As I'm sure you've seen on our Facebook page, I was able to make yet another trip to Waverly Hills in Louisville, KY this past weekend.  First, I want to say it was C-O-L-D!! This Florida girl was a bit chilly.  Actually, it wasn't that bad and I survived.  

Ok, let's talk about the trip.  It was definitely a blast.  This was my 2nd event at Waverly Hills and my 3rd trip there.  Compared to the 1st event, this one was WAY better.  It was so much more organized, that made my heart happy.  When I checked in, I received a wristband with my assigned group letter on it.  I was then able to walk around the property outside which was amazing to be able to do in the daylight.  It was overcast, but a great opportunity to see it in all it's glory. It truly is a massive building with interesting details.  

Early afternoon, the official Q&A started with Nick & Tessa Groff, Dave Schrader and Shane Pittman.  It was a mix of general admission and VIP ticket holders so it was a bit on the crowded side.  As I texted Rob a couple of times, it was people-y. You know, I love making up words. Since I was standing in the back, I couldn't hear a lot of the questions so the answers were just them talking. Even though I didn't follow half of what was going on, it was still quite entertaining.  They really feed off each other.  Once that 90 minutes was up, we had a couple of hours to kill to grab some food before re-grouping after the sun set for the investigation.  Well, the clock in my rental car didn't get changed with the time change so I ended up back to Waverly way early. It was interesting to sit in the parking lot as it gets dark and watching Waverly get darker and darker and darker.  I couldn't wait to get back inside.  

Once it was time to meet up again, we broke up into our assigned groups.  Each celebrity would be stationed at an assigned floor and we'd move around in groups to each floor.  This was so smoothly run, I was impressed. The first event I went to, we started in assigned groups but after we got to our starting floor, it turned into a free for all. This time, way better. 

My group started on the 1st floor. We started all together with Nick and Tessa while he used this energy producing device that would bring voices through.  I cannot for the life of me remember what it's called but I keep wanting to call it Vortex something or other.  Anyway, it was pretty cool. We split the group in half while the other half went with Nick to the body chute, aka death tunnel while the rest of us kind of wandered around the first floor.  I tended to stick with the guides in our group because I was alone. One of the guides headed to the reception area that there have been reports of a not so nice entity. Will talk about him later.  Heard some shuffling sounds just out of view and when we shined a light, there was nobody there. 

After a few minutes, it was my half of my group's turn to head into the death tunnel with Nick.  Walking in, I was following some younger folks as they walked down the tunnel.  My old ass forgot that if I walk down the tunnel, I have to walk back up the tunnel.  That didn't go so well.  Not at all.  I finally get back up to the top (or close to it) and Nick says "let's go dark and just listen." In normal circumstances, I'd be all for it but because I was still trying to catch my break and it's pitch black, the panic set in.  I embarrassingly had to tap out and leave the tunnel.  One of the guide assistants walked me out to the hallway outside of the tunnel so I could catch my break and calm down.  I'm slightly claustrophobic so the not being able to catch my breath and going pitch black was just too much for my anxiety.  Had I been able to catch my breath before going dark, I would have been fine.  Silver lining, as we were standing out in the hallway, a few feet away, we heard what I can only explain as was sounded like a plastic clicking noises.  Once they were done in the tunnel, we met back up with the rest of the group to prepare to move up to the next floor.  As we are standing there, I'm in the back of the group, with my back to a dark hallway and I hear footsteps behind me.  One of the guys standing next to me hears the same thing because we turned around at the same time and both said "did you just hear that?" 

Our next stop was the 2nd floor with Shane. Some of us king of started in the atrium where they would have church services as well as family visits.  After a few minutes, that small group kind of broke up and started wandering around.  I wandered down the outside corridor and just stuck close to the group around Shane. I had my moment to shine because I had my Flir and Shane needed one because his shoulder felt hot. Naturally nothing showed up but it was nice to be needed, ha! There was someone in the group that had an Ovilus, which by the way I really want one now.  It kept spitting out "mercury" "ether" "Lois". The room we were standing was said to be Lois' room. Mercury would potentially refer to being brought out to the outside corridor for sun as well as the thermometers used at the time. Ether could refer what was used as anesthesia back when the hospital was open.  

Remember that unfriendly spirits I mentioned back on the first floor?  Well, this is when we think he came through and we learned more about him.  We started hearing things from the Ovilus like "demon" "angel" and the like along with "bitch." They have named him Tim.  They believe it's him that is coming through when those words come through because he likes to talk over the other spirits.  He also comes across as though women are inferior and belong in the kitchen type of attitude.  Yup, we all rolled our eyes at that. No one truly knows who he is but an investigator asked if it was ok to call him Tim and there was a constant response of "Tim, Tim, Tim" over and over again so they go with it.  

Our next rotation was the 3rd floor with Dave.  We started all together in the hall as we did short, EVP bursts. Dave had his fancy recorder, ask a few questions and then play the recordings back.  On a couple of those recordings, there seemed to be a yell that came through that we didn't hear but sounded like it was right at the microphone. On top of that, there was a Boo Bear that was in the middle of the hallway that would say certain phrases when it's thought a spirit was close-by. Nothing creepy like a sing song voice in the dark saying things like "do you want to play a game?" That is one gadget I will never own. 

After a few minutes, a few of us broke off and headed down to the other end of the floor to what I think was the mini OR, or something like that because it was not the main operating room.  We sat down and had a flashlight session with one of the guides (Vince) as he used a spirit box app on his phone.  Got some responses with the flashlight and some interesting answers come through with the app.  I had my GoPro set up, pointed to the flashlight not expecting to get much of anything. If you visit the Facebook page, you will see a video I posted of a sound I captured. Vince asked if they wanted us to leave and because the voice on his app says "uh" there is a sound that comes through that sounds disjointed in some way. I'd love for you to go listen and let me know what you think. The downside of an event at a place like that, you can't account for every noise or every person but I don't remember hearing it and Vince would have called it out so I find it interesting. 

Our final rotation was the 4th and 5th floor.  We started up at 5 for a few minutes because there isn't a lot to it.  This is the floor where the nurse allegedly hung herself or was hung, there aren't any real records of this. One thing Vince said that I really liked, that if it wasn't written down, it's not fact. This is also the floor where the play area was for the kids. Nothing really happened up there.  We then moved down to the 4th floor. This is one of the more active floors of shadow figures. I didn't see any but others did.  Also, there was a a situation that happened years ago, that some young men got stuck on the 4th floor.  The particular door they were trying to get out of is VERY easy to open. As you look at the door, you can still see the ax marks that they put there as they were trying to break out of.  A guard went up and easily opened the door from the outside.  I find this interesting because in the later years of Waverly, this floor is said to have locked geriatric patients on this floor.  Again, no written records so it's just a story.  The 4th floor also holds the actual OR which still has one of the original operating lights.  It's also fascinating that the OR has a lot of windows. The reason they have windows is because they used ether for anesthesia which is highly flammable. Both OR's on the 3rd and 4th floor are at the very far end of the floor away from any patient rooms so that if there was ever a situation of it catching fire, it would be contained.  

I cannot remember if this happened on the 3rd or 4th floor, but as we started to regroup to move on, a young lady was walking towards us and absolutely had a reaction of someone/something walking in front of her.  She said it was as if a line of electricity passed in front of her.  Her reaction to it was believable and truly think she saw something.  I also miss the visuals.  

Overall, it was a great time.  If you ever get the chance to visit Waverly Hills, you absolutely should take it.  They not only have ghost tours, they also offer historic tours that give you the non-ghost stories of the property.  One day, I'll get back up there to take advantage of one of those tours.  Even though this was a paranormal event, our guides were amazing and would weave in those history lessons in which I loved.  It is an amazing property that keeps calling me back.  

​~Jamie~

You know, I always intend to stay up to date on here but obviously it doesn't happen.  Whether I have nothing to say or I just get lazy and say forget it.  Naturally since it's October and "ghost" season, so I'm back!

This really is one of my favorite months when it comes to tv show choices.  Most nights I'm sitting on my couch, mindlessly playing games on my iPad with "Family Guy" playing in the background.  October rolls around and suddenly I'm paying attention to whatever haunted show is on, most likely being on Travel Channel.  One of my favorite shows is "Most Haunted" which I'm currently binge watching on Discovery+. I just love hearing the stories from the owners/visitors/employees of these sites.  It seems more real.  Although there is an episode about I-4 here in Central Florida that I question. I've lived here my whole life and never heard a story of I-4 being haunted.  Maybe full of bad drivers, but not haunted.  Hmmm....

​Anyways, I'd love to hear your favorite ghost tv shows you watch. What do you like about them? Maybe I'll spend the next couple of weeks talking about my favorite shows as well.  

I promise I'll be back sooner rather than later.  So for now, Happy Friday Eve!

~Jamie~

P.S. Don't forget to follow us on Facebook and Twitter!

Late in 2016 I found out that Ideal Events Management would be doing an event at the famous Waverly Hills in Louisville, KY. This location is toward the top of any paranormal enthusiasts bucket list so naturally I was interested. The guest list is what made me decide to go. Well, one person on the guest list, Josh Gates from Travel Channel's "Expedition Unknown." Meeting him was also very high on my bucket list. I became a fan of his when he was on SyFy's "Destination Truth" which started back in 2007. Two bucket list items in one shot, sign me up.

March 2017 finally rolled around and it was time to head to Louisville. It was the weekend of the major Delta meltdown. I am so happy I sucked it up and got a 5 a.m. flight that day because any later, I would have never made it.  One of the speakers got stuck in L.A. so she never made it at all.  Unfortunately I had to make this trip by myself and I won't lie, I was a little nervous to be going to this alone. It worked out because everyone there was super nice. I even made a friend out of it (shout out to Amy!). I'm somewhat of an introvert with the ability to fake being a little outgoing when necessary.

A few days before, it was announced that Josh had to cancel his appearance for the 2nd night of the event weekend due to his renewal of "Expedition Unknown" (yay!!). Thankfully, I had bought the ticket for the first night but they did extend the invite to those with 2nd night tickets to come for the meet and greet so they wouldn't miss him. That made it a little hectic but heck, I still got to meet Josh, get a picture with him and tell him he ruined my chance to get a puppy (not really, Rob was just being mean. He said I picked Josh over getting a puppy..blah, blah, blah). I am happy to announce that Josh is just as funny and nice as he seems on TV. It was awesome to hear the passion he has for his work and so much hilariousness.  Seriously, what I wouldn't give to sit in a bar and day drink with him.

​After Gates was done, they had to kind of rush through Steve and Dustin of Ghost Hunters and John Zaffis' talk because of time. Dustin and John had driven from New England to Louisville because of the Delta fiasco the night before. It was apparently a long car ride because they ragged on each other all night. It was great. For them it was mostly a Q&A but it's fun to hear the different types of questions people will come up with.

​It was finally time to head to Waverly Hills. I had hoped we would have gotten there while it was still somewhat light out but sadly that was not the case. The place is massive and even in the dark, you can see how impressive it is. This is where it started to get a little chaotic. Steve gave a little background on the site but more from an investigator's point of view.  Even then, I did have to remind myself several times that this was an event and not an investigation throughout the night. We separated into four groups. All this meant was we started on a specific floor with our group.  Then once all groups were at their starting floor, it became a free for all. You didn't have to stay with your group. You could wander the building at your leisure. In some ways that was pretty cool, but in other ways, it was madness. At the beginning, I was able to sit with John Zaffis on the 5th floor while he used an app that is similar to a Spirit Box. I have to look into it more to understand how it works because I did get it but had zero luck with it. While John was using his, it picked up things like "help" and then would answer in numbers when asked how many were there spirit wise.

​After this, Amy and I started to check out the different floors and different rooms. It was hard to sit and just listen with so many people all over the place. Just when we thought we found a quiet room to do a quick EVP session, here would come a group of people. I tried to use the app but because I didn't have external speakers, it was worthless because we couldn't hear it.

​We made our way down to the body chute which is supposedly one of the most active areas of the site. Our plan was to sit there, in complete darkness and silence in hopes to experience something. Again, with so many people everywhere, there was always a group coming in or going out. Of the 90 minutes or so of us sitting in there, we got maybe 15 minutes of dark and quiet.

​During the quiet time we did get in the body chute, we sat on the chute itself about halfway down. Then about halfway between us and the exit, there was a group of 3 girls also wanting to sit in the dark and just take it in. A couple of minutes in, they asked us if we were standing up or moving which we were not. They claim to have seen a figure pacing towards the bottom of the chute which is one of the stories. Neither Amy or I saw this but all 3 of them did. I found that fascinating.  Could it been the angle we were sitting or was it because that was a story of the site, they expected to see it so they saw it?

​By then, we were about done so we headed back up to take some photos and cross our fingers to find a quiet space to try an EVP session again. The EVP session never really happened though we tried a few times. I haven't even gone through the recordings yet because with all the noise around us, I'm not confident there's anything there. I'll have to save the 'reveal' for another post.

​As we headed out, we ran into one of the employees of Waverly and she was talking to another group about the history. This is something I wish we had heard prior to going in. She said when they give their tours or do their overnight investigations, it starts with a tour of the property along with the history. It is a starting point and a guide to what you want to do for the night. I wish we had been with her all night.

​Overall it was a great weekend. The paranormal enthusiast in me was disappointed because I didn't experience anything personally. Like I said before, I had to remind myself all night it was an event and not an investigation. A lot of folks were there for the celebrities and the idea of going to Waverly. They didn't care for catching anything. I am hoping that next year, we can snag one of the coveted private overnight events and have the run of the place. That would be a pretty cool vacation.

I hope I didn't bore you guys with the rambling. I will try to be a little more active this year even though there isn't a trip on the horizon. Maybe I'll play with the Echovox app and see what I can come up with around here. Maybe.

~Jamie~

Since I just committed to another year of this website, I am going to get a lot better at posting blogs and do more than just blogs. I have a couple of ideas running around in my head for topics so stay tuned because something will be done soon. I promise! I know I've said it before but I really mean it this time. No, seriously.

I have a feeling 2015 will be a pretty busy year for OTP. I want to get in some investigations and post what I'm seeing in the paranormal community. If there is something you want seen talked about, feel free to leave a comment. The more feedback, the more I know what you're looking for. 

So for now, I will get back to my day job and let the ideas start rolling around in my head. Look for lots from me this year. Why don't you believe me?! 
~Jamie~

(I love Thor and I love Stitch...don't judge...lol)

With the paranormal "season" among us, I am still somewhat surprised when the subject of ghosts come up. I know that it's become more mainstream thanks to all of the TV shows but I'm still surprised. Last week I couldn't believe how much it actually came up in conversations around the office and not even with the same people. When it does come up, I get almost giddy but at the same time I am still somewhat reserved when I'm talking about this particular subject. I want to feel out the audience before I dive in too far. 

My question this week to you is this, how to handle things when the conversation turns to the paranormal? Do you go in full blast or do you hang back a bit to see where it goes? How to navigate when you are up against a full on skeptic? Thankfully I haven't experienced this just yet. I've gotten the full on believer, somewhat believer and the I believe but I'm scared of ghosts believer. 

That's all the rambling I got for today. I hope everybody had a great weekend and have a great work week! 

~Jamie~ 

Oh my goodness did we have fun! If you've never been, I highly recommend going at least once in your lifetime. Besides this year, I had only gone once before. This year I got to actually take a lot more in. Of course I had all of these paranormal panels on my schedule but managed to go to one. If you followed us on Twitter that weekend, you'll already know it was the Ghost Hunters panel with Grant, Steve and Dave. The only other panel I managed to get to was one of the Warehouse 13 panels. I am actually kicking myself for not standing in line to meet and talk to the cast. I honestly wasn't sure if you were even allowed to without 'buying' a signature so I just walked past and gawked a few times. That Eddie McClintock is sure a handsome fellow in person. Don't worry, Rob agreed. Haha 

I am beyond amazed at people's skills of creating costumes for these kind of events. Leading up to the time we left, the Dragon*Con Facebook page was loaded with pictures of costumes in progress and last minute alteration posts. Now that it's over, those same people are posting that they need to get started for next year. I wish I had just a fraction of that skill and creativity. The mash-ups and re-imagined characters were beyond awesome. Naturally I had my camera but do you think I got a lot of pictures? Of course not. I was too busy just looking at everything. Even in the panels, I only took a few at the beginning and put the camera away. I didn't want to experience everything through the camera. 

Now that we are back home and back to reality, I really want to SERIOUSLY get going on finding an investigation. So back on to the research of local areas I go. I know, I know, I keep saying it but I really mean it this time. Just sitting on the GH panel sparked it again. Time to dust off the green notebook and equipment and see where it leads us this year. 

If you have a suggestion or even interested in joining the team, send us a message. Don't forget to share us on Facebook and Twitter with your friends. 

Have a great week! 

~Jamie~

 So, I can't lie, I'm absolutely stoked about being able to attend Dragon Con this year. I haven't been since 2008 so it's way overdue. What's a Dragon Con you ask? Well, as they describe it, Dragon Con is "the largest multi-media, popular culture convention focusing on science fiction & fantasy, gaming, comics, literature, art, music, and film in the universe!" So basically anything goes. I love the variety of things to do. The people watching is amazing, the panels are a good time (so I've heard since I never made it to one the last time I went) and you never know who you're going to run into. There are celebrities everywhere and sometimes, they will come out and mingle with the rest of us. 

One of my favorite things of the weekend is they offer a Paranormal Track. That means there will be lots of panels geared toward all things paranormal. My schedule is full of them. This year my goal is to at least go to half of the ones on my schedule. I know you can plan for every little thing until you leave but once you get there, you never know what you're REALLY going to do. It's sensory overload...fun overload at least. 

I can't wait to share what I learn in the panels (I SWEAR I'm going to go to them...maybe). I'll be posting all during the con on Twitter so be sure to follow us there. You never know what you'll see. 

~Jamie~ 

I really have no excuse of not posting anything since the middle of last year. None at all so I'm not going to try and make one up. Instead, I will promise that I will come up with some comeback post in the next few days. I just need to figure out exactly what I should write about. So until then, I will do my normal begging of suggestions either for an investigation (yes we still want to do them) or for a topic you'd like to see. 

Jamers out. 

Well, we made it back all safe from the big vacation/belated honeymoon.  I tell you, we didn't want to leave.  Maggie Valley, NC is an amazing place to stay.  I can't tell you how much time we just hung out on the front deck of the condo.  We probably took over 100 pictures of that one view but it was always changing.  Can I go back now?!  Haha

I thought I'd do a short and sweet blog since we are enjoying this super awesome vacation.  I mean, just look at that view!  

Funny enough, I had the passing thought of bringing some of our equipment with us just in case the mood strikes to 'hunt' while we were here.  Before we left, I decided we weren't going to do the ghost walks so I said forget it.  Yeah, we totally should have brought something other than the camera.  I personally haven't felt anything or seen anything but I am not as 'open' to it either.  Not that I don't want to, but I don't have the ability some people do.  I'm jealous of those people sometimes.  Anyways, we get here and almost immediately Rob has seen something in our room as well as the other day has been touched.  Of course I don't have the digital recorder.  Maybe we'll try to use the recorder on our phones just to see what or if we can get anything.

So as a lesson I hope you learn from our silly oops, always bring something with you even if it's just a voice recorder.  You never know what you're going to get booked into.

Have a great rest of the week.  :)

~Jamie~