Chicago Tales #7 - The Ghost Tour

Pic heavy post guys, so warning!

Well, overall, the Ghost Tour was a total bust except for one or two key moments. You guys know that yes, I do believe in ghosts, yes, I do sense ghosts thanks to that little pesky sensory overload gene that most Aspers have. For those that don't know, most Aspers have EXTREMELY strong senses in all capacities. If it wasn't for this stupid eye disease, I'd probably have beyond perfect vision too (but, even with this, I have night cat eyes, so there is that). As my Daddy used to say when I was little, "she can hear a mouse fart in Kentucky and probably smell it too!"...he wasn't far off. But, added to that, I can also sense "energies" (for lack of a better word). It's why I can judge people's characters so well the first second I meet them, it's why I don't like specific places the second I walk into them, and it's why I know when a place is genuinely haunted or not.

I should add a disclaimer that no, I don't typically see ghosts (although I have seen flickers of one or two throughout my life), nor do they talk to me (although I have heard sounds once or twice). When I was a kid, this sense scared the crap out of me and often made me sick. Imagine not understanding who or what you are (which I didn't), being hit with a blast of negative energy (which often occurs in a haunted place because most are from violent deaths) and then try to deal with it and NOT seem crazy! Yeah, doesn't work so well. My mother often said that, as we were driving down a road, even as a wee one, I would start crying well before we got to a cemetery, even if it was a road we had never been on before and I couldn't see out the window. My teenage years were the worst with the nausea when we'd go to these sorts of places. For example, we used to go to the Biltmore a lot when we'd visit family in North Carolina. I didn't like it, but I'd go anyway, until the last time when I had to leave the tour crying over the maid ghost in the servant's quarters (one of the few I've ever seen) and, after that, I put my foot down and we didn't go anymore. It was well into my 20's before I got a handle on that part of it and I've really only come to terms with it in the past 5 or so years and learned to tune it better so I can either block it out so it doesn't make me sick, or focus it so I can sense where more "action" is if I'm looking for it (which I don't often want to do, but sometimes I need to know for "safety's sake").

Now, back to the story at hand, so we start this ghost tour which goes down the river front, with stories of overloaded ferries and drowning people, and I felt nada. I figured it was because I wasn't actually "in" the water or because there is a LOT of foot traffic along the waterfront and has been LONG since the tragedy and it's just too much overloaded energy to feel the original bad ju-ju. This is more of a skyward shot, but I was trying to keep out the other tour members:

Then came all the mob stories and how the train lines were the best places to run their "whatever" merchandise and the best place to knock off people. Still nothing (other than the overwhelming crushing vibe of too many living people and THEIR negative energy...not one of the most positive places in town):

The Chicago Theater and all the tales of Al Capone (who featured prominently in all these stories we were told...no mob vibes at all, BTW):

Honestly, at this point, I was digging the architecture more than the tales:

But then he takes to this alleyway...now, as a general rule, alleys in big cities aren't the best places to be and I'm already acutely aware of this being a paranoid person. This alley already had two people in it smoking pot (I kid you not), who scattered like rats when we entered. This alley in particular was the back alley to what used to be the Iroquois Theater. Back in 1903, theaters used to lock their doors to keep people from sneaking in after the show had started, so everyone was essentially trapped who didn't know where the doors were that weren't locked (which were few and far between). The fire exits weren't finished either, which also added to the problem. The theater caught fire and, because of what happened during that event, it's why we now have fire exits and the fire rules we have in almost every single building we have today. Apparently, people tried to get out and couldn't, they overloaded the fire escapes, which collapsed, people climbed to the roof and jumped, and eventually, because the theater had been packed to the brim, so many bodies had piled up in that alleyway, people were able to just walk out the fire escape doors across dead bodies to get out.

None of the pictures I took in that alley came out clear. Whether or not it was me shaking or the alley, I can't say, but that's the first time I've come close to that nauseous feeling since I was young and I had to fight it like crazy. I kept turning around because it felt like someone was literally hanging off my back (someone smaller, like a child, like their feet wasn't touching the ground) and that was a feeling I had for days after I came home (which I mentioned in an earlier post). Even my Sister eventually noticed that I wasn't right because I, not only kept backing out of the alley involuntarily, but I had this horrible look on my face that must have said "I want out NOW!". If he literally had kept us in there a minute longer, I would have left of my own accord (I couldn't decide which way he was going out, which was what I was trying to decide in my head, or I would have left already). But anyhoo, here are some of the pics (sorry, my Sister's nose is in this one):

She wanted a pic of herself by the stage door, I had to take it multiple times to get it to come out this good (which is still sucky):

The alley looking how far he drug us into it (and keep in mind the entire thing had been filled with bodies):

And how far up the lowest fire escape is (so again, body-depth level):

After that point, what he said and what I paid attention to, dropped off significantly, but something happened in one of the apartments above this McD's (I personally felt nothing):

Something happened over there (again, nothing):

Underground subway mall where a mob hit took place...now I was feeling some major oppression...felt like I was being screamed at and again, I just wanted out as quickly as possible:

But again, out in the dark of night, something happened here and I couldn't tell you what because the "kid on my back" was back:

Then we had a sort of "break" at the haunted Palmer House, a hotel I knew was haunted before I walked in the door thanks to various ghost shows:

But once inside, I was more fascinated with the architecture and again felt NOTHING ghostly (maybe it's just the rooms?), so while we had a few minutes, I wandered around taking pictures:

Supposedly where the mobsters met...nada:

Am looking around:

You guys know I love me a light fixture!

Once we were in there for about 15 or 20 minutes for our "break", my nerves calmed down enough that I was able to finish the rest of the tour without issue (almost). Got to see the start of Route 66 sign:

Which means, even though I did it backwards, I've been to both ends!

Of course the last stop of the night was the Congress Hotel, which is probably one of the most Haunted places in Chicago..good ole H.H. Holmes himself like to snag victims from there...but for me, again nada:

...except, see that grassy tree area to the left in this next pic? He dragged us a bit too deep up in there (for nighttime at least), close to the zoo, to tell his tale:

and I was NOT a happy camper about it! I kept taking pics (or trying to, it was cloudy) of the moon to distract myself. Needless to say, I did take another pic of another supposed haunted area of the Congress which, I supposed if I was actually IN the room, I might feel something, but either I was too far away, or again, too many people vibes have cluttered the haunted vibe (or I was just too freaked out by the woods I was standing in)...it's the four windows with the curtains completely closed, they supposedly don't rent out those rooms anymore:

And that was the end of the tour! We were close enough to our hotel to walk back (with a stop at the Walgreens), where I proceeded to have my Chicago Tale #1 incident.