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Ghosts and Haunts Tours

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vampirefan
vampirefan
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5 out of 5
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The Darker Side of the City

  • February 3, 2009
  • Rated 5 of 5 by vampirefan from Mt. Pleasant, North Carolina
The Darker Side of the City

When in a haunted city I will certainly find a ghost tour to take. So when planning my trip to Asheville I was glad to see they had one and that they would have a tour the weekend we were in town.

John and I met our guide, Joshua, at the Battery Park Hotel in the scrumptious downtown area. Unfortunately for us this particular tour was filled with a very large amount of annoying children’s and their equally annoying parents. Leaving us to think that would be the scariest part of our trip. Thankfully Joshua offered for anyone interested to come back at 9 o’clock. Originally John and I weren’t going to take up the offer since we didn’t have anything to do. But after walking through the lobby with these people we decided we couldn’t take this group and opted for the later tour. So we went to eat and then walked around looking in the windows at all the wonderful galleries that lined the street. When we got back for the later tour it was just us and a very nice trio from Chattanooga TN.

Soon were off for a night of fun. We walk down near the Grove Arcade and hear the history of the surrounding area as well. We go further down and stop at the is now the Battery Park Apartments, but what was once the original Battery Park Hotel. This stunning building now serves as a beautiful retirement home. In its heyday it saw a number of luminaries including George Vanderbilt, F Scott Fitzgerald, Grover Cleveland, William McKinley, William Harrison, Teddy and Franklin Roosevelt, and is where Arthur Murray taught young girls to dance. Over the years a number of people who have commented suicide, E.W.Grove was died there, but the most horrible event that happened was the murder of 19 year old Helen Clevenger. E.W. Grove has been seen roaming the halls of his former hotel. Helen has also seen in room 224 where she was murdered, especially on the anniversary July 17th. If you are here on that day and look up at what was room 224 and take a picture. Check your pictures and see if anything shoes up.

We go on down past the Basilica of St. Lawrence where a priest is still devoted to the church he so loved. We go on own to Church Street where a number of churches are. People have seen apparitions in one of the trees where people used to be executed. People have caught images and orbs in the trees when they have taken pictures. Mine just turn out black. We also see the steps where the remains of a pregnant nun was discovered when work was done on the church. Then we make our way down into the vicinity of the court house. We hear about the Will Harris murders and about the ghosts that can still be seen among the hallowed halls. One of our fellow ghost trekkers makes her way to a spot under a building where a number of people have jumped to their deaths.

We go down a bit further and take a break and hear about Helen’s Bridge and the ghosts at Riverside Cemetery. We also go to a dilapidated building to hear about ghosts who can still been seen for those who dare enter. We end back up at the Battery Park Hotel for the strangest story of all. It is about Count Von Cosel who married a woman from Ashville. They eventually moved to Florida and where he left his wife and children only to show up later in Key West where he was working as an X-ray tech. He met a much younger woman (he was in his 50’s and she in her 20’s) named Elena. She eventually succumbed to TB, but he loved her so much that he exhumed her body and "rebuilt" her and continued to be with her as man and wife, until he was caught!

Our guide Joshua was great and had plenty of supernatural photos to show us. Mine did show a few orbs, but nothing else. It also turns out our guide isn’t normally a guide. But Joshua did a terrific job none the less. John and I had a great time and we were glad to only have such a small group.

The tour lasts about 90 minutes and is less than a mile in length. It isn’t for those who have problems walking distances. But it is a relatively flat walk so those in wheelchairs should be able to maneuver the course. Make sure you bring your camera to see if you can find anything unusual in your pictures. And remember to tip your guide! They are worth it.

Hours/rates/info

Tours go at 9 pm March 1 through Oct 31 everyday. Nov 1st through Feb 27th they go at 7 but contact them to see if they are going when you’re in town.

Current admission: $18 (a)….$10 (c 8-14)…7 and under are free.

Website: http://asheville.ghostandhaunt.com.

Advanced reservations are required.

You meet at the Battery Park Hotel located at 1 Battery Park. There is limed parking on the street and there is a parking lot across from the Grove Arcade.

While here pick up the fascinating booking Asheville Ghosts and Legends by Ken Traylor and Delas M. House Jr.

Should you find yourself in Charleston, Gatlinburg, Key West, Nashville, San Antonio, or Savannah, they also have tours there as well. And they are the same people who ran the one in Columbia SC that John and I took a few months ago.

For a walk on the wilder side of Asheville come take a walk with the guides at the Ghost and Haunt Tour.

From journal Holiday Fun in Asheville

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