Monthly Archives: August 2004

Thornewood Castle

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Thornewood Castle was completed in 1911 to the exacting specifications of Chester Thorne, one of the founders of the port of Tacoma. Construction of the 54 room mansion took 3 years. The grand staircase was imported from a mansion in England, and the red brick exterior from Wales. On display here is a sizeable collection of stained and painted glass from the 15th to 17th centuries that Mr. Thorne had purchased from an English Duke. The mansion was unfortunately turned into apartments after the death of Chester Thorne, but through painstaking efforts, the castle has been restored to its original configuration.

Ghost Stories

We heard many stories of hauntings at Thornewood Castle and had some wonderful long conversations with the owners and staff about the beautiful houses ghost stories.

As per Gigi, The mother of the owner of the castle.

Anna’s Room: A woman has been seen to sit on the window seat and can usually be seen by glancing at said window seat in the mirror’s reflection .

The 3rd Floor Closet: One guest was rummaging thru the closet when she felt someone behind her. it turned out to be a man in old style clothing with his hand on his hips as if to imply she should not be there. When the guest looked back up, he was gone.

Hall of Mirrors: There is a carpet runner that moves to the right of the hallway. Even if it is re-centered & no one has been there, it still migrates back to being off center.

Sewing Room: Footsteps have been heard outside the door, but no one was there.

Lights have been actually seen to unscrew themselves from the sconces.

A white-haired girl has been seen to go into the office, but is not there when the door was opened.

As per Beth, who was working there: A man in grey has been seen in the music room.

Kryis got an unusual feeling in the Hall of Mirrors and the Lord Byron Suite. Bryan admits feeling like he “did not belong” in the Lord Byron Suite. Bryan also experimented a but with the runner in the Hall of Mirrors by moving it halfway into the center of the hallway. It did not move back while we were staying there.

There is a story in the journals about a woman and her daughter insulting one of the paintings by insinuating that she was ugly. She and her daughter immediately felt the need to apologize. Later, when they were walking down the stairs, the mother slipped right as she approached the picture and fell. The daughter laughed, and as she continued down the stairs, also slipped, but managed to catch herself. They both blamed the picture. (FYI I do not believe the pictures have any connection to the house)

There are some more stories included in the room journals, we took some photographs of relevant pages from the Rose Red room journal and you can see them here.

Our Review

Accommodations: This place is magnificent! There are 3 floors and several rooms,all with a different theme. Rose Red, Blue Room, Gold Room, Casablanca Room, Anne’s Room, Chester’s Room, The Sewing Room & Lord Byron’s Suite. The mansion is lavishly decorated with antiques, wooden paneling & stained glass from the 1300’s to the 1700’s. There is a gorgeous view of the American Lake from the rear windows of the castle.

Breakfast: Our breakfast was buttery Blueberry pancakes, but I’m sure they change the menu every so often.

We stayed here as part of our “Haunted Honeymoon.” You can learn more about our stay by checking out our honeymoon pages day 7 and day 8.

Official Website for Thornewood Castle

Honeymoon Day 8

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Day 8
August 8th, 2004
Lakewood, WA to Port Townsend, WA

She Says

Nothing odd happened and the rug in the Hall of Mirrors hadn’t moved yet. Breakfast was with six other people, all of which hadn’t had anything happen, but the teen-aged girl in the Gold room also thought the Hall of Mirrors was creepy as well.

We packed the car and went traveling the grounds. We talked with Deanna (the owner) for about an hour.

She believes the ghosts are angels or guardian spirits. I asked about the identical mirrors in the Hall of Mirrors. She said I’m the first person to notice the fact that the mirrors mirror each other in shape and style. Also the mirrors on the bathroom wall at the end of the Hall of Mirrors matches the mirror on the end of the opposite hallway by the rose room.

I told her that I found it a bit creepy to stand between mirrors in the hallway. The endless reflections. She said that she set the mirrors that way with that in mind.

She also says thay she has seen many “unique” experiences. Her husband says he hasn’t seen any.

Deanna also says that they has looked at Manresa Castle when they were looking to buy Thornewood, but it was “too dark” and she didn’t like the “feel” of the place. She asked us to write to her after we’ve stayed at Manresa.

Tacoma
We stopped off to explore and ended up by the US Courthouse, University of Washington, and museums.

We went to the Museum of Glass. In “the hot spot” is where they do glassblowing exhibits. Not little animals, but BIG vases such. Huge kilns. The gallery was disappointing. Some things may be art, but had I known what was in the gallery, I would have saved my $ and just gone to the gift shop!

We did have a salad of mix greens, cranberries, apples, red onions, gorgonzola, and pralines with white wine vinaigrette. Had this nasty cow smell in the aftertaste.

We drove back to I5 and hit the road for Port Townsend.

Apparently there are 2 streets called 7th. The first one was a gravel path to farms. After a U-turn, we went down a main street and saw Manresa Castle on the left.

Right next to the check in window the have copies of Haunted Washington. Nice to see that they take pride in their ghosties.

The castle was built in 1892 and after the owners died it was left to a caretaker for 20 years until the Jesuits bought it as a school.

Our room is small compared to Thornwood and it smells of detergent, but the chairs and table are nice. Also we have a nice view of the Strait of Juan de Fuca and the city below.

I heard a Raven laughing outside.

Dinner was uneventful. We felt obliged to order, since we had already sat down, even though we didn’t really see anything we Really wanted to eat. The food was good, but we should have just checked the menu before setting reservations…

We decided to take off and explore. The manager talked to us out in the parking lot. Some stories he told us: A family heard crying late at night coming from the bathroom. No one was there, but there was Kleenex on the floor.

In the kitchen, glasses would be lined upside down but one would be turned right side up or explode.

A telephone man saw a globe of light above a chair that went through a wall. I, on the other hand, got to see 2 cute little bats flying about and catching their dinners.

Bryan and I went into town just after sunset. It looks quaint. Historic downtown with shops. Kinda like Ferndale. We decided it would look better in the daytime.

Back at the Manresa, we took a few film pics and recorded some audio tape and then went back to our room to crash.

He Says

We woke up fairly early, so we went down to the dining room (we couldn’t get in there last night because that is where the wedding reception was) and looked through the photo albums that chronicle the history and renovation of the estate including the two films that helped to finance the restoration.

Breakfast was nice. Blueberry pancakes were good, except for the blueberries. Two of the people at breakfast were relatives of the couple that got married there the previous day. After breakfast we went with them on a tour of the other rooms of the mansion. Each one was more beautiful then the last.

After we finished the tour of the rooms, we packed our stuff and went for a tour of the grounds. Nice stone chess set and the garden where the wedding was held was also very nice. We talked to the owner, Deanna, for quite some time between exploring. She was very nice, and had strong opinions about the French.

After we left, we stopped off in Tacoma. It was nice. It was fairly sleepy, even as late as we arrived. As this was a Sunday I guess it is to be expected. We walked to the Museum of Glass and spent a while in the Hot Shop. That was cool. I could have stayed longer, but Kryis was feeling a little sick. The galleries were really disappointing. I may not know art, but I do know crap when I see it. Too bad.

I was expecting to see art made out of glass, or the history of glass, or something like that. No, it was just really crappy ultra-modern garbage that had very little or nothing to do with glass. The museum is fairly new, so hopefully they are just building a collection or something. The Hot Shop was definitely cool.

Took a picture of the really cool Tacoma Narrows bridge. And this one does not sway in the wind.

Drove up to Port Townsend. Interesting drive. We had a little trouble finding the place, but after we got there it was nice. We checked in, explored a little bit.

I didn’t really like dinner, but it was okay. Afterwards we decided to explore the town a little before sundown.

As we were leaving, the manager came out and talked to us about some of the ghost stories (Kryis had mentioned something about it at check in). We ended up talking to him for a while, and the sun began to set.

After we departed from the Castle, we made a vain attempt to check out the town in the growing darkness. We were not really able to see much, so we went back to the hotel and to our room.

More information on Thornewood Castle can be found here.
More information on Manresa Castle can be found here.

McMenamins Edgefield

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Originally Built in 1911 to function as the Multnomah County Poor Farm. Residents ran a self-sufficient community, with a farm, laundry, kitchen, and hospital wing. In 1962 it was renamed Edgefield Manor and operated as a nursing home until 1982 when it was closed. In 1990 the McMenamin brothers bought the property and slowly began renovating and restoring the buildings and grounds. McMenamins Edgefield now has a Winery, Distillery, Brewery, Pub, Golf Course, Restaurant, Banquet Facilities, and European style lodgings. Murals and artwork by local artists adorn the walls, doors, and even the pipes. There is something new to see or do around every corner.

Ghost Stories

There are two places at Edgefield that are supposed to contain ghosts. In the old hospital wing over what is now the winery, people are suddenly come over with sadness, and a nurse has been seen wandering the halls. In the administrator’s a young girl (said to be the old administrator’s daughter who died young) has been seen wandering, guests have had their ankles held in the middle of the night, and a black man in tattered clothing has been seen.

Our Review

Accommodations: The decor is a contradiction. Very sparse rooms. Ours had a fairly hard bed, a desk & a sink. We had to share a bathroom. (which based on the information for the 2 other McMenamin’s hotels nearby, is pretty par for the course.) However, there is very little wall space that is not painted with some fantastical scene, or of a person who used to live at the poor farm. So in that sense, there is an abundance of style.

If you like spirits of the liquid kind, this is the place to come. There are at least 7 places to drink.

The Black Rabbit is the in-house restaurant. If you look up at the sprinkler pipes there, you can see the figurine of a little boy trying to feed a black rabbit a carrot.

The food is good, the artwork is phenomenal, but we missed having a private bathroom.

We stayed here are part of our “Haunted Honeymoon.” You can get more information about our stay on our honeymoon pages day 6 and day 7.

Official site for McMenamins Edgefield

Honeymoon Day 7

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Day 7
August 7th, 2004
Troutdale, OR to Lakeview, WA

She Says

Woke up and decided that Edgefield reminds me of rich folks who go to poor places to stay, or “play poor” because it’s the cool thing to do.

There is a sink in our room, but you use shared baths and toilets. The bedding is plain, not even fitted sheets. The decor is spartan. Obvious sprinkler systems, dim lights etc.

Breakfast was eggs and bacon for Bryan and a mushroom, brie and herb omelette for me. I liked the filling more than the eggs, but the red potatoes were delicious.

We got 3 bottles of wine that will be shipped to our home, as well as some other nik naks.

I asked the desk clerks for any good ghost stories. Apparently the administrators house is supposed to be haunted. I guess the admin’s daughter died young and is supposed to haunt the place. At one point a woman had placed a cassette recorder in her room there and got faint noises of someone walking about. A nurse is supposed to wander about the infirmary ward.

The black rabbit motif was because when the Mcmenamin Brothers came to the site a Black Rabbit crossed their path. The motif is fairly common in the main building. The restaurant even has a small figure of a child offering a carrot to a black rabbit on one of the sprinkler pipes.

We took the camera and cassette recorder to the Admin house as a last effort to get something and then got in the car and headed to Tacoma by route of Portland.

Lemon Drops are now called “fish food.” A few days ago, Bryan made fishy lip motions at me, and so I gave the fish a lemon drop (from Ferndale). Thus now when he wants a lemon drop, he turns to me and makes fishy lip motions. I love this man, he’s silly!

We’ve detoured to Longview. Gee, it’s…sleepy and grey. However it has Nutty Narrows, The only bridge built exclusively for squirrels.

We called Bryan’s dad, since he was born there and then tried to find the house his dad was raised in. After getting to 28th and Cypress, we realized that there are 2 intersections with that same signage! Apparently 28 ends on 1 block and continues 1 block away.

I took pictures of each house and then Bryan called his dad back. He let us know which house was his. When we pulled up in front of it, the old man inside looked thru the window at us, so we pulled up out of his view to take the picture,but an old woman has stood up to stare at us. I think we’ve spooked them. Imagine, if someone took a picture of your house and drove off…
We left before they could get a shotgun.

We stopped in Olympia for lunch. I think I’ll add this city to my list of places to avoid in the future. After a few miles and a 1/2 hour in Wendy’s, we saw quite a bit of PWT, a female beached “whale” which would make a good “say no to crack” advert, and a really Ugly transvestite wearing a pink and white and black outfit, including leg warmers.

I have to agree with Bryan: Vacations can make me appreciate living in San jose.

When we got to Lakewood we got to Thornewood Castle after only 1 u-turn. After bringing up the bags, Bryan rested and I went exploring. Our room, the “Rose Room”, is on the 3rd floor.

There is a hall of mirrors on the other(east?) side of the stairs from us (west?). Identical mirrors facing each other in a small hallway. It’s too spooky for me. I’m superstitious about mirrors in haunted places, but even more so of mirrors facing each other in eternal reflections. Bad juju.

On our side of the stairs is the Lord Byron suite, which also left me feeling a bit off. I think that is because I felt like I was trespassing.

The feeling went away as soon as I got passed the doorway to the sewing room (right across from Rose-historical note- it used to be Anita Thorne’s room)

I still took lots of pics, but I won’t go into the hall of mirrors.

I went back to the 2nd floor and listened to Gigi talk. She’s the owner’s mother. (Owner- Deanna)

I was talking to Beth, who has worked in the castle about a month, and I could have sworn one of the paintings on the wall of the stairway winked at me as I turned away from it.

Gigi has loads of tales to tell, including ghost stories. Apparently the carpet runner in the hall of mirrors keeps moving to the side even though the staff kept centering it.

There was a wedding downstairs, so I didn’t go to the first floor. I stayed and talked with Gigi for about 2 hours. Bryan came down and we eventually went for food.

Old Country Buffet. What is it about buffets that bring people who really don’t need an all-you-can-eat meal??? There was one girl there: black clothes and chains, mod hair, spooky eyeliner lining down one cheek… She looked young and pure, yet gothy. It’s nice to see there’s hope for the future. We kept catching each others eye and smiling. I’m glad I can set a good example of ” You, too, can retain your gothy image when you get as old as me without looking like a complete sell-out!”

Back to the Castle. Bryan decided to move the carpet in the Hall of Mirrors. He’s also walked up and down the 3rd floor with a cassette recorder. We’ll listen to these tapes whilst on the ferries or something, but I’ll have to wait in the film pics and the camcorder until later…

I looked at the Room Guest book. Some people don’t mention anything about ghosts, some say there are none, and others insist there are. I refuse to taint my mind and dreams by reading it ahead of time.

He Said

We woke up, had breakfast, bought some wine that we liked from the tasting and explored a little bit more of the grounds. Kryis asked the people at the front desk about some of their ghost stories and got some more leads on where to go. We went to the Administrator’s house and poked around in there for a bit before exploring the grounds a little more and heading off to Longview Washington, birthplace of my Father.

We first went looking for Nutty Narrows, the only bridge built for squirrells. There is even a statue of a giant squirrel and a plaque in honor of the man who created it.

After that, we called my father and asked him what his address was when he lived here. He did not remember the address, only the intersection.
So we go there, and find out there are two intersections. One street ends, goes along the other for a while, and picks back up.
We did eventually find it, but it was confusing. I called my dad back and asked him to describe the house, we eventually found it and took a picture of it (to the apparent dismay of the people who now live there) and were on our way to Lakewood.

We stopped off in Olympia for lunch. It was okay. Some scary looking people, but the town seemed alright. I took a picture of the Washington Capital building.

Thornewood Castle is amazing. We got to the gate and we were asked if we were there for the wedding. Apparently a lot of weddings happen at Thornewood, and I can understand why.

We got there and it was beautiful. Gorgeous in fact. When we got to our room, I was beat, so I took a nap while Kryis went and talked to Gigi, the mother of the owner. A few hours later she comes into the room and tells me some of the stories. By this time, we are both hungry and decide that we are going to go get something to eat in town.

When we get back, the wedding is still in full swing. In fact, the bride (who we ran across earlier as we were walking in, she was waiting to start down the aisle) asked us to join in their dancing. We passed and headed up stairs to explore more. We wanted to avoid downstairs because we did not want to intrude on the the wedding.

Kryis was freaked out by the hall of mirrors. There is a carpet runner in the hallway that supposedly keeps getting moved off to the side by the ghosts of the castle. I moved it halfway to the middle to see if it would move by the morning. I kept going into the hallway to check on it. I don’t think that there is anything all that freaky about the hall of mirrors, but it was interesting.

I explored a bit with the tape recorder and the video camera to see if I could see anything. And nothing. Carpet still where I moved it. Anyways… time for sleep. Better not watch the two Stephen King movies that were filmed here anyways.

More information on McMenamins Edgefield can be found here.
More information on Thornewood Castle can be found here.

Colonel Silsby’s B&B

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Colonel Silsby’s Bed and Breakfast was originally built in 1896 for Colonel Silsby, a hero of the Civil War. It is a Queen Anne Victorian listed on the National Register of Historic Places.

Ghost Stories

The most haunted room in this B&B is reputed to be the “Elizabeth Suite”, the suite in which we stayed, but no unusual activity happened in the room during our visit. The ghost is said to be that of Elizabeth Silsby, the granddaughter of Colonel Silsby. Elizabeth is supposed to be a friendly spirit. There are reports that she has turned on and off the showers and sinks, opened and closed doors, and even sat next to guests in bed. We had some fellow guests tell that just the morning before when they were just sitting & reading, a jar of jelly fell off the stacked display of jellies for sale. These guests (who also saty in this B&B once a year while they enjoy the OSF, tell us that Col. Silsby himself is still around. Ghosts or Gravity: You decide.

Our Review

Accommodations: A really quaint Bed & Breakfast. We really enjoyed the Elizabeth Suite. A small built on cottage complete with a mini kitchen and better yet, a Jacuzzi. It was originally built as the room for the innkeepers, but when a previous owner purchased a house down the street a little ways, the old room was remodeled into a suite.

The Inn is located only a few blocks from restaurants, shops, and the Oregon Shakespeare Festival.

Breakfast: We had the “Taming of the Shred” Shredded eggs and mushrooms over toast served with poached pears and cinnamon. It was better than the corny name.

We stayed here as part of our “Haunted Honeymoon.” You can learn more about our stay by visiting our honeymoon pages day 5 and day 6.

UPDATE: This B&B is apparently no longer in operation.  Wonder if the current occupants of the house have any supernatural experiences.

Honeymoon Day 6

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Day 6
August 6th, 2004
Ashland, OR to Troutdale, OR

She Says

Woke up, still no ghosties. I am coming to believe that sleeping in haunted places helps me sleep deeper.

David cooked breakfast for all 11 guests. Poached pears with cinnamon and the Taming of the Shred (shredded hard boiled eggs and portabello mushrooms over toast)

We talked with the other guests, some from Concord and others from Petaluma (but once San Jose) Turns out that our host knows the Porteras in SJ that I grew up near. Distant cousins or something.

Someone suggested us seeing the play “oleanna”

We finally got our first ghostly sighting from one of the Petaluma guests. 11:30 yesterday morn the couple was just sitting in the library and a jar of jelly fell off a shelf. No one near it, it just fell. I took a picture of the Haunted Jelly (Pinot Noir jelly!) I’m sure when we get done telling this story, the jelly flew about the room and the a haunted knife spread it spookily across some haunted toast.

The other guests told us that Col. Silsby is still in the house, but also Elizabeth was mentioned. Apparently the Elizabeth Suite we stayed in used to be the prior owners home until she moved next door. I also noticed that the owners change hands every 10 yrs or so.

I bought some citrus scented lotion from the shelf near the haunted jelly and we went downtown.

I bought some rosemary sourdough bread for the trip, as eating loads of jelly bellies can just make me sick. The bead shops were the same as home, so I passed on the beads. However there was Unicorn gifts and toys that was neat. I found a Faery of the Ravens, and thus bought it. www.dragonsite.com.

Somehow when we left Ashland, I felt we should have bought some haunted jelly too…

As we drove back to interstate 5, We passed a homeless man with a sheep on a leash. I made a comment to Bryan, “I’ll give you money if I can borrow your sheep!” I wonder if the cardboard sign said “will work for ewe”…

About a 4 1/2 hour drive to Troutdale later…
McMenamin’s Edgefiled is large! But the brick and white exterior hides a lot of interior spunk. One cannot walk 10 ft without seeing another interesting mural. So…

I took more pictures… We ate at the Black Rabbit restaurant, 2 NY strip steaks.

Afterwards we wandered the grounds and went to a wine tasting. We both agreed that the 2002 vineyard select white riesling was awesome. I’d like to get a bottle for sooner and wait for a later anniversary. But how to pack it???

Night had fallen so we got the film camera and cassette recorder and went walking the ex-infirmary, which is now the hostel wing. At the end of the hallway is a set of double doors with a stairway in it.

The stairs go down the the winery, but the stairs that go up, go around the corner and then seem to go no where.

The brick wall says “hell”. Spooky…

He Says

What is with mushrooms? Everywhere mushrooms. Yeach! Breakfast was okay, despite the fungus shredded across and amongst my eggs.

Kryis and I were asking about the “hauntings” of the place and got a story about “haunted jelly.” Apparently when this other couple was sitting in the sitting room, a jar of jelly made by the previous owners of the B&B fell from off the other jar of jelly is was stacked on top of and made a loud noise. The new owner (which looked and acted surprisingly like Kryis’s ex-manager) came running in wondering what had happened. No one knew. They surmised that it must have been one of the jars of jelly when they knocked another jar off and it hit the shelf with the same noise. Kryis seems convinced (or at least claims to be convinced) that this must mean that a ghost pushed it. I, however, believe that Issac Newton had the right idea.

We explored a little more of Ashland looking for a post office or a mailbox. It took us a while, but we eventually found one. We stopped off at a small toy shop, and Kryis bought a few things including a “Raven Fairy.” ShruG.

As we were getting to the freeway, we saw a homeless looking man hitchhiking on the side of the overpass with a sheep on a rope. Oh how I wished that the digital camera was not in the trunk at that particular moment. Oh well.

We finally got to our next destination in Troutdale OR, McMenamin’s Edgefield. It was on a former poor farm, and had that bucolic feel to it, with a hint of alcoholism. It was a large property that contained at least 7 different places to get drunk. A brewery, a winery, a distillery, a pub… We got our room–in this place we had to use communal bathrooms–and then went to go get some food at the only restaurant we had seen up until that point. The food was okay. Kryis kept on taking pictures of these murals and paintings that were all over the palce that I did not particularly find interesting.
After we ate we wandered around taking pictures of paintings, and then more pictures of paintings… and then we went outside and explored the grounds. We went back inside and Kryis took more pictures of murals, and then some more, and then just to be different, she took a few more. We did a wine tasting in the winery. We talked to some other couples that were in the winery with us until we decided to do some ghost hunting.

We got the film camera and the voice recorder and explored some of the areas that are rumored to be haunted. One wing that is the former infirmary is supposed to have a lot of activity, we took some pictures there, and other places. There was a wedding reception going on so we did not have the greatest environment for EVP. We wandered back through the winery and saw the couples still there and talked to them some more before we headed back to the main building and did so more hunting before bed.

 

More information on Colonel Silsby’s bed and Breakfast can be found here.
More information on McMenamins Edgefield can be found here.

Abigail’s Elegant Victorian Inn

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Abigail’s is located in Eureka, California near Humbolt Redwoods State Park and Redwoods National Park. Built in 1886, the mansion is a National Historic Landmark. Owned, operated, and renovated by Doug and Lily Vieyra, this B&B is a truly special place.

Ghost Stories

The owners claim that their resident ghost, Elizabeth, does all the dusting that is out of reach for them. There are also stories that Elizabeth will play Jazz on the phonograph when the mood strikes her. She is said to be a playful spirit. It is told that a guest door kept opening despite her locking and latching it.

Our Review

Accommodations: We absolutely loved this place. The interior decor, while a dusting nightmare, was phenomenal. The wallpaper, by Bradbury & Bradbury, was really something to behold. The owner made most of her own window treatments. There were treasures laid out for perusal everywhere. Something to look at, examine, read, play with, over ever square inch of this beautiful Victorian home. We played some Scrabble, read some old magazines and catalogs, books on the three kinds of car (Gas, Electric and STEAM POWERED!) from the early 20th century. It was fascinating! But to truly appreciate the eclectic collection displayed at this B&B, you need to experience it first hand.

Breakfast: The Breakfast was good. A good continental with banana-orange smoothies, but it was our conversation with the hosts, Lily & Doug Vieyra, that made it special.

We stayed here as part of our “Haunted Honeymoon” you get get more information on our stay by visiting our honeymoon pages day 4 and day 5.

Official Website for Abigail’s

Honeymoon Day 5

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Day 5
August 5th, 2004
Eureka, CA to Ashland, OR

She Says

Slept deeply, and no ghosties seen. Still no internet signal yet, but there is cell access for me. But Bryan’s cell service hasn’t kicked in yet.

We had breakfast with our hosts, Doug and Lily Vieyra. Very charming people. Its like having a comedy team and Teutonic hospitality rolled into one. Doug told us a story about a couple they had who was on their 60th anniversary having breakfast with a newlywed set of honeymooners. The older man told the that the secret of the happy marriage is to twist in the earplugs, nod and say “yes dear.” Afterwards all laughed except for the elder lady, who make a twisting motion towards her own ears and said “did he say something interesting?” The breakfast was good as well. Slices of ham, havarti, fruit sampler, pastries, banana-orange juice etc.

Doug did say that the ghost “Elizabeth” did all the dusting that was out of their reach in exchange for room and board, but otherwise Elizabeth stays to herself. Apparently she has another name they call her, but they have forgotten it. The B&B is in another book by Robin Mead called haunted hotels. Something to look into later.

Remember Milton from Office Space? He apparently got a job working at a roadside rest stop just North of Eureka.

We drove up to Prairie Creek Redwoods state park and took the coastal drive. I didn’t realize how high up we were until we pulled over and looked down to the surf. Got some really good pics of trees. I talked to a raven there, but he didn’t seem inclined to follow me home.

Lunch: Crescent City taco bell.

Finally we arrive in Ashland.

When we got to the door, Dave Portera, who bought the place off Tony and Rosemary, reservations and all, was at the door, scotch in hand. We must have been the last ones in, since he asked if we were the Reeds. The house is done in a floral country, but our room is lavender and white,(olive carpet) with purple flowers on the bedding and plants hanging from the ceiling.

There’s a neat little touristy area downtown that reminds me of Mountain View’s Castro district. Lots of food places, antiques, books, and 3 bead shops. We ate at Pasta Pianni? Bryan had gemelli, and I had bruschetta and asparagus. After, we went back to our room, fireplace, Jacuzzi and all that. We even have 2 rubber duckies: a purple and a yellow.

He Says

We had breakfast at the B&B with the owners. They were nice. I wish the whole place was in a different city. We stayed longer than we had intended just listening to their stories about guests and ghosts and such. I was sad to be leaving Abigail’s Elegant Victorian, but not so sad to be leaving the city of Eureka. We had read about a very nice Victorian mansion in the city, the Carson House, so we decided to check it out. It was the beautiful. We can’t go inside because it is a private club, but the outside was phenomenal.

After we left Eureka, we headed north to the redwoods. I really liked walking through the redwoods. They were beautiful. We had originally stopped at the information center for the park we were in, but if you stay for longer than a half an hour you have to pay. So we just quickly stopped off at the center checked it out and drove down the road. We parked just about a mile later and got out and hiked, and didn’t have to pay. That seemed odd. Anyways… We had our picture taken next to a large tree that had a sign in front of it that read Big Tree. We continued out drive and detoured along the coast. It was beautiful. We pulled over at one point when the road had become gravel, and looked out at an overlook at the beach and pacific way down below us. It was amazing. There was a pickup and a man down there and they were so small. We stayed for a while just taking in how beautiful it was.

We needed to get going so that we could get to Ashland and Colonel Silsby’s Bed and Breakfast before it got too late.

The rest of the drive was actually nice until we got inland to I5. Then it was fairly boring civilization looking stuff (But I did see a Toys “R” Us) We got to Ashland and the B&B and checked in. It is nice. Not in the main house, again. We have out own Jacuzzi with purple and yellow rubber duckies.

We went out to explore the town and get something to eat. 5 separate people wearing Democratic National Convention t-shirts asked me if I wanted to help get Bush out of office. It was annoying after the second person. I wished they could just stick to one street corner. It was hard to find a restaurant that we could both agree upon, but finally we found one. It was okay.

Then we went back to the B&B. We talked a bit to some of the other guests and then went to the room.

More information on Abigail’s Elegant Victorian can be found here.
More information on Colonel Silsby’s Bed and Breakfast can be found here.

Mendocino Hotel

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The Mendocino Hotel and Garden Suites was started in 1878 as the Temperance House. It was later expanded when a second building was added on and a facade added to unite the two buildings from the front and renamed the Central Hotel. It is said that the hotel, at onetime, served as a brothel. The hotel is located in Mendocino’s Historic District which is listed on the National Registry of Historic Places.

Ghost Stories

It is said that a Victorian era woman visits tables 6 and 8 in the restaurant. The employees had a little to add about a friendly ghost upstairs that would move things in the bathrooms and turn the lights on and off. There are also certain rooms the main building that are supposed to have visitations.

Our Review

Situated in the picturesque town of Mendocino, the hotel that shares its name is a throwback to an earlier era, as I suppose, most haunted places are. The whole main hotel has a Victorian feel to it. The accommodations in the garden suites are nice, but not worth the money that we paid for it. Our complimentary breakfast (included in the special package that we bought) was very good on both of the days that we tried it. As a part of the package, we also had a complimentary wine tasting at the wine shop next door to the hotel. It was a nice town to get away from it all. There is no cell phone coverage in Mendocino, so you do not have to worry about that breaking the mood as you enjoy the shops and stores.

We stayed here as part of our “Haunted Honeymoon.” You can learn more about our stay by checking out our honeymoon pages day 2, day 3, and day 4.

Official Website of The Mendocino Hotel

Honeymoon Day 4

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Day 4
August 4th, 2004
Mendocino, CA to Eureka, CA

She Says

Had breakfast in the garden room again, yesterdays food was better.
Just before we hit the road towards Eureka, I got to talk to a local Raven. He was clicking and laughing.

Unfortunately he was too high in the tree for me to reach. As we turned to leave he laughed some more. Silly birdy.
I read just earlier that there are no crows in Mendocino. Just ravens. No wonder I like the place!

Also I found out that he reason we have no cell signal is because the townsfolk chose to pass when it was offered. Apparently they and the tourists prefer to not be constantly interrupted and leashed whilst in the town. Most of the Mendo workers live in Fort Bragg, so they have cell service there.

The drive up the coast, of course, made me sleepy. I got about a 45 min nap. Bryan and I detoured over to Victorian Ferndale, where they host a murder mystery weekend 1 or 2 times a year. I bought some candy. Big shock, eh?
There’s some really lovely Victorian homes there. The Gingerbread Inn looked very nice. Maybe if I ever get the time off again, we can stay there.

Back to 101, and we arrived in Eureka, which seems a bit rundown. Being too early to check in, we drove about the blocks surrounding Abigails Elegant Victorian Bed and Breakfast. Some Victorians are newly restored, but a lot of places are still shabby, or near falling to pieces.

When we got back to the B&B, we were amazed with the interior. It is such a drastic change compared to the neighborhood.
The exterior is a nicely kept Victorian, but the inside is like walking into a Victorian era home!

Every nook and cranny is filled with Victorian nik-naks, books, games, fabrics, statuettes…
They even have Vic era movies to show in the public room! There’s a scrabble game board I’ve been eyeing in the front room… But hunger calls.

Old town Eureka is…mixed. Some nice shops, scary residents. People talking to lamp posts, beer drinking bums and hard used(looking) women.

We found food fairly quickly. Scallops for me, gnocchi for Bryan at Roy’s(Italian food).
And even though I found a nice vintage clothing store it had modern day robbery for prices. After seeing Eureka, we decided that staying in our B&B was a good idea for the rest of the night. It was a much nicer place.

We spent the evening in the common rooms exploring, reading and playing scrabble. Bryan won, of course. It’s a very nice place. Its easy to forget the outside world of Eureka looks so downtrodden.

He Says

Had breakfast at the Mendocino Hotel, again. Afterwards I went to the post office to mail some post cards and Kryis found a bird up a tree. We explore the garden area of the Hotel and then hopped in the rental car and took off up the coast north towards Eureka.
I have always wanted to participate in one of the murder mystery weekends they have in Ferndale California, and as it was only a short side trip over to the town, we stopped off on our way up the coast.

It was a neat town– not quite as neat as I had hoped, but it did have some neat Victorians, and a neat doll house with a unique story on the main street.
I hope that Kryis and I are eventually able to come to one of their mystery weekends and stay in either the Gingerbread Mansion Inn or the Victorian Hotel.

I found it, but I don’t know why. Eureka is an odd town. It seems as if the bad parts of town and the good parts of town are all thrown together in a jumble.

We got there before the check-in time, so we drove around the neighborhood marveling at how one house could look like a crack house, and the next a very excellent restored Victorian. It was amazing, and yet very frightening.

When we got back to the B&B, I was almost afraid to leave the car parked on the street. We were given a tour by our lovely and gracious innkeeper, and then we explored a little ourselves.

We asked for suggestions on where to eat, but I was definitely skeptical and frightened. We ventured into “Old Town” Eureka in our quest to find a suitable eating establishment. It was not an easy task. The only thing of interest we found was a fountain.
Most restaurants looked like they were on their last legs. There were some we saw that were nice, and finally settled on an Italian restaurant. We walked quickly back to the car and drove to the B&B.

After ensuring that all of our valuables were not in the rental, we took advantage of all of the wonderful books to read, and paraphernalia to explore in the common areas.

There were no other guests around all the way until we went to bed.

Kryis and I played a game of Scrabble and read some books before retiring to our room.

This was a great town on the inside of this B&B. So much to look at all around. I would stay here again if I ever found a reason to return to Eureka.

 

More information on the Mendocino Hotel can be found here.
More information on Abigail’s Elegant Victorian can be found here.