Bliss and Dan

Our flight leaves in three hours! Here's some online Savannah reading material for you while we are on the plane:

• The City Unfiltered's blog: Savannah news and politics
• Connect Savannah: Savannah entertainment
• The Savannah Morning News: Savannah's daily newspaper
• iTour Savannah: Here's how they describe themselves:

  We use mp3 audio technology to produce historic tours of Savannah, Georgia. Once posted to our website, the tours are downloaded to iPods, mp3 players, or cell phones for convenient playback. iTour Savannah combines technology and tourism to create a unique and contemporary way to explore Savannah.

• Flickr: Photos tagged "savannah"
• Blog Savannah: Group blog about Savannah. Has a good list of Savannah blogs. (But, I can't seem to access the site right now.)
• Savannah Weather: 73 degrees on Monday! (62 on Saturday.) Folks flying in from Hawaii bundle up!

See you soon!

Posted by Dan Washburn at 1:34 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Sorry if we didn't. But it is ... or at least that is what everyone says. I was watching TV yesterday (Discovery Travel and Living on our illegal satellite system) and a show called Weird Travels came on. The title of the episode was "Haunted Hotels: Where Darkness Dwells" and the Marshall House was one of the haunted hotels profiled. Several people have reported hearing a woman singing in the hotel — but there is never anyone there. It is thought to be the spirit of Mary L. Marshall, who opened the place in 1851. There have also been sightings of ghosts of soldiers — the Marshall House has doubled as a hospital more than once in its long history.

For more, we turn to Bliss' favorite website* GhostlyTalk.com:

The Marshal House on 123 Broughton Street in Savannah Georgia. A 68-room, haunted bed and breakfast located in the downtown historic district. Absolutely beautiful establishment and charming.

The Marshall House was originally opened in 1851 as the first hotel in Savannah, although it did not remain so. Three times it was turned into a hospital. During the Civil War from 1864-1865, the Union Army occupied the Marshall House using it as a hospital. Twice during the 19th century, it became a hospital to accommodate two yellow fever epidemics. After forty years of lying dormant, the Marshall House reopened as a hotel in 1999.

During the renovation of the hotel in the 60s, bones were found below the flooring. It seems that this is where amputations were discarded and in later years an addition to the building was constructed over the site. During the construction process, a larger room was being divided to make a gift shop. A brick wall was being constructed to accommodate this. However, the project was abandoned after three attempts to construct a brick dividing-wall that collapsed three consecutive times. It was well constructed when workers left in the evening. When they returned in the morning, it had fallen down. There was no apparent cause for this, as it was not a supporting wall. Several workmen did not like the area and refused to work there. Eventually, the whole area was sealed off and has not used to this day.

The hotel is said to be very active with spirits. Guests as well as the staff have reported sighting ghosts in the hallways and in the foyer During GhostStock 2 this past January 27th through 29th, 2006, many attendees who stayed in the hotel reported having their own ghostly experiences. One attendant reported that, while watching TV at approximately 10:00 p.m., water was heard running in the bathroom. He got up to check and found the bathtub water was tuned on. The strange part was that the faucets are designed so that they have to be pushed up to turn them on. There were reports of children running up and down the hall in the wee hours of the morning. When the staff was asked about this, it was reported that there were no children staying in the hotel. Door knobs rattled as if someone was trying to get in. Another person awoke with someone holding his wrist but no one was there. This same experience has been reported, in the past. It was like a nurse taking the pulse of a patient. Loud crashes were heard in the wee hours of the morning in the hallway of the fourth floor. In room 205, someone heard a woman walking as if wearing high-heels in the room above, 305. The people in 305 were not in their room at the time but out on the midnight tour of the cemetery. These are some of the reports from our GhostStock group. The hotel had many other guests who were not with GhostStock…wonder what they experienced.

The staff is said to have a notebook containing many of the experiences of past visitors who have stayed. One such occasion involves the plumbing. For no apparent reason, the toilet began to overflow. The woman and her daughter hurriedly grabbed all the towels to soak up the water and called maintenance. Upon the arrival of maintenance, twovery flustered and bewildered people were found. Apparently, when the mother went back into the bathroom to see if the overflow had stopped, it not only had stopped but the towels and the floor were bone dry.

On the humorous side, is a little story about noisy children. One woman called down to the front desk in the wee hours of the morning. She reported very noisy children running up and down the hallway keeping her awake. She requested the staff come up and stop it. “What kind of parents would let their children behave in such a manner?” The desk clerk replied, “I’m very sorry madam but the parents are dead.” “That’s no excuse. Someone is responsible for them, “ retorted the upset visitor. In reply the clerk quickly added, “You see, we can’t stop them either because the children are dead as well.” There is a chronic problem with children running up and down the halls playing during the wee hours of the morning, noisy people walking through the corridors at night, and crashes and bangs. Hmmm, perhaps the Marshall House should have earplugs in ready issue as you check in!

Bliss' second-favorite website** — GhostHounds.com — has even more:

Built in 1852 The Marshall House is now and originally a hotel, but its also served as a hospital during the civil war and a volunteer fire department in 1867. During its 12 million dollar restoration in 1998, workmen were constructing some structural checks in the crawl space under the building. They continuously bumped into objects they assumed were rocks and tossed them aside. Eventually, they shined there flashlights to discover they were not rocks but, human bones. Specifically arms and legs. During the civil war, when a limb was hit by the heavily damaging bullets the usual recourse was amputation. I assume the usual recourse was also to discard the limbs on site. Sick The ghosts of both children and soldiers have been spotted on the 3rd floor of this hotel and was featured by the Travel Channel show, Haunted Hotels.

The Marshall House doesn't deny any of this — Savannah is supposed to be one of America's most haunted cities, after all. In fact, they even offer a Haunted Hotel Package. But don't be scared:

All ghosts at The Marshall House are friendly. Don't worry...only the nice ones are allowed to visit with guests!

* That is a lie
** Also a lie.

Posted by Dan Washburn at 12:33 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Did you hear we're getting married?

Presumably you have, since you're probably here either because you've been invited to our wedding reception next February, or because you're simply interested in seeing what's going on.

The basics:
When: February 17, 2007, 6:00pm
Where: Savannah, GA

We've selected the Marshall House as our venue because the building is gorgeous. Not only that, the people that run the Marshall House genuinely seem to care, giving the place a uniquely comfortable and friendly feel that we didn't find at any of the other potential venues we toured.

This beautiful hotel also has a lot of history behind it:

In 1851, The Marshall House was built as the first hotel in Savannah. One-hundred-fifty years later, $12 million was invested in its spectacular restoration. The award-winning results are stunning, combining elegance and historical authenticity with a jazzy and upbeat design. There is truly no place in Savannah like it.

It's also located in the best part of town right in the middle of Savannah's beautiful and quirky historic district. The venue is walking distance from the river walk, most of Savannah's best restaurants, the city's famous squares (think Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil), a number of great lodging options, and shopping areas.

We're working on setting aside some hotel rooms in blocks under our name at two locations. The Marshall House offers some of the best you'll find when it comes to character. While prices here aren't exorbitant, all of that character doesn't necessarily come cheaply. We're also looking to set aside some rooms at the Hampton Inn, which is a good budget option located a few blocks from the Marshall House, just across the street from the river. Since the reception is during an off-peak travel period, many hotels will offer discounts in February.

Savannah is a great place to visit, with a wide variety of things to do and see in the city and also in surrounding areas. If some of you are considering making a trip of it, we're planning to be around in Savannah for most of the week leading up to the reception.

Stay tuned--a lot more information to follow to help you plan your trip to Savannah.

Posted by Bliss Khaw at 11:42 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)