The last night that I was in Nashville I talked my roommate into doing something fun. The other Laura and Jodi had gone to the outlet mall that was close to the resort, but shopping when you don't need anything and don't have any money isn't particularly fun. I talked Laura into replicating something that Perry and I did in Vegas. I grabbed the handy-dandy little Nashville guide that was included in our conference bags and found Nashville Ghost Tours. While Laura and I initially wanted to do the Haunted Pubs Tour (that visited all the local pubs that were haunted and provided a drink while the tales were told before visiting the next pub) but it was sold out. We drove into downtown Nashville and met our tour guide at the Sheridan downtown.
Our first stop was in front of the Tennessee capital building. He told us the story of the architect and a prominent man from the community arguing over the original structure. Ironically both men are buried in the capital building lawn. If you notice in the top right hand corner, what looks like a moon appears. It was rainy that night and there was no moon, as you can tell in the picture I took immediately afterwards. If you enlarge the picture below this you'll see the moon like orb is down in the right hand corner.
We next walked to a cathedral. Of course since it was late it was closed. I took lots of pictures here but did not see any unusual lights or orbs. Orbs are supposed to be spirits or the gathering of paranormal energy. I was shocked to find one in the first picture I took of the capital building but realized if it were in every picture I took during the evening I would think it was a fake. Our guide told us some pretty good stories about the building (not that I remember them now) but no orbs for me.
At one point it really started pouring down the rain. After crossing between several tall downtown buildings (and my cracking a pretty bad joke about the AT&T building that has two church like spires...I said they must really have a good long distance program) we arrived in front of a now law office that used to be a prohibition type saloon. I think this area is called Printers Alley since the cover for the saloon was a printing press. We all huddled together in one of the doorway frames to stay somewhat more dry and listened to our guide tell us the stories. Supposedly the third floor lights go on for no reason. I was rather intrigued by the lights around the building...hint...orbs.
As you can see the next picture didn't have nearly as many orbs. By this time you can tell that Ghost Hunters and Ghost Hunters International are some of my favorite shows.
By the time we reached the doorway where one of the men who ran the club/prohibition saloon was killed our tour guide had admitted he had just arrived in Nashville a few months before. He had moved to Nashville from a small suburb of Louisville. When I talked of the haunted Louisville tour we took he was excited to hear it included the Brown Hotel. While all these type tours are similar in some respects, you do get to hear the history (even if it is sordid) of the area and some of the local lore. Laura who had been a little skeptical of the whole thing admitted that even though it was pouring down rain it was fun. In the doorway we only found our guide and the smell of urine.
We eventually walked by one of the past homes of the Grand Old Opry, Ryman Auditorium. Hank Williams supposedly used to run to the Crazy Horse Saloon (across the street...which we could have got a package deal for a ride, dinner, and a show, but it was $115) for a drink in between sets. Since his death a strong wind and the sound of running can be heard in the area connecting the Ryman Auditorium to the saloon. (I might have the country singer wrong but I think that is who he was talking about) While we were there all we heard was the wind and rain urging us to the next stop.
But before we left I did have to take a few shots. I think the picture below might have some orbs in it if you look closely enough.
We stopped several more places before ending up at the First Presbyterian Church of Nashville. It was used as a confederate hospital during the Civil War. There seem to be lots of orbs but it is hard to tell if that is rain or just light reflecting back at us. Of course there were a lot of deaths in the Civil War.
We also walked by a famous hotel (I don't remember the name) where Fats Domino...or was it Chubby Checkers...lived for awhile. I don't remember why it was haunted but by this time you can guess we were all getting tired and wet and probably weren't being the best listeners.
As you can tell people looked and oohed and ahhed wherever our guide told us to look and ooh and ahh.
Over all it was fun with some history thrown in. It makes me want to learn more about Nashville and Tennessee, but I think next time I'll wait til it isn't raining.
---Stephanie
