“It would be
difficult to write
a convincing
ghost story
set on a sunny
day in a big city.”
~Susan Hill
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I’ve never loved a place more at first site. My love
for New Orleans built over the years until it’s one of my favorite places to
visit. Eureka Springs won my heart within the first half-hour.
We made the journey as a 2-day 18-hour road trip. All
such trips have hiccups. I was traveling with my 75-yr-old mother who has a few
accessibility issues but was completely up for this ghostly adventure.
Our first stop driving out to Eureka Springs was in
West Virginia to see the Greenbrier Ghost. I’m going to write a separate post
about that along with more detailed descriptions of some of our adventures while in the city. This post is more of an overview of our stay; an exhausted me attempting to return to normalcy.
The twists and turns getting to the Crescent Hotel
from Eureka Springs are numerous. The hotel website instructs visitors to “follow
the red-painted curb of the Historic Loop all the way to the Crescent Hotel
(this street will have many right-angle turns).” They weren’t kidding. When we followed
the directions, they worked out perfectly. We originally did not follow the
directions which delayed our arrival a bit. We had also forgotten about the
time change, which worked in our favor.
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The people in Eureka Springs were incredibly
friendly from those who worked at the hotel and restaurants to the guy in the “southern”
t-shirt who hopped out of his truck, offered us a ride (since Mom was having a
difficult time getting down the hill), and who recommended the Grotto Wood Grill & Wine Cave. If
he ever reads this post, thanks for the offer and I’m sorry my mother snapped
at you about taking rides from strangers.
The food was much better than I would have ever expected
for such a small place. The restaurants such as Ermilio’s and the hotel food were delicious
and surprisingly vegetarian-friendly although these days I do eat seafood now and
then. Overall, the portions everywhere were much too large but that’s more of
an American problem that a Eureka Springs one.
The hotel staff including Linda Clark, the concierge
was helpful. Betty from Serendipity
at the Crescent also gave great recommendations. I believe I had the best
manicure and pedicure of my life from Summer at the New Moon Spa.
Everyone told a ghost story; everyone who worked
there seemed to believe in the supernatural. I’ll be writing more detailed posts
about some of the adventures we had. I’m usually thrilled to be home but today
I am tired and feeling a bit melancholy having returned from such an adventure. I'm also processing a great deal and need a bit of time to share my experiences.
I will be writing about how I was *nudged* on the first night (was it a ghost or was I falling asleep?), the terrible dreams I had (which is rare for me to recall any of my dreams and these related a bit too closely to the hotel's history), and how a medium during the Spiritualist portion of the local illusionist show had me walking back to the hotel in tears. I don't want to be a skeptic in life; but, I also don't want to be naive. I've been to a medium who was spot on. I expected that; I did not expect to be pulled out of a crowded audience to receive a message from the Spirit World. If it wasn't real, it would be a pretty mean trick; if it is real, well, I'm still processing.
Sounds like a really interesting trip. Love the pics. I've been writing ghost stories recently and found that going somewhere suitably spooky definitely aids the process.
ReplyDeleteI've always been a little sceptical about spiritualism, but sometimes things are said or seen that can't just be waved away. And I grew up in a house of ghosts that visited every member of the family on many occasions!
I love being in a spooky place reading ghost stories. How do you not freak out while writing them :p I guess that's the point... they should be scary!
DeleteAhem, nudged, eh? Let me know when I can do the "told you so" dance. ;) hehehehe ... Didn't the Ghost Hunters go to the Crescent?
ReplyDeleteYeah, yeah, yeah ;D... wait until I post about the spiritualist. She freaked me out!
DeleteGreat overview! I feel bad for the people working several jobs. The not taking rides from strangers bit made me laugh!
ReplyDelete