Ghosthunting Kentucky. Patti Starr
get some more information about the little boy if we went to the basement right away.
We headed to the basement to see what might happen, and we captured a special spirit orb and a child’s voice. We found the energy vortex and stood in that area as we took snapshots with our cameras and performed a couple of EVP sessions. Ginny began to communicate with the playful and happy child. I asked Ginny to hold up her hands as I instructed the little boy to show himself around her hands. As I continued to talk to him, I snapped a shot with my camera and captured a spirit orb close to Ginny. What makes this capture so unique is that the orb is behind an object, which contradicts the theory that all orbs are dust reflecting back as globe-shaped anomalies in the flash of the camera. If that were the case, this orb would be in front of the barrier instead of behind it, revealing only half of its shape. This was a rare and super capture of a spirit orb. We continued to talk to the little boy, and behind us a box scooted across the floor and startled us. We swung around, and no one was there. We laughed and thanked the little boy for causing the commotion. I asked him if he would speak to us, and I captured an EVP of a child’s voice that said, “I can see you.” This spry spirit was having fun with us, and Ginny said she felt he must have lived in the early part of the 1900s. I thought that he might have been a child of one of the earlier staff members when the hotel first opened. It felt to me that he was allowed to play throughout the building while his parents worked. Ginny and I agreed that he was of African American descent. Since this was a place where one could be who they were without the fear of judgment about race or gender, I’m sure the atmosphere here was one of comfort and joy.
We didn’t want to spend our entire two hours in the basement, so we ventured to the second and third floors to check out the other rooms. We stepped into the elevator and started our journey to the top. As the elevator was moving, I said, “Did you know that I was in a falling elevator once?” Just as I said that the elevator stopped abruptly between two floors and started to jerk as if it were going to fall. Everyone gasped and looked at me. The elevator made another attempt to readjust itself to the next floor and jerked again. I said, “When I get off this elevator, I’m taking the stairs down.” It finally leveled with the third floor as the doors opened to let us out. When we returned to the front desk, I asked the clerk if there had been reports that the elevator dropped or jerked before getting to the top floor. She looked puzzled and said, “Not since I’ve been here, and I’ve been here for over four years.”
The rest of our investigation continued on the second floor, as we entered the different rooms to see what we could find. After about four rooms, we went into one where I picked up on a male ghost through my dowsing rods. He didn’t know he had died and seemed to be confused as I continued to ask yes and no questions. Ginny was standing by the bed and noticed an indention, as if someone had been lying on the bed. She told us that the ghost just sat up in bed and asked her, “What are you doing here?” She continued to communicate with him until he was calmer, and then he left the room. We concluded our investigation and took the stairs to go back to the lobby. The staff was interested in knowing if we had gotten any results from our equipment. I shared with them the EVP I had gotten of the little boy who said, “I can see you.” They were thrilled to hear it.
In 2010, I thought it would be nice to do a follow-up on the hauntings at Boone Tavern. I learned that a few months earlier, a renovation of Boone Hall was completed to preserve and enhance the historic character of the hotel. The Boone Tavern has earned the Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) certification from the U.S. Green Building Council. I couldn’t help but wonder if the paranormal activity increased during this time and thought an investigation would be in order.
The spirit orb of the little boy hiding behind a barrier was photographed near Ginny as she called him forward.
I called the manager, Gary McCormick, and he was open to having me do another ghost investigation. I arrived at 9:30 on a blistering cold and snowy morning. As I opened the entryway door to the tavern, I could see the wonderful new decor and colors that complimented the expansive lobby. The deep gem colors of blue and gold were rich, warm, and inviting. I loved all the changes and could hardly wait for lunch to check out the menu.
We were greeted by a wonderful staff, and I was impressed to see the bellman dressed in a sharp, top-notch, white uniform that made him look distinctive and proud. His name was Fred Baker. He informed us that Gary was running late because he was held up by the snow. Two other employees, Anita Ridgeway and Tucker Collins, were standing next to Fred. Anita was gracious and offered us coffee while we waited for Gary. While we were drinking our coffee, I explained to them that I had completed a ghost investigation in 2005 and wanted to check to see if the same type of activity was still present. I asked Anita, “Do you have any knowledge of strange activity that might be the result of a haunting?” She answered, “I have witnessed a few things that I can’t explain how or why they happened. There is a common occurrence in the dining room that has us baffled. Several servers will be setting up the tables with napkins and silverware when the silverware will start to drop onto the floor in a domino effect as it goes from one server to another. It’s as if a small child is having fun by running from one server to the other and knocking off the silverware.”“Have you ever heard of a guest having an experience?” I asked. “Yes, I have,” she answered. “I was standing by the front desk one morning when a woman came down dressed and ready to check out. It was early, around 5:00, and we thought it was strange to have someone checking out so early. The lady explained to us that while she was asleep, she was awakened by a touch on the hand. When she sat up in her bed, there was a man in her room. As she focused on him, he disappeared. That’s when she got up, got dressed, and got out of the room. She was a bit shaken. I believe the woman was in Room 206.”
When I heard about this account, I thought that Ginny was going to be thrilled to hear this story since we were in Room 206 when we found the male ghost that didn’t know he had passed away. I thanked everyone for their stories and walked over to the front desk. I asked a pretty young lady, with a big smile, if she would be willing to do an interview about the hauntings of the hotel. She told me that she was the desk clerk and her name was Jordan Perry. “Jordan, can you tell me what you have observed while working at the Boone Tavern?” I asked. “Well,” she started with hesitation, “on my third night of training, I was sitting here at the desk by myself. It was around 2:00 in the early morning when I heard a crash coming from the Skylight Room. Since the hotel was so quiet, it really startled me. I wanted to find out what made the sound, so I went into the room to see what had happened. As I looked around, there was no one in the room, but I did see the big black ice scooper lying on the floor. The scooper is kept on top of the ice-maker machine. I know it causes a vibration when it is running, but the scooper had landed all the way across the room from where the ice machine was. When I asked the other kitchen staff if this had happened before, they laughed and said that it happens a lot. That’s when I started to suspect this place of being haunted.” I asked Jordan, “Have you ever seen or heard what you thought might be a ghost?” “Yes,” she quickly answered. “One morning while standing at the desk and checking on room availability, I heard a little boy laugh. I looked up to see if a child had come into the lobby, but there was no little boy. I looked back down at my computer to start my search and heard the sound of a little boy laughing again. This time I noticed that the sound came from the Skylight Room, where the ice machine is. I guess that room gets a lot of activity. There have been other times during the day and night that I’ve heard him laughing in the lobby. Several times I’ve heard the sound of someone running back and forth in front of the desk and on those stairs, “she said, pointing to the stairs behind me. Jordan added, “Everyone who works here seems to know of the little boy. They think he’s around nine or ten years old. He seems to be happy and very mischievous.”
While Jordan was telling her accounts of the activity, Fred walked up behind us. He informed us that he would be joining us when we went upstairs into the guest rooms. We were delighted to have his assistance. He also asked us if we would mind doing him a favor. “What do you want us to do?” I asked. Fred said, “Please stand right here and tell me what you feel.” Fred had Chuck stand in an area in front of the desk. As Chuck stepped into the spot, Fred noticed that he started to rock