Cave Spring, Georgia, full of legends, ghosts

There’s something spooky about caves. Could be the darkness, the relentless dampness or the threat of spiders and bats. Regardless of logic or explanations, ghost stories abound.

Take Cave Spring, Georgia, which dates back to European settlement in the 1820s and before that, the Creek and Cherokee people who were attracted to its delicious waters (you can literally drink from its source and many people bring jugs to carry it home). 

The historic town 16 miles south of Rome encompasses about 1,200 residents — plus a few who don’t show up on census records. The cave for which the town is named is reported to be haunted. In fact, several structures around the cave and its spring-fed Cedar Creek and neighboring park have full-time occupants as well.

On the day we visited Spring Cave, nothing appeared out of the ordinary but I caught a moving blue orb on the far side of the cave. I tried to remain as still as possible and shoot at the same spot and, at one time, set my camera to a fast shutter speed to capture numerous images in seconds. The blue spot constantly moved. At one point, it disappeared, then reappeared and floated about once more. In the first picture below, a friend saw a face. I saw it too. Do you?

Apparition? Could it have been someone behind me moving and causing a reflection to also move? I even tried to shoot repeatedly when no one was near. But still, you be the judge.

Other haunted spots in Cave Spring, Georgia, include:

The Georgia School for the Deaf, begun in 1846 and still active today, was once used as an infirmary during the Civil War. 

The Cave Spring General Store, where a Native American woman is believed to be buried. Legend has it that a chief named Big Rattling Gourd bit off his wife’s nose because she was unfaithful.

Naturally, in a town with this many legends, there are ghost tours in October. Click here for more information.

Haunted Deep South is written by travel writer Cheré Coen, author of Haunted Lafayette, Louisiana by The History Press. She writes the Viola Valentine paranormal mystery series under the pen name of Cherie Claire.

A spirited spirit in Mt. Airy, North Carolina

     Many people I’ve met in my ghost travels are afraid of cemeteries, worried that spirits haunt the hallowed ground at night. I always thought that if a spirit remained on this plane, the last place they would hang around is a cemetery. So many nicer places to visit.

     Take Old North State Winery in Mount Airy, North Carolina, for instance. Someone haunts the winery building, and if you ask me it makes perfect sense. I definitely would haunt a winery, wouldn’t you?

     The building was constructed in 1885 by Thomas Franklin Prather as a general store. The legend remains that Prather and another general store owner in the quaint North Carolina town were at odds. During this time the town’s granite quarry was in high gear so dynamite was in abundance. On a night in 1926, someone set off dynamite in front of Prather’s store and blew off the façade.

     In 1969, when Belk purchased the building to renovate into a department store, human remains were found inside a wall. An arm to be exact.

     Old North State Winery took over in 2002, serving up wines created on-site mostly from grapes in the Yadkin Valley. The store is an arm — pun intended — of Fish Hippie apparel and accessories.

     Is it the one-armed person who walks through the winery at night, opening and closing doors and throwing wine glasses around? No one knows but many have heard the footsteps and seen odd things happening. Our server mentioned the lamps hanging from the ceiling as moving on their own at odd times. Just then, the lamp above our heads starting shaking from side to side. You can see the video here. Is it air moving through the building or something else? For one thing, none of the other lighting fixtures moved. You be the judge.

     While you’re visiting Old North State Winery, be sure and sample Restless Soul, a blend of malbec, tannat and cabernet sauvignon that’s an homage to the spirit haunting the building.

     Mount Airy, by the way, is the hometown of Andy Griffith, who used his growing up years as basis for his long-running television show. You can learn more about Griffith and the show at a museum in his honor or by enjoying a Squad Car Tours in 1960s police cars.
     There’s also the Historic Mount Airy Ghost Tours departing from the Museum of Regional History on Friday, Saturday and Sunday evenings June through October.

Cheré Dastugue Coen is the author of several Louisiana romances under the pen name of Cherie Claire along with “Haunted Lafayette, Louisiana” and “Exploring Cajun Country: A Historic Guide to Acadiana” and co-author of “Magic’s in the Bag: Creating Spellbinding Gris Gris Bags and Sachets.” Write her at cherecoen@gmail.com.

Madeline a different kind of spirit at King’s Tavern in Natchez

Natchez turns 300 in 2016, an impressive milestone for a southern city. The quaint town known for its hundreds of historic buildings is the oldest continuous settlement on the Mississippi River and predates New Orleans by two years.

If you’re looking for history, the oldest building in Natchez dates back to about 1760 and there are some lingering there who might remember its origin. King’s Tavern at 619 Jefferson St. is now a restaurant serving up specialty cocktails and delicious flatbreads but in its day, the building served as a resting stop for those traveling the Natchez Trace. And it was about this time that Madeline worked as a barmaid.

Story has it that Madeline became the mistress of Richard King, the owner, and that the owner’s wife paid two men to have her killed. In 1932, three bodies and a dagger were recovered from the walls of the tavern when a chimney was being installed — two men and a woman.

Ricky Woolfolk is the tavern’s manager and bartender, who teaches mixology classes on the weekend. Ricky has his own take on the story, believing that the men killed Madeline, and the owner, upon discovering what had happened, killed the two men and buried them in the tavern’s walls to keep the crime from being discovered.

As for the dagger, that instrument of death appears to be missing. The original story, according to Ricky, was that the bodies and dagger were found in the chimney but he insists the chimney came after 1932.

I had to wonder where this information came from — doubtful that King or his wife recorded the incident or it was reported in the newspaper — but I’m happy to go along with the story. People who have worked at the tavern have reported electrical anomalies, doors opening and closing and other noises unaccounted for. Ricky showed us a video of the bar refrigerator opening on its own after hours and I can vouch that these fridges don’t open without a good pull.

Ricky also claims the tavern saw some unsavory people in its time, due to its proximity to the Natchez Trace where criminals waited to rob those returning home with newly acquired cash. The notorious Harpe Brothers, for instance, were two examples, men known for murdering many people including small children.

“There are numerous reports of paranormal activity in the tavern; sources report that scores of witnesses have seen images of a young female, believed to be the ghost of Madeline, the slain mistress,” reports the History, Science and Paranormal Research Blog hosted by the Mississippi Society of Paranormal Investigators. “She appears at odd times and is sometimes a prankster, knocking jars off of shelves, pouring water on the brick floors, turning the lights on and off, and breaking glasses. Some have claimed to have witnessed tables vibrating, chains on the walls moving by themselves, footsteps, when no one is there, water taps turning on by themselves, sounds of a baby crying in the attic room, maintained by the legend that Big Harpe had killed another baby in the upstairs room because he was annoyed by its crying. There are also claims of seeing a man with no face wearing a red hat, hearing male voices talking when no one is there and the shadows and apparitions of both a large man and an Indian.”

"Ghost Adventures" visited the King’s Tavern and you can watch the episode here.

Ghosts aside, we recommend the flatbread — we sampled the delicious artichoke and olives but heard the brisket is to die for — and the Natchez Gentleman, which incorporates Charbonneau Rum made next door with Solerno blood orange liqueur. 

Haunted Lafayette, Louisiana, booksignings this month

            Ghost stories abound in the Cajun and Creole city of Lafayette, Louisiana. The Hub City boasts a multitude of spirits and specters, from those lost in Civil War skirmishes and fever outbreaks to those souls that simply can’t say goodbye. Today, they wander the halls of bed-and-breakfasts and restaurants and linger along back roads and cemeteries. Pirates are rumored to guard buried treasure, and ancient French legends hide in the swamps, bayous and woods. 

            I visited Lafayette’s haunted sites and traveled the countryside in search of ghostly legends found only in South Louisiana and published "Haunted Lafayette, Louisiana," with The History Press.

            Just in time for Halloween I will be signing copies of “Haunted Lafayette” at the following:

Oct. 17, 2015: I will sign “Haunted Lafayette” as well as “Forest Hill, Louisiana: A Bloom Town History” from 10 a.m. to noon at 1921 Jackson Street: A Coffee House in Alexandria, Louisiana.

Oct. 31, 2015: I will sign “Haunted Lafayette” and her other books — “Exploring Cajun Country,” “Forest Hill, Louisiana: A Bloom Town History” and “Magic’s in the Bag: Creating Spellbinding Gris Gris Bags and Sachets” — from 2 p.m. to 4 p.m. Saturday, Oct. 31, at Barnes & Noble Lafayette.

AAA goes ghost hunting this month

The September-October 2015 issue of AAA Southern Traveler magazine looks at Louisiana's haunts, from the many ghostly sites of Shreveport (that's Oakland Cemetery to the left) and New Orleans to Loyd Hall Plantation outside Alexandria (right).