Are you a thrill-seeker wanting to test your scare threshold? Could you keep your cool if you came face-to-face with a real “live” ghost? Here are four spook-tacular haunted places with plenty of legends and spirits to test your nerves.
- Queen Mary Ghost, photo credit Joe LaRocca
Queen Mary, Long Beach, California – Originally launched in 1934, Cunard’s historic ship served as a luxury cruise liner and a WWII transport ship. It is now permanently docked as a floating hotel and museum and is reputed to have a host of resident ghosts. There have been many sightings of ladies in vintage clothing on the pool deck, the cries of a young girl looking for her doll in the nursery are frequently heard and stateroom faucets mysteriously turn on in the middle of the night. The Queen Mary is said to be one of the most haunted places in the US, so be prepared for the paranormal when you visit and take a ghost tour.
Savannah, Georgia – With a history of Revolutionary and Civil War bloodshed, fire and disease, it is easy to believe that ghosts roam the cobblestone streets of Georgia’s oldest city. Supposedly several areas of the city are built over old cemeteries and supernatural legends abound. Several bed and breakfast establishments boast resident ghosts – one of the creepiest haunted houses in Savannah is the 1851 Marshall House that was once a Civil War hospital. Ghost hunters up for some “fright-seeing” just might find what they are looking for on a nighttime ghost walk, a haunted pub crawl or a visit to the moss-draped oaks of the creepy Bonaventure Cemetery.
Colonial Williamsburg, Virginia – For some spooky tales combined with a living history of America’s earliest days, Colonial Williamsburg is the place to go. Professional storytellers spin ghost stories by lantern light, weaving strange but true occurrences into the historical backdrop. Over the years sightings of faces in the windows of the uninhabited Peyton Randolph House have been relatively common and there are stories of furniture moving around at Chowning’s Tavern and the sound of wagon wheels traveling down Hangman’s Road. These ghost tours are not too scary for children, yet believable enough to make skeptics think twice.
- Civil War ghosts still haunt in Gettysburg
Gettysburg, Pennsylvania – Given the number of tragic deaths that occurred on the Gettysburg Battlefields during the Civil War, it’s easy to believe that the ghosts of some soldiers are still hanging around the hallowed grounds. Ghost tours tell visitors of repeated battlefield sightings of soldier apparitions that disappear and sounds of snorting horses that don’t exist. Visitors to the Cashtown Inn bed and breakfast have found their bags packed in the morning, while the innkeeper denies any employee foolery; and ghostly children have been seen playing at the Jenny Wade house.
There are many more cities and hotels in the US and abroad that boast ghostly sightings and supernatural occurrences. Let Covington’s vacation advisors plan some spooky travel for your next trip and scare yourself silly!
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