Strawberry Moon over Cassadaga

After spending so much of 2020 at home, I was itching for a road trip.

I thought about places near me that I had always wanted to visit, but for whatever reason, had never gotten to. One of those places was the spiritualist community of Cassadaga, Florida.

@saltwavesspanishmoss
It’s a fantastic spot for a quiet getaway #spookytiktok #hauntedtiktok #historytiktok #cassadaga #cassadagaflorida
♬ Gravity Falls – L.Dre

My husband and I lived in Orlando for a bit, and while I always wanted to go to Cassadaga, it seems like something always ruined my plans.

Now I had time, a little extra money, and a road trip partner in my friend Jazzy.

Our trip happily coincided with the Strawberry Moon, so we were excited to see if all the talk about energy and spirits in this tiny town was true.

Cassadaga was founded in 1875 after a medium named George Colby said he had a vision where a spirit guide led him to the area.

The town is often referred to as the Psychic Capitol of the World because of all the psychics, mediums, and other spiritualist practitioners who live there.

We booked a night at the Cassadaga Hotel which is the only hotel in the town though there are B&Bs nearby. The 1920s building looks like something out of an old movie.

The red neon sign does give it a creepy ambiance. Are we going to see a ghost? End up in a murder mystery? Maybe both?

On the hotel’s website, they tell you the place is definitely haunted even though they emphasize that the ghosts are friendly. Walking around town, I can see why people who lived here would want to stick around in death. It’s gorgeous! There’s this unique charm of the old buildings along with an energy that made me instantly feel at home.

While my friend Jazzy and I were settling into our room, I mentioned that one of the hotel ghosts reportedly likes to touch women’s hair. We both hoped he wouldn’t do that to us because neither of us like strangers touching our hair. (Remember this. It will be important later.)

The room we booked wasn’t super fancy. It had a bed and a very small bathroom which I’m sure was probably a closet when the hotel was originally built. Hotels back then usually had a toilet and bathtub at the end of the hall for guests to use, so at least it’s been updated to have them in the room.

They do offer bigger rooms with bigger bathrooms, but since we were only staying one night, we figured the small bathroom was fine.

We went to every single store and even the haunted museum. If you’re looking to book a session with a psychic, tarot cards reader, or palm reader, be willing to wait. We went during the week and everyone was almost fully booked. I did manage to get my palms read which was fun.

The only place to eat in town is at the hotel. Sinatra’s is an Italian restaurant located in the lobby. It sounded like fun, but I can’t eat tomatoes so we drove about 10 minutes away to DeLand.

By the way, don’t sleep on DeLand. Lots of cute restaurants, shops, and public art over there.

The Haunted History Museum and The Purple Rose Trading Co.

@saltwavesspanishmoss
We had fun at @cgreenshauntedmuseumfl in Cassadaga #spookytiktok #hauntedtiktok #haunted #ghost #ghosttok #cassadaga #cassadagaflorida
♬ Gravity Falls Intro (Electro) – Blaze Blue

Back in Cassadaga after diner, we relaxed in our room and on the porch while we waited for nightfall.

People who say the town is haunted aren’t kidding. Cassadaga has this amazing energy to it. It feels like there are a bunch of people you can’t see walking through the streets and businesses. It wasn’t scary. It just felt like we were sharing space.

There are ghost tours of the town. I wasn’t able to book one for this trip, but I’ll definitely do that next time. I’d love to know more about what I felt there.

The Cassadaga Hotel has a porch where you can lounge, read, meditate, or take a smoke break.

After a short night stroll to take some pictures of the exterior of the hotel and a few nearby buildings, Jazzy and I called it a night.

I slept like a rock, so if any ghosts tried to wake me up that night, they didn’t succeed. Jazzy on the other hand woke up to something light like hair being drug across her throat. Her hair is short, and I’d have to be on top of her to drag my hair across her throat, so maybe Mr. Ghost with a thing for hair thought throats were a better option.

The next morning we walked along the streets we hadn’t gotten to the day before. That was when we noticed that some of the psychics and tarot card readers also operate out of their homes. There were also some parks and a fairy trail that we unfortunately didn’t have time to explore more.

Aside from the ghostly weirdness, we really enjoyed our trip. I can definitely see this place becoming my writer’s retreat when I need to get away and concentrate.

Whatever energy is there, I vibe with it.

@saltwavesspanishmoss
It’s a gorgeous cemetery. Just don’t be an idiot if you visit. #spookytiktok #hauntedtiktok #cassadaga #haunted #cemetery #gravetok
♬ Mysterious – Andreas Scherren

July 22, 2021 0

Moon River Brewing Company: my favorite haunted restaurant

Since it’s October, and that means the weather cools off a bit (it’s slightly less humid), I’ve been getting a lot of requests for my favorite haunted and creepy spots to visit in Savannah. Moon River Brewing Company is always one of my recommendations.

The food is good, the beer is fantastic, and there are plenty of ghosts to haunt your Halloween dreams.

The brewery was not named for the Johnny Mercer song from “Breakfast at Tiffany’s”, even though a local river was renamed in honor of the song. It was actually the result of a late night brainstorming session by the owners before they opened. One wanted a celestial name and the other suggested they add “river” because it’s close to the Savannah River. But if you want to tell yourself it was inspired by Audrey Hepburn sitting on a fire escape while strumming a guitar, you go right ahead.

Aside from the good food and beer, Moon River attracts people because of it’s haunted history.

The building was Savannah’s first hotel from 1812 to 1864. It was later used as a warehouse and then an office supply store, before finally becoming the brewery.

During its time as a hotel, it saw famous people, at least one deadly shooting, and a pair of lions. Yes, you read that right. Lions.

The lions would sit on the first floor during the day because the owner thought they made the hotel seem glamorous and hoped they would also dissuade people from starting fights.

In the evening, the lions were allegedly chained in the basement. Some people say they can still sense the presence of the once wild animals now eternally trapped in captivity.

Some believe the worn part of the posts is where the lions were chained.

I was talking with a friend who used to work there, and she told me there’s more than just lion ghosts in the basement.

She told me that several employees, including herself, have encountered a dark presence down there. She said the first time she saw it left her so traumatized that she refused to go down there alone after that.

Does a dark presence haunt this basement?

The ghosts that most people will tell you about at Moon River are the ones on the main and upper floors.

One is believed to be a hotel worker who died in the building. She’s known as Mrs. Johnson or the Woman in White. Mrs. Johnson is blamed for missing and moved tools, and people claim she pushed a construction worker’s wife down the stairs during remodeling.

The other ghost is James Stark. Stark, according to most sources I’ve found, was not a nice guy. His anti-Semitic words pushed a local doctor too far one day.

Dr. Phillip Minis challenged him to a duel since Stark refused to apologize for his hateful views of Minis and his faith. There was a disagreement over the time and place for the duel, and Stark ended up telling everyone in town that Minis was a coward. This all ended when the two came face-to-face on the main floor of the hotel that became Moon River. Shots were fired, Stark died, and a trial found Minis not guilty of murder.

Now it’s said that James Stark’s loathsome spirit haunts the first floor of the restaurant making life hard for workers, and occasionally, following people home to wreak havoc until he’s forced to leave.

So if you want to dine with the hottest of haunts, hit up Moon River Brewing Company next time you’re in town.

Moon River Brewing Company
21 W Bay St.
Savannah, GA

October 14, 2020 0

My favorite Savannah ghost tours

Okay. Let’s get one thing straight before I start. If you’re looking for historical accuracy, ghost tours really aren’t the place to look.

Savannah has plenty of historic tours you can choose from for that, but right now we’re looking at tours with the best ghost stories/experiences. Unless otherwise noted, all the tours are walking tours.

Blue Orb Tours

Blue Orb is the first ghost tour I ever went on, and I loved it! They do a fantastic job of storytelling and make you feel like you’re part of the ghost story.

They offer two different styles of ghost tour: the family-friendly version and the 18+ Zombie Tour. I’ve been on both. Personally, I like the Zombie Tour more, but I also don’t have kids.

You can find out more about costs and booking here.

Ghosts & Gravestones

I went on this tour once with visiting friends. They picked this tour because it was on a trolley, and they were tired from walking all day.

While driving around town doesn’t give a storyteller much time to convey the sense of dread you’d normally find in a ghost story, I thought the ghosts hosts made good use of their time.

Even though, most of the tour is spent riding around, the tour groups do get to go into two locations. Right now, those are the Andrew Low House and Perkin’s & Son’s Ship Chandlery.

View this post on Instagram

Happy Friday, Savannah! We're back exploring America's Most Haunted City! Get ready for some stories and scares throughout historic Savannah!

A post shared by Ghosts & Gravestones (@ghostsandgravestones) on Aug 7, 2020 at 5:05am PDT

As much as I love walking tours, I know there are people with mobility issues. Ghosts & Gravestones does offer accessibility help. They just ask that you contact them ahead of time, so they can prepare.

Hearse Ghost Tours

Always wanted to ride around in the back of a hearse, but didn’t want to die to get there? Your macabre dreams can come true on the Hearse Ghost Tour.

I’ve gone of this tour twice. It was fun, but it definitely depends on your driver/guide as is true with any ghost tour really. The first guide I had was a good storyteller. The second guy? Not so much.

But I did get to ride around in a hearse! The ride is a little bumpy though.

Click here for more info.

Sixth Sense Savannah Ghost Tour

Some of my derby teammates and I went on one of these tours a few years ago when the company sponsored our team. Part of it could have been because of my friends, but we all enjoyed ourselves.

The guide stopped to take EVP readings and replay them for us. At one point, he asked one of my teamies to try talking to the ghost of Casimir Pulaski in Polish. He caught a voice saying hello back to her.

I’m not sure if the EVP readings are a staple of the tour, but it was certainly a unique experience.

More here.

Savannah Supernatural Tours

Recently, I wrote an article for Do Savannah about how COVID was affecting the ghost tourism industry. Jodie, the owner of the tour company, was nice enough to let me tag along during one of his tours.

The crowd for his, and some of the other tours we passed, was certainly smaller than normal, but it put us in the mood to listen to Savannah’s struggles with yellow fever in the 19th century.

Jodie had great stories and periodically stopped to share tidbits about other Savannah things. Since some tours can feel scripted, that was a nice personal touch.

You can book a tour with Jodi here.

If COVID is keeping you from going out this Halloween, you can always catch up with my haunted and weird stories about Savannah on my TikTok.

October 6, 2020 0

Walking with a ghost at Fort Pulaski

October will be here tomorrow, and that means it’s time for haunted houses and ghost stories.

You may not think of Fort Pulaski as a place to checkout for something spooky, but in a spot where you can easily feel the echoes of the past, maybe you should.

Vash checks out the marks where the cannonballs.

You’ll find Fort Pulaski National Monument on Highway 80 between Savannah and Tybee Island. The spot had been used as various forts and defenses throughout Savannah’s history, but it was it’s incarnation as a Civil War fort that leaves it haunted.

It was a Confederate fort during the Civil War. In order to defeat them, Union soldiers set up a rifled cannon on Tybee Island and fired at the fort. The Confederates surrendered and were held as prisoners of war in their own fort.

If you’re not familiar with POW camps during the Civil War, it was pretty rough on both sides. It was especially hard for those at Fort Pulaski because basic supplies were in high demand but short supply. A lot of sickness and death followed.

Cannon firings are often heard on weekends and during special events.

Now the specters of those who fought and died at the fort can sometimes be spotted wandering the grounds. Some areas of the fort allegedly echo with the sounds of people dying and screaming in pain.

While that all sounds terrible, there is one story that makes me laugh. My favorite ghost story from Fort Pulaski involves extras from the film “Glory”.

Parts of “Glory,” starring Denzel Washington, were shot in and around Savannah. Before heading to set one day, a few extras dressed as Confederate soldiers decided to explore the fort. That’s when they say a Confederate officer stopped them and reprimanded them for not saluting him. After barking orders at them, they say he just disappeared.

Photo of re-enactors by the National Park Service

A different ghostly sound has been heard around the fort. It’s credited as being the site of Georgia’s first baseball game. On January 3, 1863, some Union soldiers decided to play. It was New York vs New York. (In case you’re wondering, New York won.)

Now some people claim to hear the crack of a bat and men yelling in excitement. I guess spending your afterlife playing baseball isn’t the worst thing.

Whether it’s the sound of phantom cannons rolling into place or the screams of invisible prisoners, keep your ears peeled for the calls of ghosts.

Normally, Fort Pulaski offers a nighttime tour in October to talk about the history of death and the macabre, but I don’t think they’re offering that this year due to COVID restrictions. Still, you should like to fort on Facebook to keep up with events once its safe to have them again.

Storms over the past few years, left it with a lot of debris and damage. In a weird bright side to the pandemic, it’s given the NPS a chance to clean up and repair areas of the fort, making it even more accessible.

Aside from the fort itself, Fort Pulaski offers plenty of trails, a picnic area, fishing, and even a dog-friendly beach.

If you’re planning a Savannah visit, I highly recommend a day at Fort Pulaski. (And if you happen to see any ghosts, please let me know.)

Fort Pulaski National Monument
US-80
Savannah, GA 31410

September 30, 2020 0

Gallivanting through the graveyard

A graveyard may seem like a strange place to take your dog for a walk, but Savannah is used to the strange and unusual.

It’s okay. Unleash your inner Lydia Deets.

Cemeteries aren’t just got Goths and ghost hunters. The South has plenty of fun graveyards to explore; each with its own unique stories to tell. Savannah is no exception.

Driving through the gates of Bonaventure Cemetery, it’s easy to see why it was used for the opening of the 1997 film adaptation of “Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil.” The branches of oak trees laden with Spanish moss crisscross over dirt roads winding through old headstones.

My dog, Vash, and I like walking here for different reasons. I like it because it’s quiet and easy to socially distance from people, and I also enjoy spotting the names of tombstones that match with streets, squares, and nearby towns. Vash likes it because it’s shaded against the summer sun and there’s plenty of wildlife to smell.

Vash loves all the smells the wildlife provide for discerning doggie noses.

It isn’t just local historical people you’ve never heard of buried there. You can follow the same paths that inspired poet Conrad Aiken to write Cosmos Mariner, and even stop by his grave site, sit on the bench inscribed with his name, and see what words it inspires in yourself.

If you’re a music fan, pull up a Johnny Mercer playlist on Spotify (Yes, the guy who wrote the song Moon River.)and wander over to his family’s plot. Snippets of the songwriter’s vast catalog can be found engraved on some of the headstones as well as a bench.

Given the recent scrutiny Confederate memorials are receiving, it’s worth pointing out that there are some graves of those who served in the Confederate army. A few years ago, you would’ve found tiny battle flags next to the headstones. Those have all been removed, but you can recognize some of them by a small Maltese cross sticking out of the ground nearby.

If you love a good ghost story, don’t forget to stop by and say hello to Little Gracie.

When you pull up to the cemetery gates, you’ll notice there are two entrances. The one to your right leads to the Jewish side. Savannah is Georgia’s first city and is home to the state’s oldest Jewish congregation. If you’re wondering why the Jewish side has a separate entrance, it’s a religious custom. There’s also a special chapel.

On one trip to Bonaventure, Vash and I found the Holocaust monument.

While Vash and I walk here year round, I think the best time to go is in the spring when the azaleas are in full bloom. If you have seasonal allergies like me, make sure to take your antihistamine before you go, but the sight of all the pink flowers spilling out everywhere is worth a few sniffles.

There are plenty of tours available to give you a better history (and some ghost stories) of Bonaventure Cemetery. The Bonaventure Historical Society also has a free app available if you’d like to tour by yourself. And if you happen to see me and Vash out there, you can definitely ask me for directions.

Here’s some video of my favorite spots with a Johnny Mercer tune.

June 18, 2020 1