Cooperative Living October 2021 - 16

Fright Nights
(continued from page 13)
Dela arewa
walk in Princess Anne, where Burgoyne
led her group into the Washington
Hotel, originally constructed in the
1700s as a roadside tavern, and in
which George Washington once slept.
Inside the hotel are two original
18th century staircases, built side by
side and separated by a wall. " Back
then, men and women did not use the
same staircases in public places if it
could be helped, " Burgoyne says. She
goes on to say that sometimes late at
night, hotel staff still claim to hear the
voices of both men and women coming
from the stairwells, but when they go
to look, no one is there.
The Princess Anne Firehouse is on
the same block. The downtown
building in which it is housed is also
very old and has sleeping quarters for
firefighters on the second floor.
" Not long ago, a fireman claimed
to see a very frail woman in those
quarters, carrying a serving tray in the
dark, " Burgoyne says. " He wondered
what she was doing there and turned
on a light. No one was there. It wasn't
until much later that someone told me
that a woman who worked in a nearby
bakery used to regularly bring the town
firemen some of her pastries, nearly 100
years ago. Is there a connection there?
Everyone is left to make their own
conclusions. We just tell the stories. "
OCEAN CITY
The following
night in Ocean
City, Md., storyteller
Karen Moschini
met a tour group,
including me and
my dog, at the
Life-Saving Station
Museum on the
boardwalk.
The museum
houses many old
artifacts that have
their own ghost
stories, such as a
lifeboat in which
apparitions of
drowned fishermen
have been reported.
" Laughing Sally, "
the giant electronic doll that once sat
in front of the Jester's Funhouse in the
1940s is also housed in the museum.
She used to scare visitors by laughing
as they approached.
Today, Moschini says, Sally still
laughs occasionally, usually at closing
time - except that now Sally is
unplugged.
From there, Moschini took the group
to the boardwalk's Haunted House,
which she says truly is haunted, likely
because it is a former burial ground.
The boardwalk's carousel, in place
since 1912, is also said to be haunted
by the ghost of a woman named Joanne,
The wooden carousel horse on
the boardwalk in Ocean City, Md.,
is said to be haunted by a ghost
named Joanne.
who loved to ride a particular wooden
carousel horse that was adorned in a
turquoise sash and red roses. A plaque
on the horse reads " Forever Joanne. "
There are numerous reports of
employees seeing a visage of Joanne
riding her favorite wooden horse at
odd hours.
The next stop, however, gave
everyone in the group chills.
The Tarry-a-While Guest House
was built in 1897 as a rooming house.
On Aug. 22, 1908, it was the scene
of a suicide. A 21-year-old man named
Calvin died of a self-inflicted gunshot
wound after a young lady rejected his
marriage proposal.
Although the current-day structure
was supposedly empty, as soon as
Moschini said Calvin's name, my
dog got up from a laying position
and suddenly stood up, concentrating
intently on the front door. His head
cocked, as if he heard something
moving inside, and the fur along
his back bristled as the entire group
took notice. Some even took photos
of him doing this as it occurred.
" There you have it, " says Moschini,
" If your mind is open and you
pay attention, you actually can
experience paranormal activity
on this tour. " 
For more information,
visit chesapeakeghosts.com.
14 | Cooperative Living | October 2021
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Cooperative Living October 2021

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