I was ready to write about my new book project this week. But as you know by now, I love Halloween! So when a friend suggested we go on a ghost walk in the neighboring town last week, you know I was all in! I’m kicking updates about my new book down the road a couple of weeks so I can spend October blogging about the spookiest time of year.
We started our haunting evening off with a little dinner at the EL Adobe de Capistrano restaurant a legendary eatery you should try if you ever visit the quaint little village of San Juan Capistrano. But we weren’t satisfied to enjoy our dinner at a table on their garden patio. Nope, instead we went underground to eat in the El Carcel room which used to be the local jail back in the 1800’s.
With some of the original iron bars still in place and graffiti of former prisoners etched into the adobe walls, we started off the night with some excellent Mexican cuisine and margaritas. No ghosts were seen during our meal, but it is definitely not a space I where I would like to hang out once the restaurant is closed and the lights are out.
After dinner we on The OC Ghosts and Legends walking tour along the historic Los Rios District. With a light breeze rustling the trees and inky shadows teasing out imaginations we listened to our guides relay tales about the misfortunes and misdeeds of the former residents of a neighborhood that was established in the 1790s. Our guides encouraged us to take photos in groups of three or more to try and capture ghostly images sometimes hard to see with the naked eye. While we didn’t smell the phantom smoke of Tobacco Tom, hear the plaintive cries of La Llorona or see the friendly shadow of the ghostly Vaquero tipping his hat, we did jump at shadows and pause listen for whispers from beyond as we looked down the darkened road for signs of spectral mists.
When a friend and I peeked into the cracks in the weathered wooden door of the boarded up Montanez adobe where a ghostly form is rumored to wander, we could have sworn that we saw the shadow of someone walking inside. Was it just our overactive imaginations? Or was it Señora Montanez, town midwife and caretaker of the local children? Who can say…
Here are some of the photos I took that night…I’ll let you decide what you see.
Here are the first set of photos – notice the dark window on the right side of the front door:
How About Now?
Here’s another house. Look In the big window on the right side of the house :
What do you see now?
Are these specters or shadows coupled with an active imagination. All I know is that I had a great time hunting for ghosts last week.
Have you seen a ghost? If so, drop me a note and tell me about it.
I highly recommend the OC Ghosts and Legends tour if you want to go ghost hunting for yourself. Report back if you see anything.
Happy Ghost Hunting!👻