Revisit idea

I really want to go back to the Myrtles Plantation....I'm addicted and I've only stayed there once. I really want to go and get the same room I had last time as see if I get tucked in bed this time round. Oh that would be so much fun. Now if I can get three friends to go with me we can have the second floor (not the room with the main staircase access) all to ourselves...hmmmm that would be a lot fun. And we could leave our doors unlocked in case someone does get scared in the middle of the night we won't have to go to the nearest hotel (which is on the Myrtle's speed dial). I do request that the person in the room next to the William Winters room leave the adjoining door open just in case I do get tucked in by a ghost I can run to their room cause I know I really would be freaked out but I would have a ridiculous smile on my face the whole time. Yes I've lost my marbles for good this time round.
In case I didn't mention what room did what in my last Myrtles blog, I'll briefly explain here along with the other three on that loft: (more descriptions can be found everywhere however my reference for this is Jill Pascoe's book Louisiana's Haunted Plantations(which is available at the Myrtles last time I was there it was and bookstores of course!) Disclaimer: Warning some parts maybe disturbing, viewer discretion is advised.
William Winters: this was my room when I stayed the night. Most known for something tucking guests into bed while they sleep and if memory serves me right this is also the room where Cleo the voodoo priest tried to save the life of Sara but failed, was hung, her body weighted down and thrown into the river (no lie).

Ruffin-Sterling: this was the former nursery where guests have been said to hear the cries of children reliving their deaths from the oleander poisoning. Some guests have seen the children close to the fireplace reliving their final hours until finally collapsing dead.

okay my memory is not that good on these two rooms so please bear with me.

Fannie Williamson: if you have a doll phobia I would recommend not booking this room. Yes there are dolls in this room. A worker says there's only 1 but guests have seen at least 6. So these dolls disappear along with other objects in the room. Again if memory serves me right this room is also known as the Dream room and sits above the heart of the house which is said to harness the source of the activity in the house. It is said that guests have dreams of one of their loved ones who has passed on or is about to pass away (not staying in that room thank you very much).

John Leake: guests smell cigar smoke strongly in this room. Also it is said that the Confederate soldier who died at the plantation, this was his room. A Confederate uniform sometimes is seen either hung in the armoire or laid out on the bed and the plantation doesn't have any such uniform. And I think this is also known as the Green Room.

I don't have a plan for the other three rooms but my idea for William Winters room is to have at least 2 cameras (X cameras for GAC fans) rolling (this is where Ghost Adventures equipment would come in handy) both facing the bed, have the sheets rolled all the way down to the foot of the bed, and then someone has to be asleep. It's not guaranteed to work but if it does awesome, if not oh well no big deal, better luck next time. I will gladly be the volunteer to fall asleep in this experiment (just leave the adjoining door open I may get scared lol but I look forward to it).

My advice: bring a camera, take the ghost tour, bring your laptop so you can upload your photos to the internet and be ready to take more ^.^, try the food in the restaurant it is very good, try and make it through the entire night you'll be glad you did in the morning when breakfast is ready, if you plan on having a drink with dinner...keep on drinking or don't and say you did, bring a box that's difficult to open by ghosts and put anything you value in it, and last but certainly not least Laissez Les Bon Temps Roulez (let the good times roll).

St. Joseph's Plantation

St. Joseph's Plantation is a beautiful plantation like all plantations are, but to me this one is extra beautiful. It is still a working sugar plantation. The sugar cane stretches for miles and the house itself is simply beautifl. They just started giving tours so it's not widely known just yet. The owners are decendents of the original owners and you cannot work there unless you are a family member or are a friend of the family. Even a movie was filmed there (Skeleton Key). It's simply a beautiful plantation to visit.

Mrytles Plantation

Ok my trip to Myrtles the second time round was the best I think so far. I am planning on going back but sadly just for the day (for now, working on that second overnight stay). My friend and I make it one of our summer day vactions (kind of a girls' day out but instead of shopping we go see plantations) of going to plantations for the day (this will be our second year and Myrtles is on our list). Last year we got rained on but it was still a lot of fun. Anyway, while at Myrtles I got a really awesome video that happened in my room while I was still in it (video will be posted after finals are over, I promise: cross my heart and hope to die). I have about 8 hours of audio still to go through but I don't have the right program to actually hear the EVPs but I hope to get that over the summer. I did have a piece of the audio analyzed (I don't think myspace will let me put it on here, but I will be sending a copy to Mrytles when I go back hopefully in the summer, so look for me in the summer Bri lol). I'm not going to say what I think it said but it'll give goosebumps to anyone.
Also I took lots and lots of pictures (don't know how many but there's a lot). I have gone through all of them and I have had them looked at as well for second opinions. The other opinions think one in particular is really something. The funny thing is about that picture: my awesome tour guide was telling us about one woman who took a similar picture (I think) and she ran down the stairs (don't know how she didn't kill herself cause those stairs are a bitch going up or down it doesn't matter, you can't go up or down quickly trust me), well I won't give too much away on what she got I'll leave that for Myrtles . Well the shot I got was very interesting. I first thought it was light reflecting off the camera lens.....wasn't. It wasn't a normal orb let's just say that.
As for the video that has been raved about at Myrtles is in fact real (to those of you who don't believe it) and I have it. It's on an external hard drive safe and sound but it's too big at the moment to post on myspace or youtube (I've tried both and they wouldn't have it, I even tried burning it to a DVD-R.....still too big even though it was an hour and a half I think). But have no fear, the part that is totally awesome will be posted because it will be the right size for posting (yes on myspace, youtube and facebook). I didn't even bother trying to post it to facebook if myspace wouldn't have it.
During the day, the plantation is very beautiful and for me very relaxing. I almost forget that there are ghosts there. Plenty of money shots for photographers, I have taken quite a few both times I went. I don't get the sense that it is haunted at least during the day for me, might be different for others. But at night...well that's a horse of another color (and breed). That's when everything happens. You don't just feel it in the house, it's on the grounds too. I can't say that it feels like another house at night because I still feel like it is the same house just creepier. It's like when people decorate for Halloween and they go all out and then when Christmas comes it's decorated completely different. Quite literally night and day!
I was with two other women when I went and we were dubed The Crazy Ladies by our tour guide, Bri. She gave a wonderful ghost tour (and day tour). The house had one room downstairs that gave off a really odd vibe and you can only feel it at night. The other rooms weren't really that cold but when we got to one with odd vibe, it was very cold to me. Not cold like you can see your breath cold, cold as in someone turned the AC on in this room only, but it was "contained" in that room only. It was very odd, but once we left the room I had the feeling of something on my leg from about mid thigh down, and it was only one leg. It followed me around along with one of the ladies in my party until we went back through the house with Bri, then it left.
My group and I went to dinner afterward, then went on the grounds for a few pictures and then we went back up to our rooms (Ruffin Sterling and William Winters). That's when we looked at the video I recorded with my laptop and saw what we saw (I'll let ya'll see for yourselves). We also put out some change in the Ruffin Sterling room for the ghost kids. I guess you could call it bait if you want but it was for the kids to play with while we slept (if we slept at all). A few things happened that night, one in which happened while my co-workers were asleep in the other room. I heard a dog barking (doesn't sound like much I know but apparently there is something there about a dog) but what I heard was the neighboring dog barking so yeah that was no big deal. However, after I turned the light out (about 3:30am) I felt a sensation of someone (or something) wanting to tuck me in bed, when I had already tucked myself in up to my nose. Whatever it was did leave me alone after I had said that I was fine and completely tucked in, don't touch me. I went to sleep and then at about 5:30am we were all awakened by my co-worker who felt the odd vibe downstairs. It's very hard to explain what exactly happened but basically, the kids decided that the coins that we had out for them wasn't enough to play with. We all settled down again and went back to sleep for 2 more hours. We went to a fabulous breakfast and heard what other guests had exprienced if they wanted to share. We spent more time out on the grounds and I took more photos. We packed and I showed Bri and Ms. Hester the video I got, but also we found out that we were missing something. The kids did take a nickel (I think, if I remember correctly) from the coins we left out and we never got it back and I have no idea what happened to it. But if they want it they can have it.
And that was my overnight stay at the Mrytles Plantation. I will be back again and hopefully catch that sensation I felt on video next time no guarentees of course, ghosts don't come on demand unlike dogs and performing monkeys. But I will be back for another day trip and leave the busy life I have behind me for a day.

A word on Plantations

I was thinking about plantations yesterday. I have a friend who works at one that I stayed the night in and she reminded me about the time I spent there and other plantations. For me, plantations are great to see and learn about. They're a part of history and a time of history that I love but never really got into much detail about in school. When you go to see plantations most people go for the tours and pictures and the stories that surround them. Those are good reasons to go, don't get me wrong. For me plantations are places where time just seems to stop and all the worry, stress and cares you had before you stepped onto the grounds just vanish. They don't melt away, they simply vanish into thin air and you don't see those cares until you get home. I have been to seven plantations and there is one plantation that I really felt time stand still. That was the Myrtles Plantation. Yes it is named one of America's most haunted homes but really it has a whole other side to it. The phrase "the difference between night and day" is the definition of Myrtles.

The very first two plantations I visited was for a school field trip and I wasn't fascinated by them as I am now. I hope to return to those plantations and feel the fascination.

There was one plantation that seemed to follow me everywhere I went, Oak Alley. It is a very stunning plantation, a very elegant lady. Another elegant plantation is Nottoway Plantation. It is known as the White Castle of Louisiana and is also and bed and breakfast.

The last very elegant plantation I visited was Rosedown Plantation.Rosedown is a photographer's paradise. There are plenty of money shots all around the grounds no matter if you're taking a picture of the gardens or of the house (even when you're on the balcony there are money shots). I went crazy taking pictures. The gardens of that plantation I envy. They are so beautiful, they're jaw dropping. I was in a complete state of awe just by being in the gardens. Oakley Plantation is beautiful for it's artwork, museum, the inside of the house and the garden it has. The outside of the house gives it the look of a very boring plantation but in fact it's rich with beauty on the inside.

Plantations are wonderful to visit and a great place to escape the mundane things. Time stands still when you step onto the grounds of plantations. They are places where I wish I could go back and unwind from all the stress that builds up from school. There are a few plantations I would love to go and revisit or even visit for the first time. But Mrytles is at the top of my list of plantations to return to.