The Haunted New England Inn
Some of the oldest inns in the United States are in New England. Larry and I visited one that was built in the early 1700s, years before the United States became a country. In the early part of the twentieth century there was a fire there that caused extensive damage to the upper floors of the inn, but it was soon rebuilt and restored to what it is today, complete with antique furnishing and of course the ghosts. While sitting in the inn's formal dinning room I was able to see some of the past guests that seemed to be enjoying the inn's formal dinning and good times, even after death. There is a rather large mirror that adorns one end of the dinning room and I observed a man standing there just off to one side. He seemed to be from the early part of the last century and he was dressed in a rather high collar jacket with very narrow lapels. His pants ended right at his ankles and on his feet he was wearing black shoes and white spats over the top. On his head he wore a small round hat, I believe that they used to call it a derby hat, he would occasionally take it off as if to tip it to some unseen lady that passed by. His face was very narrow and he seemed to be around thirty, he had a mustache that went out on both sides and seemed to twist on each end. As he stood there, he seemed unaware of the present time seemingly lost in his own time frame. Soon I noticed a woman coming into the dinning room area; she too seemed to be from the same era as the man, who had now vanished from sight. She was dressed in a very fancy dress; it hung almost to the floor and was picked up in the front to revel underneath a gray striped skirt. Her neckline was also very high and ruffled. The jacket that she wore was tight fitting in the front and seemed to become looser as it went over what appeared to be a bustle in the back. Her hair was pulled up and she wore a small triangular shaped hat on her head complete with a veil that came over her eyes to her nose. There was a feather in her hat that matched the color of the dress and she carried an umbrella that was the same gray stripe as the underskirt of her dress. She also carried a small purse in her gloved hands. She seemed to be looking for someone, unaware of us sitting there, I wondered if she was there to meet the gentleman that I first saw? The dinning room is not the only room on the first floor that seems to be haunted; there is an informal tavern off to the side that is just as haunted. One evening while enjoying a meal in there I saw a local artist that lived in the town where the inn is located. He had been a constant guest in the inn when he was alive more than 25 years ago. I clearly saw him sitting at the end of the bar, reading a magazine and nursing a drink. He seemed to be unaware of his surroundings and our time. A few minutes later as he was still sitting there, I saw a movie star come into the bar and walk over and sit next to the artist. The artist acknowledged the actor and the two sat together as slowly the vision faded. The next day I purchased a cookbook that the inn publishes and in it I saw a picture of the artist and the movie star standing together. I asked at the front desk and was told that the movie star was a frequent guest at the inn around the same time as the artist. Not only is the dinning room and tavern haunted so is the guest rooms we have had many encounters with spirits during our frequent stays there. One in particular was in the early spring, it was a rather warm day and I had the window opened in the bedroom part of the room. But as the sun set it got cooler and I closed and latched them and went into the sitting room. We heard a distinct sound of the window unlatching and being opened. Since they are old windows they made quite a noise, we both got up and went into the other room and sure enough the window was opened. I went over and closed the window and announced that we wanted the window to stay closed. For the rest of our stay the window remained closed. During the night the room was very noisy, we could hear someone walking around, talking as if there were a lot of people in the sitting room, which there wasn't and the noise of someone rustling through our suitcases. We are not the only ones that report that this inn is haunted many other guest have seen and heard strange things. This inn is a very popular place to stay for both the living and the dead. |
