. I've seen people that have been hit or slapped or whatever, and there's a mark left there. I'm wondering if the bite is not so much an actual like human entity, but it might be an animal entity, like a dog left behind or something. Ah, that makes sense. Who's there just to protect or whatever, and you get too close, so you get bit.

SPEAKER_02 34:58

Yeah.

SPEAKER_04 34:58

Um, yeah, it would be interesting. I I mean, that was sort of like when I was doing research, I found much more about the bride, about the little girl, and about Alex Johnson himself than I did about these uh about this, you know, ghost who's very aggressive. Um, so I don't know if that's just people making up stuff to just kind of report, hey, I had this happen, or if that's really true. It'd be interesting to go find out. Um, I don't want to get bit, so it'll be one of you two that has to kind of volunteer for that.

SPEAKER_00 35:29

All right, I'll take it. I'll take it.

SPEAKER_04 35:36

You know, but I'll go play with a little girl upstairs in in room eight, or I'll be in 812 with the bride who's crying or whatever, because you know, I'm not Claire Audience as you two are, so I don't I probably won't hear the crying. So yeah.

SPEAKER_01 35:50

And I'm curious about the window, too, that it opens, uh, you know, like so is it locked and then it opens, or I that'd be interesting.

SPEAKER_04 36:00

I don't know. It'd be interesting. I would think all hotels in today's world need to have a lock on them, windows and doors, you know. Um, yeah, I mean, all these kind of hotels that you can stay at, you know, uh the only hotel that I've actually stayed at the um that have had these kind of hauntings has been uh the Red Lion Inn in up in the Berkshires. And I didn't get a chance to stay in the haunted rooms, right? And even those older hotels, they do have the modernized lock on the windows and lock on the doors and things like that. So I would imagine it was locked. Um, I mean, it's not just one occurrence of this window opening, it's multiple. So yeah. It'd be interesting to like if you had a camera, just point it to that window and see at what time it actually opens up. Right.

SPEAKER_00 36:55

Yes, right, yes, and just do like a time lapse, right?

SPEAKER_04 36:58

Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. I'm sure it's been done.

SPEAKER_00 37:02

I'm sure it's been done, but I'm sure, yeah. Uh Ryan, does your uh does Artist uh Media Haven have um a time lapse or a camera that we could do that, or do you just use a regular video recamera and just speed it up afterwards? How does that actually work?

SPEAKER_01 37:21

I would suggest just we could just use a regular camera and then just speed it up.

SPEAKER_00 37:26

Okay.

SPEAKER_01 37:26

I've done it, I've done it with my phone.

SPEAKER_04 37:28

Yeah. I've I've I've filmed myself doing an art project on time. It's I I think there's a uh one of the things you could choose is time-lapse or something like that, or whatever it is, and then um you can just speed it up. Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 37:42

Okay. All right. Good to know because I'm not technically, you know, I'm technically challenged, so it's good to know.

SPEAKER_01 37:50

But the good news is that it is doable. You don't need anything like special really. You can use any uh camera to film it and then just speed it up afterwards to just to see it. But it works.

SPEAKER_00 38:03

So when we rent these haunted rooms, are we gonna like record ourselves not maybe not sleeping, but like off to the side? So like if we do have any interactions and sleep through it, we'll have okay.

SPEAKER_02 38:16

We can do that.

SPEAKER_00 38:17

That's doable.

SPEAKER_02 38:18

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 38:19

We gotta bring back proof for our listeners, right?

SPEAKER_01 38:22

I know, right? Right. And I'd be curious, okay, with this window going back to the window here, if it opens up at the same time, like every night.

SPEAKER_04 38:31

Oh, you know what? I didn't get any I didn't find any research about like when it opens, just that it opens before morning comes. Because it said that she jumped out the window to her death. So it in the night of her wedding.

SPEAKER_01 38:45

So that's something.

SPEAKER_04 38:47

Too bad we can't. So whether she was jumped or pushed, I don't know, but you know.

SPEAKER_00 38:51

Well, if we could maybe find the historical record of her death certificate of like approximately what time she died, that would that would allow us to hone in about that time. Because normally, energy like that, it'll be consistent and it'll be like a repetitive, right, residual thing. So maybe there's a death certificate we could find where there was a time of death on it. Or we just let the camera run.

SPEAKER_01 39:27

Well, whichever's easier, I don't know.

SPEAKER_04 39:30

I also wonder if it's every night or only like on on the the day of the week that was her wedding, like if it's every Saturday night or every Friday night that it happens, you know.

SPEAKER_00 39:40

Or just a full moon or something, right? Interesting. Well, these are all questions we have. Hopefully, someone's listening that's from down there and can clean up some of these questions we have. Yeah.

SPEAKER_04 39:53

Well, that's what I found in South Dakota. I just focused on those two hotels. So um would love to hear what's happening in Nebraska.

SPEAKER_00 40:01

Nebraska, holy cow, Nebraska's got some got some deep, eerie history going on here. But uh, I decided to jump in with the woman in white. Seeing how we're doing the woman in white, we got a lady in black. Like uh, I'm gonna go for it. So I came across a legend or uh a spiritual story or however you want to put it. Um, it's a woman in white in Done College Library at Doan University, and it is said that it happened about in the 1900s, and the young lady's name was Emma, and she used to be on uh, you know, her father taught at this university, and she was playing and fell down the elevator shaft. Um yeah, tragic, right? Like old elevators have all those gears, and oh, just tragic, right? Um, so I was like, wow, that's sad. But here we are, we're representing our lady in white. Her name was Emma, and um she is seen in the theater, and she is seen in windows through uh, you know, several counts of um ghost hunters that have gone in there and investigated. And you can go to this library and you can tour the campus, obviously. Um, but people say you can hear her footsteps and you'll get the cold, you know, like when when she has officially jumped down the elevator shaft, you'll feel the cold presence of her soul, which I don't know, maybe that's a little uh kind of that's very poetic sounding, right? Very poetic, yeah. She jumped and you're cold, but you know, we'll give it to them.

SPEAKER_03 41:46

We'll give it to them. Um I might feel that you never know, being Claire Setinet, that could happen.

SPEAKER_00 41:51

Absolutely, absolutely. But people say they see her, and um, that she is she has a lot of emotional trauma. Well, if I was a little girl and fell down an elevator shack, I'd probably have a lot of emotional trauma too. I mean, who wouldn't? Who wouldn't? Yeah, exactly. Yeah, um, but she is very attached to this place because this is where her daddy taught, and this is where she grew up, and until she didn't grow up. And um, it is said that Emma is very much uh an intellectual haunt, so she will um interact with you. And so when we start traveling through Nebraska, we need to stop and say hi to Emma at the university, it'll be a good pit stop, right? Yeah, um, definitely. Then I found this really, really interesting legend and folklore and you know, haunting, and it's the Hatchet House. And this is a 19 another 1900 kind of early 1900s story um that the locals, I guess to this day still speak about. That um I didn't find any like not like the Mothman where they do like you know parties for this person, but they do still speak of her of this. And the story is is that um a teacher murdered all her students. Oh my word.

SPEAKER_04 43:25

Wow, now both Brian and I are like godsmacked because a teacher would never think about, we would put our our bodies in front of a bullet, as many teachers have in recent history, um to save these children.

SPEAKER_00 43:38

Yes, so here this teacher led the children on an expedition or field trip, I guess you would call it. And I can see both you being former teachers, like taking your kids out on a trip, right? And keeping them all corralled and all that good stuff that happens, right? But this teacher took their students. Her students out, and you know, and she literally murdered the whole class. She threw them off a bridge. Oh and her this is making me. I'm having a visceral reaction to this. This is making me sick. It's so sad. It is so sad that this woman was so desperate and whatever was going on in her life. Um, but it is throw each child, throw each child. How many kids?

SPEAKER_04 44:26

Why wouldn't they run away? Run from the teacher, run.

SPEAKER_01 44:28

I know what to do, like group them all together and like he yeah, I don't know.

SPEAKER_00 44:34

Pat him on the back, good job, good job, boof. I don't know. I don't know. There wasn't a lot of uh, you know, a lot of information, so I was just grabbing what I could, but the fact that a woman and knowing that you and you know Ryan and Lisa are former teachers, this is totally gripping, right? And I guess the worst part of this whole story is nobody goes over tries, everybody tries to avoid this bridge because apparently when you go down there to do paranormal investigations, you can actually hear the heartbeats of the kids.

SPEAKER_04 45:10

I would probably feel it. I would probably feel it. Oh god, I can't even yeah.

SPEAKER_00 45:17

So we're probably not gonna put this one on our haunted trail list when we do take this ride. Um, but yeah, I thought it was so tragic, but like it's something that needs to be spoken about, right? Like yeah, you think about our teachers, our day and age, and how much pressure they're under to teach our children still, but also make sure they're doing good on these tests that they have to take for the states and like get them ready for college. And I mean, the pressure is immense now. And when we look back into the 1900s, I mean, was there such a thing as college? Probably not. I mean, it was more up to the teachers back then to just get them educated enough to go out into the world, right? Um, so yeah, so I it it is a totally uneasy sensation. It is it is a tragic story. It's a tragic story that needs to be told because maybe there was some mental illness happening. And of course, back in the early 1900s, they didn't know what mental illness was, right? They there was definite mental illness with that.

SPEAKER_04 46:18

Definite, yeah, definite mental illness with that.

SPEAKER_00 46:22

Definite just to just to push your children, any child off a bridge. But yeah, so that was very tragic. But it's the legend is is the bridge is called the Heartbeat Bridge, and you can actually go paranormal investigate this. And not that I really want to, but I think the story needs to be told that there's there's the undertone of mental illness, there's the undertone of you know how much pressure teachers are to you know, under to teach our youth to because they're the next generation that's gonna take us where we need to go, hopefully, right? Hopefully. Um then the next location, again, I don't know. I ended up with all the sad stuff today.

SPEAKER_04 47:07

Other than well, you know what they say, you know what they say about um the hauntings and spiritual energy and things like this that happen, it it comes about a lot from just tragedy, right? Whether it's a suicide, a murder, or some sort of tragic something. And that's where you get a lot of this type of you know, hauntings and and stories of hauntings. So I'm not surprised that a lot of it is sad.

SPEAKER_00 47:30

Yeah, yes, yes. And then I've came across the weeping water legend, and the weeping, it's it's actually in located at in weeping water, Nebraska, and it's a Native American folklore that or legend that is still told in in the you know heritage, and it is about the women mourning the fallen warriors, and it is said that the women went to the river and or river bed, and they were crying so much that from their endless tears of tribal conflict that the river formed, and which we know you know, through archaeology and whatnot, it's not possible, but the legend is that the river flew even you know flowed even more because of their tears. And it is said that you can go down into this um to the weeping water, and if you sit long enough, you will hear um wailing sounds of crying, you will hear prayers, you will hear the tribal women um really just trying to um cross their their husbands' souls, you know, through prayer and drumming and chanting. And um, again, it's sad, right? It's very sad. There was mass genocide uh on our Native Americans and throughout the history of America. Um, but this is collective grief too. So I'm bringing all the grief today, unfortunately. Um but yeah, and you can go down there, you can sit by the water, and it is it is said to be more residual, nobody's interacting intellectually um with these with this energy. Um, but it is a tale that should still be told, right? Because we are awakening more and more in our era to uh you know our past. And not that we can make it right and you know, correct it, but we can at least honor it. So here's a here's the honoring to the three that have all lost their lives the children, the little girl down the elevator shaft, and our tribal um women. So uh yeah, wasn't a lot, but a lot of happy stuff. Um you could also go to Omaha and visit the Mystery Manor, and it was built in 1887 by a wealthy man who allegedly murdered his wife in 1929, and then he went mad. He went absolutely mad. And um, apparently, if you go to this mystery manor, which you can, it's an intellectual haunting and it's tied to traumatic death as well. Um, but it is an open attraction during some seasons, but it said that you can interact with a male figure. Um, you can also feel the violet energy impressions, which I don't really want to feel that. Um, so we're probably gonna skip this one too.

SPEAKER_04 50:33

Um volunteer to be bit. Why would you want to, you know, so yeah, I don't want to be able to do it.

SPEAKER_00 50:46

I don't need to be kicked around and bit that are good. True, true, true. But yeah, so it seems like Nebraska's got some really heavy um folklore, heavy, you know, stories, and um all very much running rapid. So Nebraska might be one that we could probably skip. Like I didn't find a lot of positive ghost stories there that I want to talk to. But yeah, those were my findings.

SPEAKER_03 51:26

Let's let's talk about Kansas. We each took our own place in Kansas. So Heather, what'd you find in Kansas? Why don't you go first with that? Okay, I can do that.

SPEAKER_00 51:42

Um, all right, so in Kansas, I no, I'm not ready. Daniel's gonna need to cut that out. He put me on the oh I'm sorry. I thought you had it all there.

SPEAKER_04 51:56

I thought you had it all there. My apologies.

SPEAKER_00 51:59

No, that's on a different page that I gotta get to. Come on, it's been a long couple days here.

SPEAKER_04 52:07

All right, make a note. I don't know where we are in the recording, but that should be cut. Yeah, yeah, definitely.

SPEAKER_00 52:13

Make a note of that. Um, Kansas. Hold on. Well, maybe you should uh I can go. Yeah, yeah. All right. I kind of lost where I was gonna do for Kansas. I apologize.

SPEAKER_04 52:26

All right, I can go and then Ryan and then you. That's fine. Okay, all right. So um let's go to the state of Kansas. We each took one to one place to kind of um research a report on, and um actually referred to me by Ryan was the Hutchinson Library in Kansas. I guess he knows I'm such a book lover and a lover of libraries. So when he saw that, he said, Lisa, you gotta check this out uh for our podcast. So I did. So the Hutchinson Library in Kansas, um, there is one haunt one spirit that's talked about there, and that is Ida Day. Um, Ida Day was a library director from 1916 to 1925 of this library. In 1917, um, during the library remodeling, Ida and her assistants cataloged and classified every book, a thing which was never done before. Um, and one of the best ideas which Ida Day uh had inaugurated into the system of management is a perfection of the reference arrangements in that library. So she was very much a person who attended to detail. Um Ida helped people look up any number of books. She also mounted and classified 3,000 pictures during this time that she was director of the library.

SPEAKER_02 53:45

Wow.

SPEAKER_04 53:46

Uh and one of Ms. Day's achievements was sending books out to soldiers during World War I in 1918. So that was a uh something that was of interest to her. Um, but in 1925, she did take a leave of absence uh for a year to study at the University of Kansas. Um in 1926, uh Ida then resigned. She was married at the age of 52 to John Holtzfell, Holtzfell, H-O-L-Z-A-P-F-E-L, in 1940. And then in 1946, Ida returned to the library, and and there had been uh plans for another remodel um since the population of this town had doubled. So they wound up building a new library, uh, which is where it is now. And Ida even wrote an article for the library journal uh titled Hutchinson Builds Modern Library. This was in 1949, where she described the modernization that was taking place um and even included blueprints for the new library. So Ida yet again served as library director for the Hutchinson Public Library from 1946 to 1954. So she actually really did enjoy this work as a librarian and was really um thought to be very um strict, I guess, in how the library was run, right? Um now her husband died in 1948, and it was the same year her sister also died. Um, and then on February 1st, 1954, Ida resigned from the public library again, and she was going to become uh the head of the catalog department in a library out in California. Um, but on her way to that job in California, she died in a fatal car accident at the age of 65. So here she was, 65, and gonna go take on a new job, right? At another library. Um and she ended up dying. But it is said that she was quoted as saying that she was gonna keep her home in Hutchinson and return back to that library at some time. And I guess she kept her word because Ida J haunts the Hutchinson library. Um, paranormal activity at this library is very common, and it's so common that the local papers um has covered the story in uh they covered it in 1975 and multiple websites. Um, it's it shows up on all different kinds of haunted locations. So it's been covered extensively, um, Ida and her hauntings at this library. So she prefers apparently to haunt um around the basement. Uh staff and visitors reported hearing disembodied footsteps in that area, as well as items that will occasionally go missing or seeming to move to different positions when no one is looking. In one incident, uh, the librarians Angeline Welch and Rose Hale were working in the basement. Hale had run upstairs um for a moment, but when she returned, she heard Welch speaking to somebody and then heard footsteps walking away. When she asked who she was talking to, Welch claimed that she hadn't been talking to anyone and no one else was even down in the basement. So she obviously didn't hear Welch, she heard um, you know, somebody else. Uh the next day, Rose Hale had an even weirder experience when she saw a lady standing by the stairs who then vanished into thin air. She didn't recognize the woman, but when she described it to a colleague, it was apparent that uh the person Rose Hale had seen was Ida Day herself. Um, there's a beautiful like photo of Ida Day. I imagine it hangs in the library. Um, there's another woman, her name is Kate Lewis, and she works as a marketing and communications at the library, or at least at one time did. Um, and she had her own experiences for unexplainable things in the library, one of which is when she was first given a um a tour of the basement, she got chills, she felt the hair on the on her you know, head stand up. Um, another experience was she was taking photographs with her seven-year-old daughter for a stuffed animal sleepover program that I guess the library wanted to do. Um, and now her daughter doesn't know about the library ghost, um, and she didn't want to scare her from the library, so she never told her about the eye-to-day ghost huntings. But they walked it to the location where the children's services um supplies are, which include puppets and paper mache sculptures in the oldest area of the building that was built in 1951. And she thought her daughter would absolutely love this area, be fascinated with the puppets and you know, like kids are, but instead she didn't like the room. She said it felt very scary, and she wanted to um didn't want to take pictures with any stuffed animals and just wanted to get out of there as a seven-year-old, picking up on that kind of energy. Um now the business manager of the Hutchinson Public Library, Tina Stropes, had a strange encounter with Ida Day. And I would say that was um like in 2003, I think it was reported. Um Stropes was working on payroll, adding up timesheets when her calculated started printing out zero. Repeatedly just kept chugging out zero, zero, zero. Um, so it was decided that Ida Day was wanting to get paid, but she didn't work any hours, Strope had said. Um, so it wasn't the only time it happened, apparently because the next month doing payroll strobe's calculator did the same thing. Um, and she told Ida that she wasn't working any hours, so she wasn't getting paid, and the calculator stopped spitting out the zeros.

SPEAKER_00 59:34

Wow. Very interesting.

SPEAKER_04 59:37

There have been other experiences. Visitors have reported being poked when no one would be there. Some had a feeling of being watched. Um, so you know, Ida Day definitely does go around the library, I guess, making sure things are run appropriately. And I will tell you, having worked in a public library when I was in college, I worked in the children's room, but I did different things throughout the library. Down in the basement, it can be pretty scary down in a basement of a library. Uh, there's a lot of stacks of archived things down there, um, at least in the public library where I grew up. Uh, our old printing kind of press when we used to make posters that were not digitally made, kind of thing, was down there. And you could definitely get the creepy feelings in a basement of a library for sure.

SPEAKER_00 1:00:24

You know, one of my first jobs was at um Teeny Library in Manchester, Connecticut. And um is it really? Yeah, one of my first jobs as a as a young lady, and uh yeah, you're totally right. We would go down into the basement and use the card catalogs and find, you know, all the interesting history and talk about haunted, like you would feel the teenies there, you would feel you know, their when you would look through their historical information. So I totally understand what you mean. Yeah, incredible.

SPEAKER_04 1:01:01

Um, no, I love a library, I love being in library, I love being around books, you know. It's just I I just love it. I feel you know, it's just one of my my passions. And um I would think if I was a librarian or even a bookstore owner, I would want to stay there for sure. So I can see this definitely being very viable that Ida Day is with the library that she first was a director of and then ended as a director of. And I mean, if you read reports about Ida Day and her personality, she's very much uh attention to detail, very strict about things and stuff. So I could see her wanting to check up almost like the other two hotel owners were in spirit, wanting to make sure things are run well. I can see that. And if someone's not doing something right, they get a poke, you know, or or whatever. Or maybe if something wasn't put in the right place, she moves it to where it's supposed to be, you know. Um, I could see that. Uh yeah, I feel bad that the little girl felt creepy feelings though, you know.

SPEAKER_00 1:01:58

Um it could have been creepy to her because it's not something she ever experienced. Yeah, it could be. Fear happens when, or that creepy feeling happens when we don't understand something, we automatically turn it into trauma, drama, or okay, I'm okay in this situation, right?

SPEAKER_04 1:02:16

Yeah. So I love the fact it sounds like an intellectual haunting because of the interaction with the calculator and then the person saying, Hey, you're not getting paid because you work no hours, and then it's stopping, you know, that kind of thing. Um, so I I can see it as an intellectual haunting for sure. Um, yeah, I just, you know, just different accounts. So I appreciate that uh that pass to me, Ryan, when it comes to investigating the library. I thoroughly enjoyed it. So what'd you find, Ryan?

SPEAKER_01 1:02:46

Well, um, I found old Abilene Town. It's a uh recreated old West uh frontier town museum. That was like a mouthful of words, in Abilene, Kansas. And uh the site it it prevers uh preserves buildings, artifacts, and stories from the late 1800s, um which was a cattle-driven era era. So it was one of the most famous cow towns on the frontier. And so found this interesting. I had a slight connection just because I grew up in a small town called Ellington, and I used to make the joke we used to have more cows than people there, but now that's not anymore, but that was the theory back then.

SPEAKER_04 1:03:30

Well, you know, I used to live in Ellington myself, that was where our first house was, and Ellington has changed dramatically. I mean, there's no more little golf course there, I mean, and how many stores have been built up there? It used to be just cows everywhere, you're right.

SPEAKER_01 1:03:45

Exactly. Yeah, even across from my parents' house, there was a farm and everything, and cows everywhere, but things have changed over the years. So a little uh history here. It said during uh the between the years 1867 and 1871, it was a cattle boom. So thousands of uh cowboys drove herds up the chisel trail to Abilene's uh railheads. Uh then as travelers came in, then came in uh gambling halls, saloons, gunfights, you name it, all all types of things happening there. Um so now what they're saying is let me see here. Okay. They're saying because of um the violence and gunfights and whatnot. So it was in the late 1800s, it was notorious for shootouts and drunken brawls. And um so now they're saying that when you go to visit this this town, you can hear phantom boots on wooden boardwalks, you can hear in the distance uh gunshots or the spurs. Um you get the feeling like someone's walking behind you in empty buildings, things like that. Um there's also the Alamo Saloon is one of the most famous buildings in this town. And uh basically it's a reconstructed saloon, and uh some activity going on there is glasses moving or rattling on their own, uh cold spots inside the saloon. The smell of cigar smoke or whiskey when no one's present, which I feel like we've talked about that before. Like especially if you have like wood, it doesn't that absorb the smell?

SPEAKER_04 1:05:30

Yeah, wood will hold on to the smell of smoke for sure. Um so I mean the cigar smoke smell, it depends, I guess, how pungent it is, maybe. But whiskey, that's uh you know, I don't know about that being held in wood. Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 1:05:46

Sure. I mean, you think about you think about the barrels of whiskey that you can purchase and they're just soaked. I I suppose after time, but I don't know. I mean, wood will really hold on. A smell you think about like cherry wood, mahogany wood, apple wood, they really retain smell cedar wood. I mean, back in the day, every woman would have a cedar chest, and it that it would continuously have its smell, right? So it could very well be whiskey soaked and still emanating that smell.

SPEAKER_01 1:06:21

That's true. That's a good point. Um visitors have have also seen a lady in a Victorian dress. Uh so yeah, so they usually see her. I found this fascinating. They usually see um a woman in a long 19th-century dress walking near the storefronts or inside the buildings at dusk. Uh so she tends to disappear when approached, but she's usually near the historic homes or boarding house area areas. Um so they think maybe perhaps you know she lived there. Um and then lastly, they were saying that uh they think that it's residual hauntings, um just because it's like footsteps or doors opening, closing, uh things like that. So yeah, so that's that.

SPEAKER_00 1:07:09

Definitely very cool, very cool.

SPEAKER_01 1:07:12

Yeah. So what about you, Heather? What'd you find?

SPEAKER_00 1:07:16

All right, well, we're going to the Eldridge Hotel, owned by Colonel Shaler William Eldridge, and he was the founder and owner of the hotel during the Civil War era. He was also a community leader, which I feel like in that era, most people who had any kind of form of power, military power, would lead, right? Um, and he is said to have such a deep emotional attachment to this building that he still resides there today. Uh, this is all based around the 1899 era, and many believe that he and his wife have never left the property, but the haunting centers around, write this down, because I think our next thing is going to be a list of all the haunted rooms that we're gonna have to keep track of. And the haunting is said to center around room 506 on the fifth floor. Um, and it's all around the elevator and the room itself, and even some, I guess, down in the basement, there's a lot of kind of uh, I guess there's an event room down in the basement. So there's a lot of kind of activity happening there as well. Um, and in the hallways. The hotel sits on a historic downtown intersection where earlier hotels stood after before being destroyed. So the stories began again around in the 1900s, where some say they dramatically increased, and some say they are folklore, and some say they are actually true legends. Um, but there is actually no documentation during Eldridge's lifetime, and this is why it's led to believe that he still haunts um this hotel because he loved his hotel, and so it has intense history though. The whole hotel, um the original uh Free State Hotel, which was before uh the Eldridge Hotel, it burnt down in 1856. And Eldridge is the one that rebuilt it, and then it was again destroyed um during during the Contrilles raid in 1863. And uh so there's a and then he rebuilt it again in 1865. Um, and then again it was replaced with a grander structure in 1925. So this hotel spot has like seen so many cycles of destruction and rebuilding and recreating, and it's created this immense energy that is still felt today by most of the documentation that I've been reading. But the belief is that Eldred loved his hotel so much he refuses to stop watching over it. Um, you know, people say because it's the original cornerstone for cornerstone for early uh buildings, especially inside room 506, um, people say there's a portal. Love this, right? Love checking out portals. Portals are fascinating. I want to be able to see you come and go because I do believe when we think of someone, they'll come in. And if they're crossing through a portal, I want to see this portal. But some say that this is also residual hauntings because there's just so much cycle of destruction and rebuild. And um, but you hear footsteps, you'll feel like someone's checking on you, making sure your visits are going well, um, doors open, the elevators will just move up on on their own, which I mean, in this day and age, our digital, right, our digital elevators are gonna move up and down regardless, because they're gonna go to a bait of a base floor. But I'm assuming when they talk about here, and of course, this is an assumption, but when they talk about an elevator moving, it must have been the older elevators, the ones that were like, you know, all geared and hand-cranked or whatever. Um, people say you will hear uh echoes of people greeting you as you come into this hotel of welcome and let me take your bags. And how cool is that? Like, you know, total, totally different uh atmosphere versus what we just left in um in Nebraska. Yes, yes, totally. Um, they do say there's a lot of residual creaking of the floors. Um, you can hear footsteps on the concrete. Um, people say you will sense someone in your room, especially this room 506, watching over you, making sure your stay is absolutely um, you know, comfortable. They do say if you fall asleep in room 506 that and you leave the TV on, someone will come and turn the TV off for you. An energy.

SPEAKER_04 1:12:16

Oh, we gotta do that. We gotta do that. I want to do that. I want to stay in 506 and leave my TV on and see what happens.

SPEAKER_00 1:12:22

Yes. And they also say that someone will come in and if your bag is your your um suitcase is messy, your clothes will get placed back into a nice order. Okay, no, I want to do that instead. I want to do that one instead. How about how about we just do it at all, right? Okay, but they also say that when they come into the room, that you can hear water bottles crinkling because they're pouring you a glass of water. So when you get thirsty or parched in the middle of the night, you can roll over and take a sip. Um, they also say if you look into the mirrors, you'll see a candle illuminating the room. Um, and some have said they've watched objects move um in that are within the room. So it does sound like there's a lot of friendly and protective energy here. Like nobody's trying to scare you or haunt you. Um, it's not hostile, right? They're really just trying to um take care of you. They do say if you go downstairs into the smoking room, um, that you will the the staff reports repetitively that you will see a figure sitting in the chair, which they believe is the colonel, um, smoking his cigar, or you'll smell the cigar and no source, obviously, current source happening. Um there was an incident in 506 where someone got locked into their room on the, you know, in 506. They got locked in there and um they weren't able to get out, and they don't know how they got locked in there because they obviously had control from their side of the door to open the door, but they couldn't. Um, and so the door had to be removed on the hinges off the hinges, which just caused a little bit of trauma to go around 506. But again, everybody says it's very protective. They're look, they're gonna pull your covers over you, they're going to flicker the lights to let you know that they're there. They do believe that the colonel's wife does walk around. She's an elegant woman, she makes sure everything's all tidied. That you'll see her in the ballroom, um, just kind of tending to everything going on. Um, lots of great stuff, lots of great stuff happening here. Definitely a cornerstone of you know, emotional upheaval and and healing happening in this hotel. So I'd like to check out 506. I think we could all do it. Um, definitely. But I'm not going there to provoke and challenge anybody, so we can just go and have a good time and do some recording. There you go.

SPEAKER_04 1:15:01

Well, I think that's it for our Midwestern states. I think we've done them all now, and so we'll move to the west, I guess. Um, I have uh being that St. Patrick's Day is this week, I don't know when this is gonna air, but um as for an affirmation for us, I have one about luck. Okay.

SPEAKER_00 1:15:23

Seeing how new we're our luck was run out yesterday. The leprechauns turned our power off.

SPEAKER_04 1:15:31

And took away our internet. Yes. But um, but before it's the affirmation, I just want to remind our listeners that we do have a live taping happening on May 4th in Coventry, Connecticut. You can find the information on that on either Serena Grove Wellness Center, um, the event calendar of our website, or um at Art of Saving Media on their website as well. And you can register for that event. We hope to see you there. And uh so the affirmation I have is good luck is always on my side, bringing me much abundance. How about that? Love it. Yeah, that's perfect. You don't want to just say luck, you want to say good luck. That's right, yeah.

SPEAKER_00 1:16:10

Because anybody can have luck. Bad luck, good luck. I want the good luck.

SPEAKER_04 1:16:17

Yeah, right. I guess that's all for this week, and we look forward to connecting with you next week.

SPEAKER_01 1:16:24

Thank you for tuning in to Ready to Connect. If you're interested in exclusive behind the scenes content, be sure to like, share, and follow us on social media by searching for Ready to Connect Podcast on Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, and YouTube. And for those looking to further support our podcast, consider subscribing to our Patreon at patreon.comslash ready to connect podcast. And until next time, get ready to connect.