Life after 50 with a dash of Healthy Adventure

My birthday is in the middle of the week so several of us decided to go to one of my favorite restaurants. We went the the officially declared haunted Catfish Plantation! As always, the food was outstanding and the portions big enough to feed an army.

While we were there and I was being nosy I discovered two events that are planned at the restaurant. The first one is a Ghost Party in September. It will be hosted by Brandy Green, from Ghost Hunters International. Sounds like fun to me.

Who will join Brandy?

Then there is another event scheduled for October. This one is a ghost hunt with the Klinge brothers, Brad and Barry, from Extreme Paranormal. Sounds like a lot of fun to me. It looks like they will be there for two nights so everyone can get a chance at the ghost hunt.

Who wants to meet Brad and Barry?

If you live nearby this is a happening place to go during the week. There are happy hour drink specials Wed and Thurs. Then on Wed night you can get a free appetizer! Just don’t make the mistake I did a few weeks ago and drive over there on a Mon or Tues – they are closed.

I didn’t see or feel any activity on this trip. However, they did say a picture came of the wall in one of the rooms. My friend was hoping for a friendly pat from the friendly male entity. No luck there either.

There is always another time…..

We are a fun, but hard working group of women. CCPRS did not set out to be  an all female group, but that’s were we are now! All I can say is Ghost Adventures – LOOK OUT! We are ready to answer calls and questions from the general public and investigations are at no charge. No problem is too difficult to investigate. CCPRS can also be found on Twitter.

We are here to help

If you know about Voodoo Village, then you must have lived in Memphis, TN. I took a road trip this week with a colleague who used to be a police office for Memphis PD. She asked me if I had ever heard of Voodoo Village and my mouth opened so wide that my bottom lip hit the gas pedal and the car went into G-force mode. I had not heard Voodoo Village mentioned since leaving Memphis in 1973. I grew up in Memphis and not only knew of Voodoo Village, but had visited several times as a teenager because I one of the lucky ones to have a car.

Voodoo Village is a very strange place and there were many tales told in the 1960′s and 70′s about this place. I remember this as being one of those infamous dark roads. It is located at the end of Mary Angela Rd and is now alleged to be haunted. I can’t tell you how many times I was told to “be sure to back down the street to Voodoo Village because you’ll be surrounded and they won’t let you leave.” Well, that was enough of an incentive for me to check it out.

Voodoo Village is a fenced in compound that consisted of very colorful buildings.  The building are unique and have all kinds of odd things nailed into or attached to them. We visited Voodoo Village as teenagers to try and see the people who lived on that road. The people were unique to Memphis and no one could figure out who the were or why they were there.

After I was asked if I know about Voodoo Village and told my colleague “Why yes I know about it,” we became very interested in knowing if it was still there or if anyone else know of the place. Curiosity almost killed me so here I am writing this blog post and looking up Voodoo Village on Internet. Both of us were about ready to change our McAllen, TX road trip into a Memphis, TN road trip so we could try and find Voodoo Village once again.

I remember the thrill and chills we got as teenage daredevils plunging down Mary Angela Rd in drive and not in reverse. We never were surrounded, but I have never seen any place like Voodoo Village. Even then it was a place that made the hairs on the back of my neck stand up. This place has its own “feel” and it’s one that is hard to describe. My colleague talked about seeing old people waling around with goats when she would get a call from the area. She drove in with a patrol car and remembers no one would talk to her. She also got that “creeped out” feeling when she went to Voodoo Village. At the time I heard a lot of stories and of it as a haunted place. It was not a place I went to alone.

Instead I chose to Google it and was surprised to find out there is a lot of Voodoo Village online. I have added some of the links to my post should you decide to look for the information.

HauntedAmericaTours.com calls Voodoo Village “A MYSTERIOUS LITTLE CORNER OF HAUNTED MEMPHIS.” They describe Voodoo Village on their website as, “The hoodoo empire of Walsh Harris’ Voodoo Village, (a fenced compound of brightly colored houses and signs in deep South Memphis) Home to a variety of artistic and intellectual practitioners. ” HauntedAmericaTours.com also says on its website, “It first gained attention in the early 1960’s when conflicts between gangs of white youths and the black residents of Voodoo Village made headlines. Ever since, Voodoo Village has been a site of many teen dares and initiations, and its reputation for weirdness has only grown over the years.”

I don’t remember much about gangs of youths having conflicts there in the 1960′s, which is when I was visiting, but maybe this is why we were told to back in so we could drive out if we were surrounded. I have slept a few nights since then and only remember bits and pieces about the place. Some things you never forget and this place is one of those memories I will never forget. I rarely think about the place, but now I may have to visit it and see if I get the same odd feelings I did as a teenager.

What really got me is that there were several places in Memphis with nuttsy stories that were just too wild to believe – except for Voodoo Village. You can find out more be reading the Voodoo Village information at Urban Legends.

However, the child with the most action and looking directly at the camera – was not there – for the photograph. No one in the family has ever known or seen this child. None of the people present saw the child in the room. I am posting this photograph so that we may get comments from other investigators. I am a professional photographer and have been so since 1973. The photograph did not appear to be tampered with and was developed by a retail store.

I would love to hear your opinion on this photo.

I am looking for plenty of discussion on the photo.

A night in Room 14 can be interesting

Historic and Haunted Jefferson Hotel

I am working to complete my book about hauntings, myths and mysteries around Cedar Creek Lake. If you have any information you would like to pass on please send an email. I can be reached by mail at PO Box 73, Kemp, TX 75143.

I have heard stories about Tool, Eustace, Gun Barrel City, Malakoff and Peeltown along with other places. Surely someone has a story. I can always use more information about things I may have already covered. There are a lot of stories about new hauntings in this area partly because it has been a retirement community for a long time. There are mysterious lights, big foot sightings and so much more……….

Our group of seven women had our first “official” investigation on a Friday night. Our initial location fell through at the last minute, but we were able to make contact with a cemetery association and get permission to investigate. Our policy is to not reveal the name or location of the cemetery to protect it from vandals. The conditions were not ideal for an investigation. However, we needed to have a training session since the majority of members have not done this type of investigation. We were at the cemetery for three hours and I think it went well. A lot was learned that can be applied to the next investigation.

This cemetery has been touted by locals as “haunted” for many years. I have lived in the Cedar Creek Lake area since the mid 80′s and have heard the stories. We did not have any paranormal experiences but did have the chance to use a variety of equipment. Everyone took digital photographs, used video cameras and tried EVP sessions with their digital recorders. Once we were done, each person was responsible for reviewing their own evidence.

It was a busy Friday night on the road to nowhere that continued past the cemetery but no one saw our vehicles as we were able to park out of sight. We were careful to keep flashlights to a minimum when traffic went past. Even the local sheriff’s office was notifed when we arrived and departed should they have received any calls.

We split up in teams of two and then teams of three to do various investigations. Photography was first for the investigation. Then we did the video investigation with EVP sessions at the end. I think this allowed the group to keep lights flashing and flashlights geting in the way to a minimum.

There were a few pictures with odd things like light moving where tree limbs should be or what looked like a face in the middle of one shot. Further review of these pictures revealed nothing paranormal. The light where the tree limb should have been was most likely caused by a moving flashlight. The face was a picture shot without realizing it while the camera was facing the red dirt and a flashlight for lighting. It looked like there were tons of “orbs” in many pictures, but these could have been caused by reflections, bugs, dust, pollen and who knows what else.

Over all it was a good learning experience and we had fun. The investigation and pictures will be discussed at our next meeting along with training on orbs. We can’t wait for our next investigation.