Ghost Story: Everybody Has One

Ghost stories and paranormal phenomenon may not be your cup of tea, but almost everyone has a ghostly tale or two to tell. I would like to share just some of the unexplained accounts that happened to me while cleaning a local restaurant each week. Whether or not you put any faith in things of a paranormal nature, at the least, you will find these incidents entertaining.

Haunted Restaurant - Early Tannery

I own and run a seasonal business and have for many years. I have a couple months off in winter, but before my business was holding its own, I worked odd jobs during that down time. One of those jobs was cleaning a highly popular country restaurant two days a week. My friends sold the building and the restaurant a few years ago.

My daughter was a server at the restaurant, throughout her high school and college years and despised going into the upstairs of the building by herself. She always felt like someone was there with her. Everyone that worked there had a story to tell about something; not bone chilling, but odd.

I had been going to the restaurant for years and attended many events and family gatherings there as well. I was familiar with and comfortable in the place and well aware of the strange goings on there, which did not bother me...until I started cleaning, and left alone to fend for myself.

The aged building was a tannery during the town's earliest years. It has two floors and a typical dark, dank basement. Built precariously on the steep bank of a river; it is high enough up, though, that rising water is not an issue. The restaurant is on the ground floor and the upstairs when I cleaned there, was utilized for large parties and such.

The first early morning I went to clean the restaurant proved uneventful. It was a little strange entering the place in the dark and I was slightly nervous being alone there, but I had a lot to accomplish and was preoccupied with the task, so I focused on my job.

The owners instructed me to lock the front door once I was in, so people did not think the restaurant was open. They also said to keep the lights off in the front while I was cleaning the kitchen and the upstairs, also to deter people from thinking it was open.

The only thing I noticed that first day was the edgy feeling I had when it was time to go upstairs, which is where the bathrooms were located. I chalked it up, though, to thinking about my daughter's uneasiness of going upstairs alone.

The third time I went was not so calm, however. I always cleaned the kitchen first because that was the most difficult part of the job. After sweeping, I was scrubbing the floor and was completely startled when the microwave began to ding as it does when something is finished cooking. There was nothing in the microwave, though.

I glanced that way, but continued washing the floor. Within seconds, the microwave came on and the cooking plate inside was turning. I did not like that at all and hoped it was a malfunction. Just as I whipped the door open on the microwave to stop the "on" action, the other microwave at the end of the counter started to ding. I unplugged them both that day, but this happened all the time.

Another morning I was cleaning the kitchen and dealing with a terrible cold. I needed some tissue. I headed through the swinging door to the restaurant and was shocked all the lights were on. There is absolutely no doubt in my mind I did not put the lights on when I came in...I never did; so I shut them off and definitely felt uncomfortable standing there with just the early morning dim light from the two front windows.

Back to the kitchen I went, determined not to make a huge deal out of the lights being on. In my little panic, I forgot to retrieve the tissues from my coat pocket out there, so I pushed through the swinging door again. As I did, I jumped a foot in the air and let out a whooping gasp when I saw a man sitting at the counter looking at me...in a restaurant without lights on.

He jumped, too! Nervously, I asked him how he got in and he said, "I walked in the door." I said he could not have because I always lock the door behind me when I come to clean and tossed in that "we" are not open until 11 o'clock. He apologized and headed out the door, which was indeed unlocked despite the fact I knew I locked it when I got there earlier.

Once my broom moved mysteriously from one part of the kitchen to the other and I had to search for it. I know what you are thinking...she is loopy! I also clearly heard footsteps walking briskly down the long hall while cleaning the upstairs bathroom one day, but I was alone in the building. Trust me when I say I am not senseless. I like to think I am an intelligent person and I, too, have no explanation for these irrational incidents.

My daughter worked at this restaurant for many years and knew tons of regular customers. One day, a woman who dined there every single weekend, introduced my daughter to her guest who was visiting from out of town and said the guest had something to tell her.

The other woman asked my daughter if she was aware that there was a definite energy upstairs near the bathrooms. My daughter said yes, they all had experienced it. The woman went on to say, she did not think it was negative in any way, it was just there hanging out.

The owners did do some research on the old building, but did not turn up anything earth shattering in the process. A couple of old timers from town, however, said a young man died in front of the building many years ago.

They claim he left a Halloween party drunk and stepped out in front of a car. The old timers further claim the party took place in the upstairs of the building. No one can substantiate that story to date. Is it the young man's spirit haunting the restaurant where he partied last? I have no idea, but it does make for a good ghost story!