Haunted Restaurant
I was recently interviewed by Jim Harold for one of his paranormal podcasts called The Campfire. At the bottom of this post, there is a link to the podcast so you can listen but I thought I'd give you a written account of my experience because I forgot to tell Jim a couple of tiny details. Minor ones, yes, but they are included here so that you get the whole story, LOL.
12 years ago this month, I was visiting some friends in Hanford, CA and we got to talking about ghosts. They told me about an old jail that had been turned into a restaurant and reportedly, it was haunted. I immediately stated that I wanted to check this place out so we agreed to visit the following day.
The next day we went into town and made our way to the restaurant. I was disappointed to see that they were closed but one of my friends noticed that there were people inside so she knocked on the glass. One of the employees came over and opened the door to see what we needed and that’s when my friend asked if we could take a look around. They promptly pointed me out and informed the employee that I loved ghosts! The employee let us in, gave a brief history of the place and then told us that everyone who works in the restaurant becomes a BELIEVER within their first two weeks of employment! We were all wide-eyed at that statement and then she offered to give us a brief tour! Woohoo! Off we went….up stairs, through rooms; downstairs…she even pointed out a spot on the stairs where a female inmate had committed suicide by hanging herself – it was all very interesting. She said she had to get back to work but she said we should check out the Solitary Confinement area before we left. She pointed us down a hallway and told us that once we were done, we could exit out of the back door. We went down the hall and found 3 or 4 tiny cells that now could be reserved for a cozy dinner…Each contained one very small table and two chairs.
For some crazy reason, the six of us decided to cram into one of those solitary confinement cells and we were laughing and making jokes. After a few minutes, we decided to leave so one by one we exited the cell. I was the last person in the cell. Before leaving the cell, I was compelled to pause and just stood there. I thought to myself, “What an awful place to be stuck in” and turned to leave when suddenly “someone” grabbed the strap of my shoulder bag and gave it a strong tug. I turned back to see what my purse had gotten caught on…there was nothing for it to catch on! I was at least two feet from the chair and two feet from the wall and there was NOTHING for my purse strap to catch on!! I let out a big scream and my friends, who by this time, were outside of the restaurant, came running in the back entrance.
Everyone was talking at once, asking me what had happened and my mouth was so dry, I could barely get the words out — “Something grabbed my purse strap!!! Something grabbed my purse strap!!!” I remember that I was COLD and needed to get outside in the sunshine. Once outside, I kept mumbling that I couldn’t believe what had just happened... I said, “We have to eat here!”
We had to wait for the restaurant to open so we walked up the block and did some window shopping to kill time until we could return to The Bastille for lunch. We were seated in a large center room that was originally the mess hall for the prisoners. We sat at a large wooden table and the waitress took our drink orders. Several of us ordered iced tea. Our drinks were placed on the table. I was sitting with my arms folded across my chest. Before I had a chance to unfold my arms, the lemon garnish from my iced tea floated up in the air, hovered…and then slammed down on the table! Everybody saw it. We all sat there, stunned.
I said, “Did you all see that???”
Everyone very excitedly confirms that yes indeed, they did see it.
“Did I touch it???”
Everyone very excitedly confirmed that NO, I did NOT touch the lemon!
Our waitress heard the commotion and came over to investigate. I continued to sit there with my arms crossed…I did not want to touch my iced tea! Everyone else told the waitress about my two encounters. She looked at me and said, “They like you!”
The following two links will give you a little info about the place.http://www.weirdfresno.com/2010/01/hanfords-haunted-bastille.html
http://www.tripadvisor.com/ShowUserReviews-g32471-d645681-r6918608-Bastille-Hanford_California.html
UPDATE: The following link no longer works. Sadly the interview is only available if you belong to Jim Harold's Plus Club. Sorry about that :-(
And last but not least, here is a link to the podcast so you can listen in.
http://jimharold.com/jim-harolds-campfire/haunted-places-and-spaces-campfire-32/
Feedback wanted!!
12 years ago this month, I was visiting some friends in Hanford, CA and we got to talking about ghosts. They told me about an old jail that had been turned into a restaurant and reportedly, it was haunted. I immediately stated that I wanted to check this place out so we agreed to visit the following day.
The next day we went into town and made our way to the restaurant. I was disappointed to see that they were closed but one of my friends noticed that there were people inside so she knocked on the glass. One of the employees came over and opened the door to see what we needed and that’s when my friend asked if we could take a look around. They promptly pointed me out and informed the employee that I loved ghosts! The employee let us in, gave a brief history of the place and then told us that everyone who works in the restaurant becomes a BELIEVER within their first two weeks of employment! We were all wide-eyed at that statement and then she offered to give us a brief tour! Woohoo! Off we went….up stairs, through rooms; downstairs…she even pointed out a spot on the stairs where a female inmate had committed suicide by hanging herself – it was all very interesting. She said she had to get back to work but she said we should check out the Solitary Confinement area before we left. She pointed us down a hallway and told us that once we were done, we could exit out of the back door. We went down the hall and found 3 or 4 tiny cells that now could be reserved for a cozy dinner…Each contained one very small table and two chairs.
For some crazy reason, the six of us decided to cram into one of those solitary confinement cells and we were laughing and making jokes. After a few minutes, we decided to leave so one by one we exited the cell. I was the last person in the cell. Before leaving the cell, I was compelled to pause and just stood there. I thought to myself, “What an awful place to be stuck in” and turned to leave when suddenly “someone” grabbed the strap of my shoulder bag and gave it a strong tug. I turned back to see what my purse had gotten caught on…there was nothing for it to catch on! I was at least two feet from the chair and two feet from the wall and there was NOTHING for my purse strap to catch on!! I let out a big scream and my friends, who by this time, were outside of the restaurant, came running in the back entrance.
Everyone was talking at once, asking me what had happened and my mouth was so dry, I could barely get the words out — “Something grabbed my purse strap!!! Something grabbed my purse strap!!!” I remember that I was COLD and needed to get outside in the sunshine. Once outside, I kept mumbling that I couldn’t believe what had just happened... I said, “We have to eat here!”
We had to wait for the restaurant to open so we walked up the block and did some window shopping to kill time until we could return to The Bastille for lunch. We were seated in a large center room that was originally the mess hall for the prisoners. We sat at a large wooden table and the waitress took our drink orders. Several of us ordered iced tea. Our drinks were placed on the table. I was sitting with my arms folded across my chest. Before I had a chance to unfold my arms, the lemon garnish from my iced tea floated up in the air, hovered…and then slammed down on the table! Everybody saw it. We all sat there, stunned.
I said, “Did you all see that???”
Everyone very excitedly confirms that yes indeed, they did see it.
“Did I touch it???”
Everyone very excitedly confirmed that NO, I did NOT touch the lemon!
Our waitress heard the commotion and came over to investigate. I continued to sit there with my arms crossed…I did not want to touch my iced tea! Everyone else told the waitress about my two encounters. She looked at me and said, “They like you!”
The following two links will give you a little info about the place.http://www.weirdfresno.com/2010/01/hanfords-haunted-bastille.html
http://www.tripadvisor.com/ShowUserReviews-g32471-d645681-r6918608-Bastille-Hanford_California.html
UPDATE: The following link no longer works. Sadly the interview is only available if you belong to Jim Harold's Plus Club. Sorry about that :-(
And last but not least, here is a link to the podcast so you can listen in.
http://jimharold.com/jim-harolds-campfire/haunted-places-and-spaces-campfire-32/
Feedback wanted!!
Comments