Monday, July 24, 2006
our haunted anniversary
I know that I might be setting myself up for ridicule here, but I seriously think that I just saw a ghost. (Paul, perhaps you should skip this one.)

Nathan and I went to the city to celebrate our anniversary weekend - Saturday we booked a night at the Marriott inside The Renaissance Center, enjoyed a lovely dinner at The Whitney, and spent Sunday wandering around Mexicantown. I sat down just now to write a post highlighting the weekend but decided to scrap that plan after uploading our pictures onto the computer.

First, let me just say that I am not someone who is ghost-crazed. I have caught an episode or two of Ghosthunters and have been known to watch my fair share of ghost sighting documentaries, but I'm usually the person who thinks that what the people on those shows think they see or hear is suspect. In other words, I'm not looking for ghosts but I'm also not so skeptical as to dismiss the possibility entirely. Furthermore, I had no idea that The Whitney has a reputation for being haunted. The restaurant was originally a mansion built in the late 19th century by David Whitney, Jr, a very wealthy lumber baron. The three-story mansion is absolutely gorgeous, so it' s the perfect place for its current purpose as an upscale restaurant. Since it was our first time there and we're too poor to return anytime soon, we felt compelled to take plenty of pictures of the grandeur inside. After dinner on the first floor Nathan and I wandered up to the mostly deserted second floor to take some pictures. Having no previous knowledge of the paranormal activity that have supposedly happened inside the mansion (table settings moving, doors opening and closing on their own, disembodied voices, the elevator being operated when there is no one there, that sort of thing), we were neither looking nor expecting to see or hear anything paranormal and nothing odd appeared on our pictures while looking at them through the tiny viewfinder of our digital camera.

After uploading the pictures on my computer today and seeing them enlarged I noticed that there appears to be orbs in two of the photographs.

Picture #1: Main Stairway Looking up to the 2nd Floor:

I see one orb in this picture. It appears to be floating at the top of the handrail on the right-hand side. To me, it looks to be emitting light rather than a transparent, reflection of light.

Picture #2: The 2nd Floor Main Room

I see at least four orbs of various sizes throughout this picture. They are more muted than the orb in the first photograph.

So maybe it's not a full-fledged human-like form, but orbs are considered a form of paranormal activity nonetheless. Honestly, I'm not sure how I feel about these pictures. Perhaps it's nothing, but my camera has never taken pictures like this before and the fact that there are two pictures with the same phenomena taken in the same part of the house is enough to make me wonder.

So, what do you think: Paranormal or Fluke?


3 Comments:

Blogger Carrie said...

According to Paul, those are just dust. "You wouldn't see that many orbs at one time". However, keep in mind that when I said, "Hey, Maggie saw ghosts at the Whitney", he responded "Whatever" in a very don't f***k with me tone. So maybe he's just trying to convince himself that. Last time we were there, let's just say that Paul steered clear of both the elevator and the grandfather clock. He was aware of what he was getting into.

Potential ghosts are intersting and all, but I want to know the really important stuff - what'd you eat???

Blogger Mrs. White said...

I'm inclined to think that it's just dust too, but we took a bunch of pictures, other pictures in that room too, and the lights only appeared in those two photographs. I don't know. As Fox Mulder said, "I want to believe."

As for food, I had the crab and lobster bisque, swordfish with a mascarpone risotto, creme brule and a $10 glass of wine. Nathan had the best calamari that either one of us had ever tasted, steak and a twice baked potato. The meal was excellent, but I must admit that I still don't understand what the big deal is about black truffles.

Anonymous Anonymous said...

I live near the Whitney Mansion and i beleve i may have seen David Whitney's wife (i think her name was Flora) looking down from what was once an upstairs window. The resturant was closed at the time but the employees were still their. it wasn't until i had sunday brunch their that i realised what i saw especally after i saw her portrait in the house that i realised what i saw. FYI: The sunday brunch was great. if you get a chance to eat their you should try their pancakes YUM!!

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