March 2004 - Ashley's Restaurant -
Rockledge, Florida
Legend:
There are a number of ghosts believed
to be haunting the restaurant, one is believed to
be a poltergeist. Another ghost will often "play"
with employees and guests. The building is right on
the railroad tracks and it is rumored that a woman
by the name of Ethel Allen was either killed by a
train or murdered in the bathroom. The image of a
woman has been seen coming out of bathroom stalls
and as an image in the mirrors. There is also another
ghost of a young boy or man believe to be here. He
was either killed on the railroad tracks out back,
or on the highway in front.
Patrons report feeling like they
were being choked in the hallway. Cooking items and
dishes are thrown and smashed. TVs in the bar turn
on and off by themselves. Furniture is rearranged
in front of your eyes.
History:
Ashley's
restaurant is one of the most well known haunts in
the state of Florida. It seems that this local bar
& tavern attracts more than just repeat costumers.
There are a number of stories out there why this is
so, but not many are supported with hard evidence.
The only thing I could really find out about Ashley's
is that the building was built in the 1920's and has
been a bar type establishment ever since. It's had
various names and different owners throughout the
years, but it became Ashley's in 1985. What happened
there on the property before the structure was built
has been a mystery for some time now. I have not seen
anything concrete, just a lot of speculating.
One such speculation, is that around
the turn of the century a train station stood where
Ashley's is today. This could be possible since the
railroad tracks run so close. The station burned down
to the ground leaving nothing but the foundation,
allegedly killing some people inside. Then some time
later in the 1920s a building was built using the
same foundation and general layout.
Another explanation for the haunts
is that the land Ashley's is built on use to be an
ancient indian burial ground. It's funny how almost
90% of the haunted stories I come across seem to start
that way. In any case, it's unlikely that this is
true. Indians of that area liked to bury their dead
close to the water. Ashley's is too far inland, and
seems very unlikely that the indians would pick there
to bury their dead. I will not dismiss that possibility,
but there's just no proof.
The legend directly mentions two
other possibly sources of the haunting. It mentions
a young boy or man being killed either on US 1 in
front of the restaurant, or out back on the train
tracks. The
spirit of this person is supposed to haunt the establishment.
I could not find anything to support this claim. I'm
not saying it didn't happen, just saying there's no
proof. The train does come uncomfortable close to
the structure. Take a look at the menu cover to the
left, you can see the train pictured behind the building.
The other possible source as stated
by the legend centers around a woman by the name of
Ethel Allen. It says she was either killed by a train
or murdered in the bathroom. In speaking with a man
by the name of Charlie Carlson, a florida folk historian
and author, said that Ethel Allen was not killed like
that. In fact, she was murdered elsewhere and her
burned mutilated body was dumped in the Indian River.
Mr. Carlson has conducted much research on Ashley's
in the past, he's even filmed a documentary there,
and added that out of all the stories connected with
Ashley's the Ethel Allen story is the only one that
actually has some type of physical evidence to support
it in the form of some newspaper clippings and a grave.
Mr. Carlson went on to say that after hearing all
the stories and conducting all the research on Ashley's,
and if he were to believe in this kind of thing, it's
more likely a poltergeist haunting than the regular
ghost variety.
Whatever the case, something seems
to be going on here. In June 1993 a television pilot
called HAUNTED AMERICA filmed inside of Ashley's.
The show never made it to air, but the crew did see
some very strange things, and experienced a variety
of technical problems, like there fully charged batteries
running low in a matter of seconds. A full account
of that nights events can be found here.
Inspired by this transcription, and
from my correspondences with Charlie Carlson, I will
be sure to bring multiple cameras and plenty of batteries
along with me on this hunt. Since this is believed
to be a poltergeist haunt, I'm going to bring a Ouija
board as well, because any ghost hunter worth his
weight in ectoplasm knows not to mix the two. If there
are such things as ghosts, I'm feeling confident that
this could be the chance to finally make contact...
Than, make sure to check out Charlie Carlson's
Strange
Florida Website! You'll find
a wealth of paranormal and bizarre information
here!
Saturday,
March 27, 2004:
We
arrived at Ashley's around 7:30pm. As you walk through
the front door you immediately see a bar, and to the
right of this bar is the women's bathroom and a staircase.
Our table was past the staircase and around a little
partition so that our group could have some privacy.
Charlie Carlson was able to come out and join us.
He also invited Ryan Lewis, the film maker that directed
the documentary that was filmed here.
While we waited for our meals we
were encouraged, by the staff, to look around take
pictures and ask questions. Everyone that worked at
Ashley's were extremely nice and ready to share their
experiences. I don't think there was one person that
worked there for more than a month that didn't have
some kind of story to tell. However I did notice a
lot of the stories were of things that happened to
other people.
Also while we waited, Mr. Carlson
tested the group. At one point he pointed to a dark
corner of the room and claimed to see a man in a top
hat. He began to snap photos and really sold it, as
if something was really seeing something there. Gretchen
said that at the same moment she saw a figure with
a top hat, and I believe Karen said she thought she
saw some mist or something that looked like heat waves,
but when she tried to focus on it, there was nothing
there. No one else said they could see a thing, including
myself. Later on, Mr. Carlson told me that he never
saw anything and just wanted to see if by the power
of suggestion, what others would see...or think they
see. I am not sure if this is were Charlie got his
ghost from or not, but on the cover of the menu there
is a ghost wearing a top hat (see the picture above
in the History). I believe it is entirely plausible
that subconsciously Gretchen, who seemed to see a
very similar version of what Charlie described, may
have seen that drawing on the menu earlier and at
that moment wanted to see what Charlie saw, so her
mind flashed that image.
Charlie said that the ghost ran into
the men's bathroom, so I went in there and took a
few photos later on, hoping something would show up.
Needless to say, I don't see anything.
The lighting in Ashley's is definitely
moody. Large shadows were cast upon the walls. If
one was to look quickly at some areas of the restaurant,
I could see how some people might think they see something
like a figure or a man in a top hat. I asked a couple
of the employees if they had ever seen a man in a
top hat before, but none of them ever had, nor did
they ever hear of anyone seeing a ghost like that.
I asked about the menu drawing, and they were not
sure.
In any case,
since I still at that time believed they really
saw something, I got my chance to premiere the
new SpookHunters uniform! Talk about sexy. A
full orange jumpsuit with a bunch of patches
from former spookhunts. The patches didn't stay
on since they were iron on, but it was a successfully
funny premiere anyway.
Or,
Join the discussion about this hunt
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Here!
I brought along a digital voice recorder
with hopes of capturing something strange on that.
Karen went into the women's bathroom with it alone,
but nothing happened and after reviewing the recording,
there was nothing out of the ordinary on it either.
I would have included it on the web page, but I accidentally
deleted it. Christyn and I also got a chance to explore
the women's restroom. we spent some time in there,
but again nothing happened. I wasn't choke, and Christyn
wasn't harassed.
After we were through eating. The
group split up, some went up stairs where furniture
tends to move by itself and strange sounds can be
heard, while a few of us went out by the train tracks
to take some pictures. I did manage to get this strange
recording outside while on the tracks, but something
tells me it's not a ghost.
We then returned inside and joined
the rest of the group upstairs. The night begins to
get interesting. The Ouija board is out. Karen and
Gretchen are operating it while Greg observes. Now,
I do not believe that Karen or Gretchen or anyone
else that was there that night, would purposely mislead
or fake a Ouija board session. Karen and Gretchen
both seemed to get genuinely upset by some things
it was spelling out, however everything it said seemed
to link back to them in some way, and once an idea
was planted in the operators mind, the board went
in that direction. All this will be explained in more
detail soon. Below are the two sheets of paper where
all the letters that the Ouija board pointed to were
written.
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First thing the board spells out
was 'Ellen'. That's Greg's wife's name. Karen is uncomfortable
at the current time and gets up, so Greg then sit's
down and takes over for her. The board then Spells
out 'Elijah'. Elijah is Gretchen's Godson's name.
She gets shaken by that and can't go on. Karen then
sit's back down with Greg and tries to get something
going again. The board spells out stuff like 'look'
and 'faraway'.
Also
at this same time, some of the others were looking
around the upstairs. They found warm spots. That's
right, warm, not cold. There would be AC vents that
were obviously on, but 5 feet away from them it would
be very warm. You could walk from one side of the
room to the other and feel two or three distinct temperature
changes. I personally feel that Ashley's is an old
building with circulation issues, but it was still
interesting.
To the left
a very defined orb can be seen. Is it dust,
dirt or demon? The booth in this picture is
only a few feet away from where they were doing
the Ouija board.
While this is going on, Diana feels
something on her face. A tingling or something. Here
in her own words from an E-mail that she sent to me,
she describes what happened.
"It
happened twice but I didn't think anything of it till
it happened the 2nd time. When I was near the outside
of the bathroom door by the salad area I felt it the
first time. I didn't think anything of it because
of the cough attack I had 5 or so minutes prior. When
it happened upstairs is when I recalled the first
time. Remember when Jeff said for me to come over
to feel the difference in temperature in the corner.
I left the Ouija board area and walked past the top
of the stairs and right there is when I felt it again.
It felt like a tingling on my cheeks. I have no idea
what it was."
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Now here is where something happens
that I really can't explain. Because there was such
a large group of people I brought some motorola talkabouts
with me. Just two. As I sit down to join Greg and
Karen on the board and start to place my hands on
it, my radio goes off. I thought it was someone else
just messing with me. Then as we get ready to actually
start it rings for a second time. Like I said, I don't
think anything of it because I figure someone has
the other one and they are playing a game or something
with me. However
when reviewing the video, the other radio is on Greg's
side, and it is never touched. Another thing is that
Greg's radio it is definitely on. You can see the
green light blinking on the video. And when you alert
the radios in that fashion to make that noise, they
both go off...but his didn't, only mine. I thought
maybe there was interference from something outside,
but again, they both would have went off, not just
the one.
Since I'm not comfortable with the
whole Ouija board thing anyway, I get up and let Jeff
sit in my place. They ask the ghost of Elijah if he
is still there and he is, but he seems to be warning
us of some kind of danger and is telling us to run.
They ask him his age and he says that he is four.
I then ask the group if Elijah was killed on the tracks.
At first everyone says no, but then I push the issue
saying one of the legends was that a little boy was
hurt like that. So they ask the board and it comes
back with a 'yes'. Here is an example I believe of
the power of suggestion. Like I've said already, I
don't think karen or anyone else was purposely misleading
anyone, but it makes sense that if there was a legend
of a little boy getting killed on the tracks, and
a little boy is apparently talking on the board, they
must be one in the same. Keep in mind though, the
name Elijah started out as the same name a Gretchen's
Godson. Also I looked for a news article or something
like that that mentioned a child by the name of Elijah
getting killed or hurt on the train tracks in rockledge,
but didn't find anything. I'm however not a professional,
so if anyone else can find something please E-mail
it to me.
Karen then starts to become a little
emotional. It's becoming clear that this ghost child
is alone and wants help. Karen leads the boy to the
light and then the board stops.
Karen, Greg, and Jeff then try to
contact another spirit. They do and this one too says
'run'. Karen leaves the board. The Emotional strain
is obviously too much. Jeff and Greg continue to try
and contact something, but to no avail. Just a lot
of gibberish.
After
a few minutes Jeff leaves and Karen returns. Immediately
a spirit is talking. Either Karen has a connection
to ghosts or subconsciously she may be projecting
scenarios onto the board. Anyway, this ghost gives
warnings about being outside, and keeps referring
to a 'mean man'. The ghosts then asks for me to leave
because I 'joke'. It asks that I go outside by the
train tracks and wait for it to hit me in the arm
to prove to me that it exists. I do go outside and
wait, but nothing happens. I tell Jeff and Christyn,
who followed me out there, that when Ii go back in
I am going to tell them that I felt something hit
me in the arm just to see what the boards says.
When I return, Karen is gone and
Greg and Gretchen sit by the board. I tell them I
was hit, and sure enough the board confirms that I
was hit. I believe this is another great example of
the power of suggestion. It's not a lie on the part
of the users of the board, just a subconscious reality
being played out for us to see.
In the mean time Karen was called
to the women's restroom alone by a spirit through
the Ouija board. She returns shortly after I let everyone
know I wasn't really hit. She said the board demanded
she go down there. So she did, but nothing happened.
With that the night pretty much ended.
I seriously doubt that Ashley's is haunted. The over
all feeling from the staff was that stuff use to happen
a lot, but not so much anymore. It sounds to me that
if ghosts and poltergeist do exist, they've moved
on from this place. There were a couple of strange
things that happened, like my radio going off, but
I am sure there is a perfectly reasonable explanation
for that. I do feel comfortable in saying that I think
Ouija boards are nothing more than a very clever illusion.
An illusion that doesn't even need an illusionist,
but rather uses a person subconscious and faith in
the afterlife to work. Maybe I'm wrong, but I find
it hard that a glow in the dark board game that was
bought at Toys R' Us for less than $20 can produce
results anything more credible than a magic 8-ball.
While having plenty spirits behind the bar, Ashley's
came up short with the ghostly ones.
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However
when reviewing the video, the other radio is on Greg's
side, and it is never touched. Another thing is that
Greg's radio it is definitely on. You can see the
green light blinking on the video. And when you alert
the radios in that fashion to make that noise, they
both go off...but his didn't, only mine. I thought
maybe there was interference from something outside,
but again, they both would have went off, not just
the one. )
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