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~
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~
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