Original Springs Hotel, Okawville, Illinois March 2011
http://www.theoriginalspringshotel.com/ http://www.hauntedhouses.com/states/il/original_springs_hotel.cfm
Investigators: Dave, Trish, Vicki, and CAPS Jrs
So what does one do on their children's Spring
break? Stay at a haunted hotel of
course! So on March 18th, we loaded up
the van with our kids and headed over to Okawville, Illinois to stay at The
Original Springs hotel for a couple of days
The hotel was established in 1867, because they discovered medicinal mineral
spring water, but a fire completely destroyed the original building in
1891. The current building that replaced
it opened on May 1, 1893. With so many
years under its belt, it is only natural it should be home to many spirits.
Although this was our first visit, Zach, Brittany, David and Trish had stayed
there in September of 2010. They had
rooms by the pool and that night Trish had seen a rather large shadow pass
their window...at 3am? According to David,
he couldn't figure out how anyone could cast such a large shadow over the
window or even why anyone would be walking down that dead-end walkway at three
in the morning? The Bar had been closed
for more than an hour? It was enough of
an experience that Trish said she didn't want to be facing the window for the
rest of the night.
David and Trish would be joining us the following day, but the first night I
would have to be a lone investigator.
As we pulled up, I was immediately taken aback by the beauty and old style
charm of the building. Upon entering the
front desk area, I was not disappointed...beautiful and charming as well! I was shocked to the core when we were handed
the room key...a real...made of metal key!
My children have never seen an actual key for a hotel room other than
the cards. That is something that
harkens back to the olden days of yore!
Our room was next to the beautiful indoor pool, which filled my children with
pure joy! It wasn't the grandest of
rooms, but sure made me feel like I was in a 1960's time warp. My husband and I loved it! We all enjoyed the pool and restaurant within
the hotel. It was a quiet calm night in
general.
The next day, David and Trish arrived.
They had requested room #1, said to be haunted by a lady in white. It was a small room, but was beautifully
decorated to honor the Civil war.
We enjoyed quality time together, dinner, chatting?walking around the hotel
with K2 meters, digital recorders...normal everyday stuff one would do when you
are at a haunted hotel!
David, Trish and I were graciously granted after hour's access to investigate
the Bath House. The upstairs section is
the Spa area, which focuses on massages and skin treatments. The downstairs are where the mineral baths
are located, basically a series of small rooms each with its own bathtub? Not quite the communal Roman Bath I had
envisioned. During their previous visit
Trish, Zach and Brittany got a knocking response while they were in the
downstairs bathhouse, but never found a logical explanation as to what had
produced that sound.
Upon entering the bathhouse, we went into darkness with only our flashlights to
lead the way. It wasn't long after we
entered the spa area that Trish's meter was sounding its alarm that an EMF
spike was occurring. David, one of the
more skeptical of CAPS members, was convinced it was reacting to a power source
in the room. We women were not as
convinced! It went off again in another
section later, and we got several EVPs to back it up!
After we investigated the entire bath house, we made our way back to room
#1. We pulled out some dowsing rods and
did a questions session. Once again the meter was going crazy...insane really!
After some time, it quieted down again.
About 2 am we decided to venture forth and walk around the hotel. We noticed there were several women out,
apparently also ghost hunting, except not nearly as stealthy as us! They were on the main floor level, and we
were on the second floor overlooking the pool.
Surprisingly, one of them began yelling up at us wanting to know if we
had come across any activity and advising us they had some batteries drain in a
section we had yet to investigate. Although
paranormal investigating is certainly exhilarating, it is always wise to
understand your surroundings and remember common courtesy. This is after all a hotel and some people
were actually here for the lodging!
We ended our investigation, quietly, around 3am. The lady in white did not make an appearance
that night, perhaps next time! We
captured some great EVPs, but most importantly it was a fun, relaxing
time! My kids are just as anxious to
return as I am. I think it is imperative
for the CAPS women to investigate the bath house, while being pampered in the
spa, just to see what kind of activity might go on during the daylight hours!
EVPs
Bath house, Trish meter going off. Woman says "Tom...."
Bath House, Male with accent saying, "I like them..."?