So, somehow, last October, while I was flipping through my cable box guide, I came across this show called Ghost Adventures on The Travel Channel. Already being a fan of another ghost show, I thought that I would just watch for a second and move on. Little did I know that that "second" was going to turn into me continuing to watch the entire weekend marathon, setting my DVR to record all episodes, and buying the previous seasons on DVD to catch up on what I missed. Needless to say, I was hooked. So when I saw on an episode that they did public ghost hunt events, I got on the internet to see when the next one was. The first one that worked out with my schedule was a weekend at The Stanley Hotel.
On the way to Colorado, I kept thinking about how I hoped my trip would be worth it. I had never attended anything like this before and didn't want to have to go back home disappointed. I know that ghosts do not always respond on cue and as far as personal interactions, I felt that all the speakers are well-known people and I was just going to be one of many fans there.
Thursday night was registration and the meet and greet. After everyone was registered, we all assembled in one of the banquet rooms and all of the speakers were introduced. The Constantinos, Billy Tolley, Zak Bagans, and Aaron Goodwin all sat down at tables. We all lined up and were able to take pictures and get autographs. The Contantinos were first. OK, I admit, my mom and I told them that one of our dogs was a fan of theirs. We had to mention it, though, because there was one episode that they were on that our dog literally stopped in his tracks, turned toward the television, stared, and even started growling at the EVP they captured. They were really nice, though. They even told us about how some of their pets react to stuff.
Next up was Zak. My mom asked if she could take a picture of us together and he was very polite and said, "Please do". Then came Billy and then Aaron. My mom took a picture of me with the both of them. Aaron was really nice and asked where we were from. Then that was the end of it. I don't know why but I thought I had read that there was an autograph portion and a photograph portion to the night. After I walked away and realized that everything was actually together and now over, the mental comments started firing in my head. "Darn, I should have talked more. ... Oops I got a picture OF the Constantinos, not WITH them. ... Why didn't I take a picture with Aaron and Billy by themselves? Now I have a picture with Zak but not one with Aaron exclusively. ...(blushing) Zak just put his arm around my waist." I thought for sure that I had just messed up half of the reason I attended. No use dwelling in the past, though, so I moved on to thinking of the ghost hunt the next night.
Friday, I pretty much just relaxed in the room all day or went outside to take pictures. After way too many college lectures, I have a difficult time sitting still in seminars without falling asleep, no matter how interesting. I did want to see the Contantinos, though. So my mom and I went over by the banquet room doorway since it looked like inside was pretty packed. Another reason I liked this particular spot is that we were standing right beside Aaron. He even leaned back one time to stretch his back and flashed my mom and I a huge smile.
That night, we opened our room door to head downstairs for the hunt and all of the lights had been turned off except for the emergency lights. It totally set the mood for the event ahead. We met in the banquest room again to be separated into groups and to be told the rules. ...basically just be courteous of other hotel guests, have fun, and don't make a bunch of noise that would interfere with investigation results. The example Dave Schrader, the host, gave was don't start giggling and saying, "Oh, did you see Zak's butt when he just bent over. He is so hot." To which Zak quickly turned around and bent over. It was really funny.
We split into our groups. The first stop for my mom and I was room 217 with Zak. He was testing out a new piece of equipment but we were not able to get anything from it. It was still cool to do an investigation with him, though.
Then it was down to the basement with the Constantinos. It was so dark down there that I had to use the light from my camera to see where I was going. They caught a couple of interesting EVPs.
Fearing I wasn't going to get much evidence and knowing that I had already blown my shot at talking to them at the meet and greet, we headed up to room 401 with Aaron. The px device was talking a lot. Aaron said that it really had not been saying much for the first group but it certainly was now. About halfway into the investigation, my camera shut off for no reason. Then, right after I turned it back on, the px device said battery killed. I immediately spoke up and told Aaron what just happened. He asked my name then asked if the ghost could say my name. A few seconds later on the EVP recording a spirit whispered my name. I was so excited. (<- Click "name" to see the video of the moment.) I was so excited about what happened in room 401, in fact, that after a couple of minutes at the concert hall, my mom and I decided to stop investigating. After all, I had already hunted with Zak, Aaron, and the Constantinos, and I don't think anything was going to top having my name said. We went back and grabbed a drink at the bar. They were airing Ghost Adventures on the screen behind the bar so we watched a little bit of that. As we were heading back to our room, we passed Dave who asked if we were having a good time. I told him about 401 and how it made my night. He told me that if I wanted, I could spend the rest of the 45 minutes left in the investigation up in 401. My mom went back to our room but I quickly ran up to 401. Nothing major happened but it was still really fun. I was expecting Saturday to be boring. Meet and greet over, awesome ghost hunt over, pretty much nothing to do until the flight home, Sunday. Boy was I wrong. I went downstairs and the next thing I know, I'm having a conversation with Jeff Belanger. Then he asks if we would like to join him for dinner with his group, which consisted of Bill Chappel, as well. Jeff is a riot! I was in tears at one point. Bill is really nice, too, as is his wife. After dinner, an evidence review meeting was just wrapping up. My mom noticed that there were people taking pictures with everyone. Woo hoo! Another shot at meeting them and not rushing through it like I did before. I went up to Zak first. Just as we were about to pose, he said he had to take his jacket off because it was too hot in the room. No complaints here. :) Then my mom actually asked to be in a picture with him. I told him that she never lets herself be in photos so this was a rare experience. Then I got a picture with the Constantinos. Then I stopped for Aaron. My mom told him that I was Deven from the night before. He said, "Oh yeah! I love Deven." Then swept me up in a big bear hug. We spoke for a little bit. It was like talking to an old friend. i almost forgot that I actually just met him. Later that night he passed me in the lobby, stopped, gave me a hug, and told me that I was "absolutely gorgeous". I was super flattered and knew that this weekend was extremely worth it. Sunday didn't fail me either. Dave saw my mom and I in the restaurant and said hi to us. I thought it was very nice of him to remember us. Then out on the front porch, we saw Aaron. I was going to leave him alone because I figured he was probably tired of people by that point but as I started walking by, he held out his arms for another hug. We talked some more but then it was time to leave. Just like I was instantly hooked on the show, I am now hooked on these events. I caught myself immediately checking out when the next one is. Unfortunately, it is sold out. But they are going back to the Stanley in November and I can guarantee that I will be there.
On the way to Colorado, I kept thinking about how I hoped my trip would be worth it. I had never attended anything like this before and didn't want to have to go back home disappointed. I know that ghosts do not always respond on cue and as far as personal interactions, I felt that all the speakers are well-known people and I was just going to be one of many fans there.
Thursday night was registration and the meet and greet. After everyone was registered, we all assembled in one of the banquet rooms and all of the speakers were introduced. The Constantinos, Billy Tolley, Zak Bagans, and Aaron Goodwin all sat down at tables. We all lined up and were able to take pictures and get autographs. The Contantinos were first. OK, I admit, my mom and I told them that one of our dogs was a fan of theirs. We had to mention it, though, because there was one episode that they were on that our dog literally stopped in his tracks, turned toward the television, stared, and even started growling at the EVP they captured. They were really nice, though. They even told us about how some of their pets react to stuff.
Next up was Zak. My mom asked if she could take a picture of us together and he was very polite and said, "Please do". Then came Billy and then Aaron. My mom took a picture of me with the both of them. Aaron was really nice and asked where we were from. Then that was the end of it. I don't know why but I thought I had read that there was an autograph portion and a photograph portion to the night. After I walked away and realized that everything was actually together and now over, the mental comments started firing in my head. "Darn, I should have talked more. ... Oops I got a picture OF the Constantinos, not WITH them. ... Why didn't I take a picture with Aaron and Billy by themselves? Now I have a picture with Zak but not one with Aaron exclusively. ...(blushing) Zak just put his arm around my waist." I thought for sure that I had just messed up half of the reason I attended. No use dwelling in the past, though, so I moved on to thinking of the ghost hunt the next night.
Friday, I pretty much just relaxed in the room all day or went outside to take pictures. After way too many college lectures, I have a difficult time sitting still in seminars without falling asleep, no matter how interesting. I did want to see the Contantinos, though. So my mom and I went over by the banquet room doorway since it looked like inside was pretty packed. Another reason I liked this particular spot is that we were standing right beside Aaron. He even leaned back one time to stretch his back and flashed my mom and I a huge smile.
That night, we opened our room door to head downstairs for the hunt and all of the lights had been turned off except for the emergency lights. It totally set the mood for the event ahead. We met in the banquest room again to be separated into groups and to be told the rules. ...basically just be courteous of other hotel guests, have fun, and don't make a bunch of noise that would interfere with investigation results. The example Dave Schrader, the host, gave was don't start giggling and saying, "Oh, did you see Zak's butt when he just bent over. He is so hot." To which Zak quickly turned around and bent over. It was really funny.
We split into our groups. The first stop for my mom and I was room 217 with Zak. He was testing out a new piece of equipment but we were not able to get anything from it. It was still cool to do an investigation with him, though.
Then it was down to the basement with the Constantinos. It was so dark down there that I had to use the light from my camera to see where I was going. They caught a couple of interesting EVPs.
Fearing I wasn't going to get much evidence and knowing that I had already blown my shot at talking to them at the meet and greet, we headed up to room 401 with Aaron. The px device was talking a lot. Aaron said that it really had not been saying much for the first group but it certainly was now. About halfway into the investigation, my camera shut off for no reason. Then, right after I turned it back on, the px device said battery killed. I immediately spoke up and told Aaron what just happened. He asked my name then asked if the ghost could say my name. A few seconds later on the EVP recording a spirit whispered my name. I was so excited. (<- Click "name" to see the video of the moment.) I was so excited about what happened in room 401, in fact, that after a couple of minutes at the concert hall, my mom and I decided to stop investigating. After all, I had already hunted with Zak, Aaron, and the Constantinos, and I don't think anything was going to top having my name said. We went back and grabbed a drink at the bar. They were airing Ghost Adventures on the screen behind the bar so we watched a little bit of that. As we were heading back to our room, we passed Dave who asked if we were having a good time. I told him about 401 and how it made my night. He told me that if I wanted, I could spend the rest of the 45 minutes left in the investigation up in 401. My mom went back to our room but I quickly ran up to 401. Nothing major happened but it was still really fun. I was expecting Saturday to be boring. Meet and greet over, awesome ghost hunt over, pretty much nothing to do until the flight home, Sunday. Boy was I wrong. I went downstairs and the next thing I know, I'm having a conversation with Jeff Belanger. Then he asks if we would like to join him for dinner with his group, which consisted of Bill Chappel, as well. Jeff is a riot! I was in tears at one point. Bill is really nice, too, as is his wife. After dinner, an evidence review meeting was just wrapping up. My mom noticed that there were people taking pictures with everyone. Woo hoo! Another shot at meeting them and not rushing through it like I did before. I went up to Zak first. Just as we were about to pose, he said he had to take his jacket off because it was too hot in the room. No complaints here. :) Then my mom actually asked to be in a picture with him. I told him that she never lets herself be in photos so this was a rare experience. Then I got a picture with the Constantinos. Then I stopped for Aaron. My mom told him that I was Deven from the night before. He said, "Oh yeah! I love Deven." Then swept me up in a big bear hug. We spoke for a little bit. It was like talking to an old friend. i almost forgot that I actually just met him. Later that night he passed me in the lobby, stopped, gave me a hug, and told me that I was "absolutely gorgeous". I was super flattered and knew that this weekend was extremely worth it. Sunday didn't fail me either. Dave saw my mom and I in the restaurant and said hi to us. I thought it was very nice of him to remember us. Then out on the front porch, we saw Aaron. I was going to leave him alone because I figured he was probably tired of people by that point but as I started walking by, he held out his arms for another hug. We talked some more but then it was time to leave. Just like I was instantly hooked on the show, I am now hooked on these events. I caught myself immediately checking out when the next one is. Unfortunately, it is sold out. But they are going back to the Stanley in November and I can guarantee that I will be there.
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