Happy delicious, wonderful, scary Halloween my friends!!
We finally made it to the end of the month – to the one day that we look forward to once a year – HALLOWEEN. Did you think that you were going to make it? I know there were times that *I* didn’t – snorts. I do hope you you’ve enjoyed my 31 Days of Spook and that I didn’t scare you too much. It’s been a joy to bring it to you this year and share in some of our ‘real’ ghost stories.
It’s been a real zoo here at the Hotel Thompson this month. I wanted to join some dress up contests and parties but I’ve been so very behind with everything 😦 I guess that’s what happens when mom/dad go on vacation so close to my big day. I promise – next year I will be on top of things.
I do want to share a few things with my family – snorts. Hemi and Mouse Girl, the two purr things here, are going as my back up singers and I’m going as Bacon, The King, Presley. Here we are (can someone get me a banana peanut butter sandwich please?):
That leaves mom/dad. They needed something to bring out their ‘inner’ child. Lots of discussion took place and we finally settled on some things that are close to their hearts. Dad is of course the devil – snorts – and mom is bringing out her inner Puss and Boots – snorts.
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I hope enjoyed our Halloween ‘costumes’. I know we are going to have a blast with them!
I am so proud of you my blogville friends. You made it each and every day throughout my 31 Days of Spook. I am really quite impressed here. I have tried to bring you stories of horror – stories of ghosts and ghouls – and stories that make you listen to every bump in the dark night. I’ve had a lot of fun and I hope that you have as well.
For Halloween – the day of all spook days – I had to think hard about what to share with you. Mom and dad helped me by reminding me of a story at their true love – Savannah, Georgia.
One of the must things to do in Savannah if you have never done it is to take a stroll through downtown at night on a haunted ghost tour. There are walking tours, horse and buggy tours or even a hearse tour if you dare.
Many moons ago, mom/dad went with my mom’s sister and her daughter, my little niece Savannah. Nice name huh? Savannah must have been about two and they decided to do a night time horse and buggy haunted ghost tour. It must have been scary too because little Savannah stayed camped out inside of mom’s hoodie the entire horse and buggy tour.
One of the last places on the tour was a little house called the 17 Hundred 90 Inn and Tavern. It’s a quaint little place, not so scary during the day but a night – chills. The 17 Hundred 90 Inn and Tavern is located at 306 East President Street, Savannah. The bottom floors have a restaurant and bar area while the upper floors have 14 suites in the inn. It has a long history of untimely death and ghosts. It was originally built in 1820 and is one of the oldest buildings in the Savannah area.
The most paranormal activity revolves around poor sweet Anna who fell from the window of room 204. There are many stories about poor Anna – we really don’t know which one is the truth.
One story states that she was married to the designer of the home, Steel White, who died in 1790 in a tragic riding accident. Anna fell in love with a German sailor who went off to sea and promised to return but never did. Anna found out that she was pregnant and realized that the German sailor never meant to return. In despair, she jumped to her death from room 204.
Another story similar to the one above with Anna has Anna being a servant at the inn instead of being married to the designer of the home. The end is the same result though, her untimely death.
People have reported the ghost of poor Anna leaning over them while they sleep in room 204. Other stories are of Anna caressing men’s cheeks and as they wake they see Anna crying and then jumping to her death out the window. Items are also often reported missing – wallets, jewelry, keys – all of which are later found mysteriously in a planter or behind a shelf.
Stories were so rampant at one point in room 204 that the 17 Hundred 90 Inn and Tavern required any patron staying in the room to sign a waiver stating they would not request their money back should they not stay the entire night. Nowadays, it is no longer required because most people wanting room 204 are hoping for a little ghost sighting of poor sweet Anna.
So this story was told on horse and buggy ride late at night through the streets of Savannah. Mom, Dad, my Aunt Tina and two year old niece Savannah who was taking up shop under mom’s hoodie. The mood was set. It was dark, a little misty. All you could hear was the clickey-clack of the horses feet, an occasional snarl from the horse and the soft tale of Anna coming for the tour guide. That’s when my niece Savannah decided to poke her head out to the world and say in her little child like voice, “Poor Anna”.
So do you believe in ghosts, spooks and things that go bump in the night? Do you have a little adventure still left in you? Want a weekend trip at a haunted inn – I’ve heard that the 17 Hundred 90 has open reservations…. if you dare my friends.
I am honored and so well…speechless (which is rare for this little oinker). I have been bestowed the The Imagine Unicorn Award from my friends over at http://evilsquirrelsnest.com. Thank you so very much! I love awards and I love unicorns – what a match for me! In fact, I secretly believe I have an unicorn in my magical back yard that poops the rainbow. Sshh – don’t tell anyone, everyone will want one!
With everything being kind of crazy here at the Hotel Thompson for October, I have my little head deep in research for my 31 Days of Spook and missing mom/dad with their vacation. They gave me this award on Sunday and I just don’t know what to say but thank you!
The Imagine Unicorn Award was created “in order to recognize the bloggers who express their passion and dedication towards their blogs through their creativity”. It has six basic rules…. thankfully none of which involve answering any silly questions….
Copy and paste The Imagine Award into your post. – check did that.
Thank the blogger who nominated you and link their blog page to your post. – check did that.
List 3-5 things about the nominator’s blog that you like (which you think are very creative). – see below 🙂
Nominate 5 other bloggers/blogs which you think display a fantastic use of creativity and imagination. – see below 🙂
Notify your nominees. – check will do
Display The Imagine Award on your blog’s award page. – check did that
There’s a lot that I can say about evilsquirrelsnest. First off, it’s highly original. Who knew that squirrels could be so popular and lovable? We at the Hotel Thompson think about evilsquirrelsnest often…especially with having that pesky Journalist Rocky the Squirrel in our magical backyard always knocking on the door for a cup of nuts – snorts. Bill’s cartoons are a hoot, always makes us smile and even makes us ponder things at times. Whenever daddy is feeling down, he *always* goes to evilsquirrelsnest to make him smile. It’s just the way it is. In fact, I’ve even told some of my skype friends about the nest – it’s a must read. And mom, well she kind of basks in the posts from times of way back when. Snorts – it’s a hoot down memory lane my friends. Thank you so much for the kind gesture of thinking of this little oinker with this award. I’m touched.
My nominees (in no particular order) – please accept my friends 🙂
Easy at http://easyweimaraner.wordpress.com/ His mom and dad remind me a lot about my mom/dad. In fact, I think they are brothers/sisters from a different mother on the other side of the earth – snorts. They are all tossed a little… I think in a good way.
Chloe at http://freerangecow.com/ Come on – Chloe is a cow that travels and has field trips. It reminds me so much of my Bashful! And Chloe if you’re reading this and you should be – snorts – I didn’t get your email yet😦 Send it to me at baconthompson@gmail.com okay. You KNOW what it’s about.
Hitchens at http://www.theporkypine.com What? Come on – he’s an oinker like me. You gotta love the originality of another pig and his life – snorts.
Lori at http://whattheducks.com/ Ducks – that’s right I said it – ducks. And might I add, beautiful pictures and a friend from Sleepy Hollow 😉 winks
Fozzie at http://dinz1234.wordpress.com/ I absolutely could not have a listing with my pal Fozzie from down under. She always wishes me good night and I try to do her as well. She tells tales of her animals – including gators, lizards oh my! She is a hoot of a friend and we loves her here at the Hotel Thompson. In fact, we love all of our friends so much!!
Enjoy your award my friends – everyone deserves it!
Shivers – today’s post brings me shivers just thinking about it. You’ve almost made it through with me the entire 31 days of Spook. I’m so proud of you!
Today, I want to concentrate on something close to our hearts here at the Hotel Thompson – the St. Augustine Lighthouse. We’ve watched television shows highlighting the paranormal activity here – have you seen any?
During the 1870’s construction began on the lighthouse tower. The superintendent, Hezekiah Pittee, had two daughters drown in an accident. The girls liked to get in a work trolley and roll down to the waterfront. One day, the trolley didn’t stop and capsized into the water drowning the two girls. Since then, reports have been made of seeing two little girls standing on the catwalk.
There have also been reports of moving shadows, voices and unexplained sounds. Other people have reported seeing a dark figure on the stairway inside of the lighthouse. On one show of Ghost Hunters, Grant Wilson and Jason Hawes caught a dark figure on the steps moving and a woman’s voice asking for help. It was haunting to say the least.
Reports have also been made of the smell of cigar smoke and a man in the basement area of the keepers house. This man is believed to be a Civil War hero and a former lighthouse keeper, William Ham.
The lighthouse is now open to the public. The St. Augustine lighthouse even offers what they call a Dark of the Moon Tour that allows access into the lighthouse and keepers house at night. During this time, you are given a glow stick to light your way so that you may investigate on your own. Any takers? I’m game.
Today, I’m taking you on a side trip my friends on my spook adventure. Today I want to talk to you about a place that mom and dad went to during their vacation to Tybee Island. It was Fort Pulaski, a national monument, located at US Highway 80 E, Savannah, Georgia. Maybe it’s not full of ghosts, but if you close your eyes and listen hard enough perhaps you will still hear the sounds of battle.
The park is open daily from 9AM until 5PM. You can go on a guided tour or roam the grounds by yourself. Mom and dad decided to go by themselves and see what kind of trouble they could get into – go mom/dad.
After you pay to enter the park, you drive over the Cockspur Island Bridge into the grounds. It’s kind of a dark picture to the right but the trees are gorgeous! Look at all of that rolling lovely green grass! So many places for this little porker to play – pets are welcomed 🙂
Then you start to see the fort itself – so massive! I don’t know why but mom was just astonished to the ‘moat’ that was around this huge fortress. Mom and dad said they were the only ones there for a bit and the silence from everything was kind of overwhelming. It was like you could almost hear the gunshots in the background, the moans of soldiers and people talking. The wind was blowing and you could hear it singing in between the brick walls with the soft sounds of the water echoing. It was kind of eerie.
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Fort Pulaski is huge. It was overcast this day so some of the pictures are not the best but hopefully you will enjoy them. Mom took this picture to the right as they were walking down to enter into the fort. It looks calm but mom/dad both said that the air was heavy.
They walked all the way down until the other side of the building. That’s where there was a bridge that they walked over to enter into the fort itself. For the building to be as old as it is (built in 1861), it is remarkably still intact. You do see some stonework falling inside of the casemates but as a whole, it is grand.
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Fireplaces and windows are still standing as well as the cannons in the windows. You’ll even notice on the bottom of the cannon picture where the cannons could slide left/right for positioning of the firing.
And how would you like to be a prisoner of the fort? Look to this picture to the left of the ‘beds’ they used. Wood slats. Comfy huh? Daddy tried one when mom ‘locked him up’ in prison. It was kind of hard – snorts.
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And I saved the best picture until last. The stairs to the top of the fort. I’m not mentioning names but someone thought they would wobble up these torturous stairs to the top of the fort to take a peek. Notice that the stairs do not have handrails. It was a great view at the top and I would have a picture to share if only mom remembered to bring the camera – silly mom. And she wasn’t crawling back down to get the camera she said. And also let’s say that mom took the adventure of the stairs and that night it hurt in every place possible. That’ll teach mom not to climb and old fort like she was a teenager – snorts.
Oh, and another missed photo opportunity mom/dad made. They saw and met a beautiful white German Shepherd while visiting the Fort. She was so friendly and mom got to love on her for a while with her parents.
So the question remains. Is Fort Pulaski haunted? Mom asked one of the workers and she was told no. Is it spooky – yes. Do you pick up “feelings” of days gone – yes. Mom and dad both said they could close their eyes and hear and picture in their minds the activity that happened once upon a time.
Since mom/dad have been back home, I’ve done a lot of research on Fort Pulaski. To my amazement, there have been many encounters with the unknown at the Fort over the years. There was a story about a mother and son visiting the fort that were crossing over the draw bridge to enter into the fort. They met a Confederate sentry dressed in uniform with his sword. They spoke to him about his outfit and the fort. The mother then inquired about a restroom and he advised that he could not leave his position to show her. She thanked the man and with her son she continued into the fort to ask about the restrooms. There she was advised that the restrooms were at the entrance. She became upset and told the man about the soldier she spoke to at the drawbridge. The man advised her that they had no soldiers dressed in Confederate uniforms at the fort.
Then there was a time that a group of Confederate reenactors placed a wreath at the graves in 1994. They then settled down for the night and camped out. During the night, a young 12 year old boy couldn’t sleep and was walking around the fort. Nearing the graves, he saw a figure of a Confederate soldier in uniform on his knees near the grave they had put the wreath. The soldier had his hat in his hand, then stood and faded away into the air.
Then during further research, I learned that an actor that you might have heard of did a movie at Fort Pulaski back in 2009. The movie was called The Conspirator and the actor was Robert Redford.
It’s up to you to decide if it’s haunted or not. Maybe someone needs to let the worker at the shop know that there has been some cases of mysterious sightings. It was definitely an adventure that mom/dad would be willing to do again… of course minus the stairs – snorts.
You just know I have to go there. Do you think my tongue is longer than Miley Cyrus’? I do believe I can make a better video. What do you think? Signed Tonsil
Dear Tonsil,
YES! and Y.E.S.!! I do believe your tongue is longer and cuter than the girl masquerading as an entertainer. AND, I do believe you could make a better AND cleaner video than of such. I mean look at you now. You are already wearing more clothes – snorts.
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Dear Bacon,
I’m confused. I’m mystified. I’m just well don’t know. What is it? Is it a turtle? Is it a dinoturtle? Is it a form of a Mutant Ninja Turtle? What the cat’s eye is it? Signed Confucius
Dear Confucius,
It’s cute. That’s what it is – snorticles. Go with it and have some fun. Put a leash on it and walk it for Halloween.
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Dear Bacon,
What nut? I don’t see a nut. There are no nuts around here. There’s nothing to see here. Carry on. Signed Dale
Dear Dale,
No nuts huh? Well you might want to get that overly enlarged cheek looked at by your doctor. PLOL (pig laughing out loud)
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Dear Bacon,
Sometimes you just have to find a friend that cares about you and your well being when out in nature. Someone that you can curl up to and take a sleep and know that no one is going to bother you while you are doing so. This is my buddy Pete. He’s my pal. You need to find you a Pete too when you go outside. Signed Bun
Dear Bun,
Awww – that is so adorable my friend. I’ll start looking for one now.
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Dear Bacon,
This is my friend Scratch. He is blind. I’m officially his seeing eye cat. You don’t see this everyday, do you? It just goes to show you that anyone can help someone out. I’ve heard about your humans vision problems. Why don’t you become his seeing eye pig? It would be awesome! Signed Felix
Dear Felix,
You know you do have a point my friend. That is fantastic. I think I’ll try to start today. Thanks for the heads up. Continue on doing a great deed!
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**Remember friends – send your pictures and questions to me at Baconthompson@gmail.com
It’s getting closer my friends – the day that we look forward to once a year – Halloween. Just a couple of more days now. Until then, here is Day 28 of my 31 Days of Spook.
Today, I’m focusing on the Winchester Mystery House. Have you heard about this mansion that is located in San Jose, California? Have you been there? It’s claimed that some people are there and they have never left.
The Winchester Mystery House is just that – a mystery. It was the residence of Sarah Winchester.
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In 1862, she married William Winchester – who came from the family that created the famous Winchester guns. Everything seemed like it was grand and wonderful …for a while.
In 1866, the Winchester’s infant daughter, Annie, passed away from a childhood disease called marasmus. (Marasmus is a form of severe malnutrition and causes a child to look emaciated.) Losing her child caused Mrs. Winchester to fall into a deep depression.
In 1881, Mrs. Winchester’s husband, William, passed away from tuberculosis. Can you imagine watching two of your very close loved ones pass away so early in life? Mrs. Winchester was beside herself and sought help from a spiritualist. Through consulting with the spiritualist, Mrs. Winchester believed her family and her fortune were haunted by the ghosts of the people who had fallen victim to the family Winchester rifles. She was advised that the only way she could appease the ghosts was to move west and build them a house. Not just a house but to continuous build them a house.
In 1884, Mrs. Winchester moved west to San Jose, California and bought an unfinished farmhouse . Work began immediately. Mrs. Winchester would hold nightly seances to speak with the spirits to help guide her in how the house would be worked on the following date. In the morning, she would meet with her construction workers and give them the plans. Did the plans make sense? You decide.
There are roughly 160 rooms, including 40 bedrooms;
2 ballrooms (one completed and one unfinished);
47 fireplaces;
Over 10,000 panes of glass;
17 chimneys (with evidence of two others);
2 basements with three elevators.
It has gold and silver chandeliers and hand-inlaid parquet floors and trim;
There are doors and stairways that lead nowhere and a vast array of colors and materials.
The home’s conveniences were rare at the time of its construction. These included steam and forced-air heating, modern indoor toilets and plumbing, push-button gas lights and Mrs. Winchester’s personal (and only) hot shower from indoor plumbing.
The number 13 is repeated frequently in the home – whether in stairs, candles, wall hooks, stained glass windows or even 13 holes in the drain covers. Also every Friday the 13th, the large bell on the property is rung 13 times at 1300 hours in tribute to Winchester. Mrs. Winchester even signed her will 13 times leaving everything to a niece and personal secretary.
Construction continued every day around the clock until Mrs. Winchester died on September 5, 1922. Upon her death, all hammering ceased. When they looked in Mrs. Winchester’s safe they found the things that meant the most to her. Not money. Not diamonds. Not riches. It was two pieces of hair – one from her husband and one from her daughter.
And until this day, it is said that you can still hear the construction work taking place, that you can see the workers inside and outside of the home. And, people still say that Mrs. Winchester herself is still in the home.
You all should know by now that I am a hardcore foodie. You ever wonder where I get that from? My mom and dad of course – snorts. Now those humans know how to snarf. They ate some wonderful food last week on vacation at Tybee Island. And of course, they took pictures to share with me. I’m passing them along. I hope you enjoy them as much as I did. 🙂
I know a lot of you know who Paula Deen is – she is southern gold here in the south. Mom and dad try to go to her restaurant every time they visit. She has an awesome southern buffet bar. This is a picture of moms plate from The Lady and the Sons.
Her buffet has everything – greens, Mac and cheese, sweet potatoes, rice, mashed potatoes, baked and fried chicken and BBQ just to name a few. And they had buttermilk cheese biscuits.
Mommy said daddy even had two hoes – hoe cakes that is – snorts. I told you they get into trouble unattended!
What you might not know is that Paula Deen has a brother who also has a restaurant. His restaurant is called Uncle Bubbas. Mom and dad went to his restaurant one night as well. His restaurant goes towards more seafood which is something you kind of crave at the sea, right? Mommy always gets the same thing – shrimp and grits. She says it’s totally awesome and loves it. Daddy always gets the full Bubba which has a little bit of everything.
Mom and dad said a couple of years ago they even met Uncle Bubba. They have a picture somewhere. I’ll have to find it. When they met him, Uncle Bubba asked mom what she did for a living. Daddy told him that she was a big girl stripper. I’m not sure what that is but Uncle Bubba seemed totally smitten with it.
They also loved the food at a local breakfast place called The Breakfast Club. Mom would have coffee on the balcony at their hotel room watching the sun come up over the ocean and then they would walk down to this restaurant. This is an absolute favorite place to eat. It’s almost like a dive from the outside but inside the smells make your tummy start rumbling for some food. The first day they went, dad had to get eggs benedict and mom got chops. That picture scared me at first until she explained it was a different type of oinker. Still scary though – shivers. And mom says this restaurant is the only place that knows how to do hash browns proper…well done and crispy. You judge.
So what do you think of these food pictures so far? There’s so much more to share later. I’m so excited to share those with you – more tomorrow my friends.
Hello friends – welcome to Day 27 of my 31 Days of Spook. I’ve been holding out on you. I have seen the scariest most horrifying video of my entire existence. I saw this video and literally fell over passing out and bumping my little noggin. I woke up and it was still playing. I squealed LOUDLY and trust me a pig squealing is not something you want to hear in the confines of the Hotel Thompson. I ran through the hallways trying to find mommy. It was *THAT* terrifying. Mommy held me and I was shaking so bad in her arms from being scared that I did something that I haven’t done since I was a piglet. I peed on her. It was that frightening. She was very understanding knowing that I was scared little oinker. She was trying to calm me down and talking so softly to me. She asked me what happened and I couldn’t even talk our pig talk. All I could do was take her to my bedroom and show her. She saw the video on my laptop. Let me tell you something, that mom of mine passed out like the leaning tower of Pisa. She hit the floor with a good wallop. So hard that daddy came running into my room. And then he saw the video and fell on the floor beside mommy. There all three of us were shocked at what we had seen. The horror. It was more terrifying than ghost stories. More terrifying than Freddie or Jason. Shivers.
Be WARNED – this is some scary video. Here you go.
NOTE: I was not harmed in the making of this video. I am alive and well at the Hotel Thompson – snorts.
Ooohh – the thrill of ghosts my friends. If you have not seen this 1997 Disney supernatural thriller – you must go watch it NOW. I saw it for the first time earlier in the week when my pig sitter Hannah was out – snorts. It was GREAT!
The movie starts out in 1939 on Halloween and revolves around 5 people (Carolyn Crosson, Gilbert London, Sally Shine, Emeline Partridge and Dewey Todd). They are at the Hollywood Tower Hotel and have been invited to the Tip Top Party on the 12th floor.
They all get in the elevator together and suddenly it gets stuck on the 11th floor at exactly 8:05pm. Lightening strikes the building causing the elevator to collapse and all five people disappear. Then the movie fast forwards 60 years until present time.
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Newspaper reporter, Buzzy Crocker, is a hoot. He makes up ‘monsters’ and such with the help of his niece Anna. He talks Anna’s mom into letting Anna help him out with the investigation of the Hollywood Tower Hotel which is allegedly haunted.
They go to the hotel and some mysterious things happen to them. They end up meeting Abigail Gregory who blames everything that happened back in the day on Emeline Partridge (who was Sally Shine’s nanny). Abigail says that Emeline cast an evil spell that backfired and trapped everyone on the elevator that night.
Abigail explains that if the elevator is fixed and Buzzy and Anna can find something that belonged to each of the trapped ghosts, she can reverse the spell and all can be good once again.
Buzzy and Anna believe her and do just that. What they don’t know… well… I think I’m going to stop here. I’ve told ya’ll about some really good movies this month. But this one, you are going to have to watch. It is THAT good.
Happy watching my friends. Don’t be too mad at me 😉 winks
Miniature pot bellied pig and friends - Bacon, Houdini, Hemi and all of the Rock Clan with Journalist Rocky the Squirrel all out looking for adventures from the Hotel Thompson.
Piglove 