HPI Chronicles: The Haunted Activities of the Holbrooke Hotel & The Owl Tavern Part 3

by Paul Dale Roberts
(Elk Grove, CA USA)

Nancy Towne, Sparky Parker, Sean (manager of Holbrooke) and Angel Kesti

The bar of this hotel was so popular during Prohibition Days, it actually remained open. Sean gives me a history lesson about a small town up the road called 'Rough N' Ready', named after Teddy Roosevelt. Rough N' Ready had some political problems during Prohibition and established itself as it's own country for a period of one month.

While my investigators were wandering all over the hotel trying to pick up EVPs and get some photographic evidence, they came to the pantry and a cord hanging from the wall started moving back and forth on it's own. The back part of the hotel is called the Purcell House and you must walk through the garden to reach this section of the hotel. The Purcell House has rooms that are named after famous mines, like Sixteen to One, Dutch Flat, Pennsylvania, El Dorado and Del Oro. As I wander around to various rooms, I started thinking how it would be like to stay overnight on a weekend and listen to the live bands that appear in their bar area. I can just imagine the fun evening festivities!

As we closed up this investigation, I had some hungry investigators, so we dined at the Holbrooke Hotel Restaurant. A restaurant that will tease and tantalize your tastebuds with delicacies such as: Prawn Cocktail, Grilled Filet Mignon, Porter Braised Pot Roast, Rigatoni, Seafood Cioppino, Pan Seared Salmon, Pan Seared Halibut, Grilled Swordfish, Steamed Clams, Fried Calamari, Seared Ahi, Roasted Crab Stuffed Mushrooms, Seafood Cioppino, New York Steak and a whole lot more!!! Okay, looking at the menu, I was starving. Then I saw the waiter Joshua Michael Turzak bring out a homemade BLT sandwich with french fries. The crispy bacon smelled great, this is what I wanted to be chased down with some coffee and a Coke. My investigators all ordered tantalizing meals and we ate vigorously, but yet savoring every scrumptious morsel of our lunch. We were already to pay the bill only to learn from our courteous waiter Joshua that it was on the house. Sean took care of our lunch! Wow! What a guy! I would say that Sean is one of the greatest hotel managers West of the Mississippi! Thank you Sean! Joshua was so helpful and polite, I made sure he received a nice tip from all of us! Before we left the restaurant, Sean explains that he has never witnessed anything, but that the children who visit this hotel have seen a little girl phantom and will run to their parents exclaiming they have just seen a ghost!

As we were leaving this historical hotel, I can understand why patrons keep coming back, because of the Old West ambiance, the great hospitality, the friendliness of the hotel staff, the great social atmosphere and the feeling of being home, but yet away from home. What a wonderful place! Yes! I will be back!

As we were walking down the street, it was now time to visit The Owl Tavern, another old west establishment and I met the colorful assistant manager Gary L. McDonough aka Grey Dog! His laughter was contagious and he was delighted to show me around his haunted bar. He has been working here for 6 and 1/2 years. He tells me about George the Ghost. How funny, there is Edgar the Ghost at the Holbrooke Hotel and at The Owl Tavern there is George the Ghost. I only wonder if Edgar and George knew each other when they were both living? In 1847 this bar opened for the goldminers. It was open 24/7. In the back area is where the goldminers played poker. George one day was caught cheating at poker and somebody shot poor ol' George down. George never left this bar and still haunts this bar. Booth #7 is George's booth. I met with two employees Trevor Nuttall - Shus Chef and he tells me how he has heard the bar doors swing back and forth in a constant pattern, or how one day a bowl flew off the shelf and jetted into the next room. When the bowl flew off, he said to himself..."I'm out of here!" and left for the night. Bobby McKnight, Chef/Owner has seen with his peripheal vision shadows moving about. His uncle co-owner Michael McKnight has also heard the bar doors swing back and forth on their own accord. One night Mike was tapping his fingers on each table and behind him, he heard the finger tapping of an unseen entity which gave him the willies.

The bar is very elegant. The bar was built from Austrian cherrywood from the 1800s. This cherrywood traveled around Cape Horn to get here. There are pressed decorated tin walls around the bar area. The old time menu shows lobster tails for 99 cents, minced ham/Spanish omelette for 50 cents, pie ala mode 15 cents, tenderloin steak for a whopping $1.75. He also showed me the notorious ladie's entrance, where ladies would sneak in to visit the gentlemen of the bar. This bar is located at 134 Mill Street, just a block and a half away from the Holbrooke Hotel!

To see pictures of the Holbrooke Hotel and The Owl Tavern, click on the HPI Meetup link here:
http://ghosts.meetup.com/231/photos/

While in Grass Valley, my ghosthunting never ends, I received a call from New York from Alexis Farmer aka Allie in New York. She lives in an apartment that is 107 years old. She believes while visiting her mother that owns a home on sacred burial ground, that an entity has followed her to her apartment. She has seen red eyes in the dark. She has scratches on her chest when she awakens in the morning. People that visit her apartment, feel angry when they enter one of the rooms of her apartment. She feels that the entity that is inhabiting her apartment targets only women. She has placed holy water in each room, she has personally blessed this home, she has said prayers and nothing is working. She has placed crosses strategically around the house and later has found the crosses turned upside down. She tells me that she believes in God, but she is a Wiccan. She has witnessed an apparition of an old man in old fashioned clothes and when he appeared, she felt negative energy. One night, she heard a loud boom and something was thrown at her. Then later she heard a strange growling. She admits to once conducting a seance with friends and that all the candles went out on their own. Shannon and I, will be working on this case together to assist Alexis on this haunting activity in some apartment located in New York. It is time to put our Demonologist skills to some good use! Stay tuned.

Oh, one more thing, before I let you go. Shannon McCabe and I, went to Napa to listen to a boring 90 minute time share seminar, only to receive later after saying...no - 100 times over...ahh..what part of 'no' don't you understand? Well, you get the picture...we finally got our gift, 2 airlines tickets to New Orleans for October and 2 nights at a 5 star hotel in Cabo San Lucas, Mexico, again for October. Yep! Shan and I will be ghosthunting in New Orleans and Cabo San Lucas, Mexico! Rock & Roll!
To learn more about the Holbrooke Hotel, please visit their website at:
http://www.holbrooke.com/

FINDINGS OF THE HOLBROOKE HOTEL AND THE OWL SALOON:
Some photographs taken of various areas of the hotel and the saloon show orb activity.
Nancy has an unusual photograph taken at the hotel, that shows a strange figure in the reflection of the mirror. This photograph needs to be analyzed further to determine, to see if it is substantial.
EVP evidence is pending.

Paul Dale Roberts, HPI Ghostwriter, Ghosthunter
WPRT Paranormal Radio - Content Editor
Email: JazmaPika@cs.com
http://www.HPIparanormal.net
http://www.ghost-mysteries.com
www.jazmaonline.com
http://www.ghostsandstories.com/paul.html
http://true-ghost-story.com/
http://www.trueghosttales.com/stories/
Paranormal Cellular Hotline: 916 203 7503 (for comments on this story).

Be on the lookout for the: HPI NORTHERN CA PARANORMAL CONFERENCE
http://www.HPIparanormal.net at the Brookdale Lodge May 16-18th, 2008

If you have a possible investigation call: 1-888-709-4HPI

Copyright © 2008 Paul Dale Roberts, HPI Ghostwriter Copyright © 2008
all rights reserved.