Magical Mystery Hokey Tour

I was reading an article that Marianne had written for Chicago Parent about a tour she took while in London - - the Jack the Ripper Murder Tour!   Right up my alley!   And it reminded me of a tour I took a few years ago in Las Vegas.   My tour wasn't a serial killer murder tour, although murders played a part.   Let me explain. 

Most people go to Las Vegas to gamble or see The Blue Man Group or Celine Dion.  Not me.   No way.   The blue guys kind of creep me out.   So does Celine Dion.   Nope, none of that stuff for me.   For me?   The Haunted Vegas Tour, baby.  That's my kind of Vegas vacation.   So, while my husband, son and brother-in-law went off to the Excalibur to enjoy a show, eat meat with their hands, and wipe their mouths with their sleeves, my daughter, sister and I boarded a bus, dowsing rods in hand, ready to meet and greet the departed celebrity souls of Las Vegas. 

We took our seats on the bus and were already looking out the windows to see if we could "see anything."  We hadn't even left the hotel parking lot yet!   But, we were excited to see what we could see.    As we pulled out, the tour guide told us stories of the haunted places that we would visit, and we got more and more excited.   The bus driver took us by Liberace's house and restaurant, our guide regaling us with stories of its haunted history.   We drove by the murder site of a rapper - - I want to say CPAC, but I know that's wrong (I've been watching too much politic junk).  We went to the Flamingo and toured the garden where Bugsy Siegel's spirit continues to be seen, snapping pictures all the while hoping against hope that we would catch something.   We stopped at a park in Henderson said to be the home of several spirits who had been murdered.   We all got our cameras out, again hoping to catch something.   Personally, I think it was too loud for the spirits because some of the tourists were very irreverent.  Amateurs.   Not surprisingly, no ghostly apparitions made their presence known at the park.   We drove by a few other places - - I don't remember where.  I didn't see any ghosts during the tour, the hair on the back of my neck never stood on end, I didn't feel any cold spots, and I never once was scared.   Honestly, I was hoping for a little more "haunt" in my haunted tour.  But, the tour guides were amusing and the tour was fun, thanks mostly to my sister and daughter.

On The Haunted Vegas Tours website FAQs there is a question:  "Is the Haunted Vegas Tour hokey?"    The answer on the website:  No, of course.   My answer:  Yeah, it was pretty hokey.    It wasn't the Jack the Ripper Murder Tour, but it was fun - - hokey fun.  And I got a really cool set of dowsing rods.  The guys?  Well, they just got heartburn.

Shadow People

Have you ever seen something out of the corner of your eye and dismissed it, thinking it was your imagination?    Hoping it was your imagination??  Most of the time it is your imagination.   Most of the time.    I've seen those little shadows in my peripheral vision - - a split second snippet of dark movement and then it's gone.   And I think no more about it.  Certainly it was my imagination or something in my eye.  Of course it was.  Wasn't it? 

My husband is not a lover of things paranormal like I am.   We both believe in life after death, but I'm the one who loves to watch paranormal shows and has an EMF detector on my phone - because, well, you just never know.   But his idea of a dream vacation is not staying in room 217 at the Stanley Hotel, hoping to be visited by spirits from the beyond.   Nope, not him.  He'd prefer Hawaii or something.  My husband, however, is the one who had a "real" experience.  Yes, a REAL one.    Hardly seems fair, huh?  

When we (my husband) was in graduate school many years ago, he worked full-time at night for the University doing janitorial work.    He worked in the maintenance building, which was huge.   And he was the only one there at night.   Well, maybe I should say he was the only one ALIVE there.   I and our children would visit him sometimes to break the monotony of pushing a vacuum all night.  It was an old building which had been remodeled, but it was creepy when you were alone at night.   It was big with lots of hallways and doors and stairs and machines making strange noises. 

My husband worked there for five years, and during that five years he would see things out of the corner of his eye - - he could see shapes, a man and a boy.   He could make out blue jeans and a white shirt.   But, then, POOF!  It was gone.   And he thought it was probably his imagination.  

On one particular night, however, he was vacuuming a long hallway, with open offices on either side, as he had done many many times before.  This time it was different.  Above the sound of the vacuum he thought he could hear someone running down the hallway, which was weird since he was supposed to be the only one in the building.   He could hear the sounds of feet or shoes hitting the ground, and it was getting louder and closer.   He turned off the vacuum and looked toward the direction of the sound, wondering who would be there so late, and why were they running?  That's when he saw it.  It.  It was a gray, transparent shape, not quite a person . . . running down the hall and getting closer to him.   The sound was getting louder and he was getting a little freaked out.   He stood there, frozen, watching as the shape flew past him, not noticing or not caring that my husband was standing there.   The sound dissipated as the figure got further down the hall, and then the sound and the figure were gone.    Needless to say, my husband was stunned.   He knew it wasn't his imagination.  He had seen it.  He had heard it.   He looked down at his arms and they were void of color and the hairs on his arms were standing on end.     That was enough for him.   He came home for the night.  

Nowadays, when I watch Ghost Hunters, Ghost Adventures, The Dead Files, Paranormal Witness and all the other shows like that on TV, my boys laugh and mock me.  

But my husband?   He just looks at me and doesn't say a word.   Because he knows.

Back To Normal ??

Okay, time to get back to normal.   PARAnormal, that is.  I was reading about a hotel in Oklahoma City . . . the Skirvin Hilton (formerly Skirvin Hotel).  It first opened in 1911.    It's haunted.   For real.   Honest.   A spirit told me so.  The Chicago Bulls stayed there and reported doors slamming shut on their own and strange sounds outside their rooms.  The New York Knicks stayed there, too.   In January of 2010 they even blamed a loss to the Thunder on the haunted hotel.   Yes, indeed, they did.  They weren't outplayed by the Thunder, they were freaked out . . . by the ghosts.   A couple of their key players were so freaked by the stories they had heard about the haunted hotel  that they couldn't even sleep.   One of the big guys stayed in his teammate's room curled up in a corner on the floor, shaking in fear . . . all night long.   So the story goes.   Just because you're big doesn't mean you're brave.   So, of course, the Knicks didn't play their best game the next day.    Hard to play, I guess, when you've been up all night quivering like a baby.

The story goes like this . . .

The original owner had an affair with a maid (Effie) and she got pregnant.  The dirtbag owner wanted to protect his reputation so he locked her up on the 10th floor.  Her entire pregnancy.  See, I told you he was a dirtbag.   Needless to say, Effie got a little depressed.   DB owner still kept her locked up even after she had her baby.   Effie couldn't handle it anymore and jumped out the window - with her baby - killing them both.   In some versions of the same story, the maid is described as "loose" and some men who have stayed in the hotel have reported being propositioned by a female voice.  Others have claimed to have seen a naked woman with them while taking a shower (yeah, they wish).   Another man even claimed that he was sexually assaulted by an invisible entity while staying at the hotel.  Hmmm.   Wonder exactly how that works? 

Anyway, Effie is said to hang out at the hotel.   And hotel workers say they see objects moving by themselves and have heard weird noises at night.

Next time I'm in OKC, I think I may stay at the Skirvin :)  I may not be as big as a NY Knick, but I think I may be a little braver.   We shall see.

Stupid Criminals Part II

So the weirdness continues.   Although in this case, I suppose it's more stupidness.  

Our neighbor came over last night to tell us about an incident that happened on our street, a couple of blocks down.

Very early Saturday morning a 5 year old girl went to her parents' bedroom and said, "There's a man in my bedroom."    Silly girl.  The parents,  thinking she was telling stories, sent her back to bed, assuring her that there was no man in her bedroom.  (I may have sent my husband to take a look, but I am trying not to judge.)   A few hours later, the little girl (who was smart enough to go to her sibling's room instead of her own) came into the kitchen and her parents, who were eating breakfast, asked, "Is the man still in your bedroom," thinking they were being funny.  Ha.Ha.  The little girl answered . . . "Yes." 

This time they went and looked.   Imagine their surprise (and horror) when they saw a 19 year old guy passed out on their sweet little girl's bed.   He had been high on drugs and alcohol and broke into their home through a basement window and, apparently finding the perfect bed (not too hard, not too soft - - you get the picture), crashed.   The police came and the idiot kid was arrested and charged with all sorts of things.  And I'm pretty sure the parents went down on their knees praying forgiveness for their stupidity and giving thanks that their little girl wasn't hurt. 

The incident that we experienced that very same night, and the drunken, drug crazed stupid 19 year old down the street are too coincidental, and I am convinced that he was the same idiot kid who came into our home and left all our doors open wide - not to mention a little sampling of his blood.

Several lessons to be learned - - -

1.   Always lock your doors at night, no matter how safe you feel.
2.   When your 5 year old tells you that a strange man is in her bed, GO TAKE A LOOK!!
3.   Ghosts DON'T ride long boards (although I'm still not convinced about that one).

And, maybe most important,

3.  DON'T BE AN IDIOT!!!   DON'T DO DRUGS AND/OR ALCOHOL!   THEY MAKE YOU STUPID!!!

By the way, I don't feel so bad about my dog Izzy not barking when idiot criminal came in our house that same night because apparently even while stupid drunk was plopping down on 5 year old's bed, their dog slept soundly on the floor, mere feet away :)

Stupid Criminals

Okay, new month . . . new craziness.   Although, technically, since today is May 1, this craziness happened last month.  Here's the story . . .

We woke up the other morning to find our front door wide open, our back door wide open, and our backyard gate wide open.  The air conditioner was turned down to 62.   We keep it at 72 with strict orders NOT TO TOUCH IT!!   Freaky weird.  And extremely cold.  All of our children were home and nobody heard a thing.  Not even our dog.  Not a peep.  Not a creak of the door.  Nada.  Although, personally, I think Izzy (dog) may have heard something as she was growling all night long.   I just thought that she was hearing people going in and out of the bathroom all night - - seven people sharing one bathroom, and said bathroom is across the hall from our bedroom where we and our dog sleep.  Yes, this is the same dog who has been mysteriously found (3 times) whimpering on our dining room table with no clue as to how she got up there - - mystery still unsolved.  But that is a different story. 

So, back to doors open.   My daughter's laptop was right next to the front door.   Not taken.  My son's wallet was on the dining table.  Not touched.  What.a.bunch.of.stupid.criminals.  We found a long board (a long skate board for those of you out of touch with today's lingo) on our front lawn.  And . . .eew gross . . . we found blood on the inside wall near the front door.  I do not even want to know how it got there.

After checking with each of the children, we determined that the doors were most likely left unlocked the night before.  What.a.bunch.of.stupid.people.   We live in a very safe neighborhood, but still . . . LOCK THE DOORS!!!

The police came and wrote a "suspicious activities" report and told us to do whatever we wanted with the long board - - throw it away, keep it, put it on the front lawn with a "you forgot something" note.  It's in our garage - - those inept criminals will never see it again.  So, we got a long board out of the incident, which is more than the intruders got, judging from the blood on the wall.   But the whole thing did get me thinking about Izzy and the suspicous dining table incidents.

Do ghosts ride long boards?    Just wondering.

Anywhere, I Don't Care . . .

I realize I just came back from a five-day trip.  And I hate to be greedy.  But . . . I think I need a vacation.  A real vacation.  One where you don't have to make your bed.  Okay fine.  Sometimes I don't make my bed when I'm not on vacation, but I feel bad when that happens.   Or a vacation where you don't have to worry about making dinner.   Yeah, yeah - I know - there are a lot of days when I don't make dinner either, but I feel guilty about it.     Or a vacation when you don't have to pick up after yourself (or others) if you don't want to.   Don't say a word.   I need guilt-free time - - time where you don't have to think of anyone but yourself and about having fun with the people you are with.     I don't really have a dream vacation in mind.  You know, a place you've fantasized all your life about going someday - posters on the wall, an empty passport waiting to be stamped.   Some people dream of visiting the Eiffel Tower, or the Coliseum in Italy, or seeing the changing of the guards in London.   And those are all great destination places.   But I don't have my mind set on any one thing or any one place in particular.  There ARE things I'd like to do and places I'd like to see that would really make me smile, though.

First of all, I don't want or need to leave the country.  I think the United States has plenty of wonderful vacation spots and fantastic things to see right here on our own soil.   And there are so many crazy, wonderful, weird things to see off the beaten path.   Once in a while, when we map out our vacation from point A to point Z, we need to put the map aside and not be afraid to take a detour (unless you're in the heart of West Virginia - then be afraid.  Very afraid - I saw "Deliverance.").  Instead of going from A directly to Z, go to points B and F and M and Q and THEN to point Z.   And you don't even have to have a known destination - just head off in any direction until you find something fun and interesting.  You never know what wonders you will see!   The other day my sister was talking about taking a "sisters trip" to the 100 mile swap meet - - I think it starts in Kentucky.  That would be a blast.  

Second of all, I don't really want to go on a cruise.  The thought of being on a big humongous ship out in the middle of the ocean kind of leaves me feeling claustrophobic.   What if I didn't like it and wanted to leave??!  I'm not a very good swimmer.  And - I also saw "Jaws".  I think I could live without ever stepping foot on a cruise ship.

I would love to go to Disneyland . . . again.  Yes, I grew up there and went to Disney dozens of times.   And I have so many good memories of the happiest place on earth.  But now that I live in a non-Disneyland zone, I long to be a tourist, spend marathon days at the park and stay at the Disneyland Hotel (before we were married, my husband and I used to sneak into the hotel swimming pool - they have a GREAT pool - we were such rebels!).     

My husband has always wanted to go crabbing on the Oregon coast.   And, it's been a long time since I've been to San Francisco.  That might be fun.  Lombard Street.   Alcatraz - it's haunted, you know.    A ghost hunt has definitely got to be in my future at some point.   There are a ton of places in Pennsylvania that are purported to be haunted.   And, Pennsylvania is on the other side of the country, where my husband has never been.   So, we could couple the ghost hunting with a lot of other fun sight seeing ventures on the east coast.  And connect with an old friend.

See, I'm easy.  It's not going to take the Louvre or the romantic gondolas in Venice to make me happy.  Just a week or two away when we can just have fun, be together, and forget about "real" life for a while.  

Or, in other words, a vacation :) 

  

Creepy and Freaky

I haven't said much about the paranormal lately.   I've been a little disappointed in Ghost Hunters - - nothing creepy enough to make me jump.   I like to jump!  The movie "Insidious" made me jump.   "A Haunting In Connecticut" made me jump.   Very creepy, both of them.   And I'm looking forward to "A Woman In Black" in a couple of days.   Hopefully Harry Potter - - er, I mean, Daniel Radcliffe - - will make me jump.   

So, in lieu of Ghost Hunters, et al. making me freak, I found this picture.    Tell me what you think.

It took me a few tries, but I finally saw it and it made me jump.   Creepy.  Freaky. 

They're creepy and they're kooky,
Mysterious and spooky,
They're altogether ooky,
The Addams Family.

Sorry, that just popped into my head.  And now it's going to stay there all day long.

Anyway, as far as the picture goes - - maybe that explains how Izzy keeps getting on the dining table.

Again?! Seriously?!

It happened again!   While my husband and I were at work yesterday, my son and his wife dropped by only to find our dog, Izzy, sitting on the dining room table, waiting for someone to get her down!   I purposefully pushed all the chairs in so that she couldn't climb on one and then jump onto the table.  She is a small dog, so jumping vertically from the floor onto the dining table would be quite a superdog feat!     I'm sure there's a perfectly logical explanation . . . or is there?  I don't know.   Why would she get on the table by herself?   It's slippery and not easy to walk on.   There is nothing on the table to tempt her to risk it.   She would literally have to launch herself off the couch 20 feet away and then cross her little paws that she could make a safe landing on the table - - without sliding across the slippery surface, landing face down on the tile floor.   Does that make sense?

I know that dogs are highly sensitive and can see and feel things that humans can't.  They have even been used in paranormal investigations.   Check out this site:  http://fortheloveofthedogblog.com/news-updates/paranormal-investigation-goes-to-the-dogs.   If I ever go on a ghost hunting trip, which is one of my wanna do's, I will bring Izzy with me.   But, that still doesn't explain how she got up on the table.   

Again.