Being an innkeeper is not without its challenges. Or its rewards. And sometimes its not without its surprises. I have to admit, not much surprises me these days. I’m a true skeptic, believing nothing I hear and only half of what I see. It’s hard to impress me. It’s hard to scare me. It’s hard to surprise me. It’s hard to convince me. But sometimes . . . .
April 30th was one of those days that surprised me. Stumped me. Baffled me. Something happened that I cannot explain. I have theories, but nothing I can prove.
It all started around 10:30 a.m. Breakfast was over. I’d pretty much finished washing the dishes and cleaning up the kitchen. There were a few guests straggling to make their departure so I was lingering around downstairs to say good-bye and wish them well on their way. I happened to be in the ballroom when one of our guests came in from the back door. At the same time my doorbell rang. My doorbell hasn’t been working for quite some time, so I thought maybe it was my guest’s cell phone. He did not reach for his phone.
I asked him if he heard the doorbell ring. He said yes. Because the doorbell doesn’t work, I asked him if he pushed the button on the back door. (There is another doorbell on the back porch next to our bedroom door. It also doesn’t work. I’m not sure why the previous owner had it installed there, but I thought perhaps he’d pushed that button just for fun. Sometimes people do that.) He said he had not.
So, I opened the front door. Nobody was there. No cars were parked on the street or driving away. No person was walking on the sidewalk in either direction. There were no packages in the vestibule and no mail in the mailbox. Weird. Who rang the bell?
I went back inside and looked at my guest and shrugged. He thought it was odd that there was nobody there, but we just laughed and chalked it up to the friendly ghost. All fun and games.
About an hour later, when all the guests had left and I was going upstairs to get started cleaning, I noticed the guest book laying open on the reception table. (I always get excited when my guests sign the guest book.) I read the short missive, dated April 30th, and smiled. Then I read the names – Hoit and Lucinda, last name started with a B. I didn’t recognize them. I pinched my lips together and pondered for a few minutes, mentally going down the list of names I could remember of people who I’d just served breakfast to. Nope, no Hoit or Lucinda. I’m almost positive.
Curious, I checked my reservation software and scrolled down the list of guests registered the night before. Tim and Stacy I, Zelma and Kevin N, Michael and Anita N, Randy and Kathy P, Victoria and Matthew M, and John and Barbara M. No Hoit. No Lucinda. Nobody with a last name starting with a B. Hmmm. How strange.
I read the book again.
So, either somebody used a fake name when they checked in, (but if they did, they had a credit card that matched their reservation name, I always check that) or, for some unknown reason, somebody signed a fake name in the guest book. Or, Hoit and Lucinda B did stay – somewhere – and eat food, off of someone else’s plate apparently because I never saw a Hoit or a Lucinda.
Creepy? Yes. Cool? Yes. Odd? Yes. At least they had an enjoyable experience, wherever they slept. And they enjoyed the food that I never served them. And, if one of my guests decided to mess with me, why those names? It’s baffling that’s for sure.
What do y’all think? Ghosts? Witness protection? Guests playing pranks? I’d love to hear your thoughts.
Word of the Day: Janthina
Fun fact about me: I make a real concentrated effort to remember my guests names when they check in.
Original post by Jansen Schmidt, April 2021. Images by P. Rickrode, Pexels and giphy.com
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Patrica – my hat is off to you. Guests come in all flavors don’t they! keep your head up and keep smiling. Peace.
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I’m still baffled but it makes for a good story right? And, at least they had a good time. I can see leaving a fake name on a bad review, but it’s really odd on a good one.
Thanks for stopping by. I hope you have an amazing last few weeks of school.
Patricia
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Did you by any chance tell your guests about the doorbell not working? I really think one of your guests is a practical joker. There are doorbell ringtones on cellphones. Then they signed with fake names. Try matching the note with their sign-in signatures. Your friend, Sherlock.
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You might be on to something. I’ll sniff the book and see if I can detect an odor that might point me in the right direction. One of my guests was smoking pot last week so maybe it was him. I found the remnants of his joint in the ashtray – under a chair – on my upper balcony in the front of the house. That was also interesting.
Good times here at the inn!
Thanks for visiting today.
Patricia
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I think you already know my vote – ghosts! Those old fashioned names, Lucinda and Hoit, surely belong to spirits of former guests from ye old days of yore. And a non-working doorbell suddenly working? At least you weren’t the only one who heard it, so you know it wasn’t a hallucination. I love spooky happenings like this that can’t be fully explained away. Thanks for sharing, and I hope more mysterious guests continue to visit!
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The following day – I swear I heard someone knocking on the front door. My husband did not hear it. I looked anyway – just in case. Maybe someone’s trying to tell me something but I have no idea what. Is someone trying to gain entry to my house? If it’s a spirit (Hoit and Lucinda) why not just come on in? Why wait for me to open the door?
Oh wait – maybe when I opened the door – Hoit and Lucinda DID come in. Hmmmm.
I’m not ruling out ghosts.
Thanks for sharing. I love how different minds work. Yours is the unique writer’s one so that’s always very creative. Have a great day!
Patricia
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So random! But it was April 30; Beltane! The veil between the 2 realms is thinnest on April 30 and Oct 31.
The doorbell has my vote for ghosts.
The guestbook entry is really odd though.
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You see – that’s the explanation right there! Beltane. At least I’m not the only one who heard the doorbell. That makes it even more real to me.
I’m stumped about the guest book as well. Undoubtedly some guest playing tricks on me, but I wish I knew who. Makes for a good story though right?
Thanks for stopping by and sharing. Have a wonderful rest of the week.
Patricia
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