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*gasp* oh it looks so beautiful! did you know about the ghostly activities before you went? I was afraid my fiancee' would think I was insane when I said I wanted to go to California on our honeymoon and take the Winchester mansion tour.. *heh* nice to know I am not alone in the fascination.

I knew a bit about the basic history of the place from what I'd read online, but figured I'd get the details filled in on the trip. Susan wanted to take the Ghosts walking tour, having read about it before we went down there, and we had no idea the last story would be about the place we were staying. Our guide, Charlie Jackson, is a born and bred Charlestonian, with an amazing amount of knowledge of the city, and he did a great job with the storytelling. But the sights on the walk, especially on the campus of the College of Charleston, were worth the price of admission. Being both a history nut and a lover of beautiful and old things, I was in heaven most of the trip. More on that over the next few days.

that's great! it makes me want to visit! I am adding that on my 'to-do' list! I look forward to the posts :)

During WWII, my family lived in the Old Citadel, in an apartment on the 2nd floor. I was 12 at the time. I am looking for any information about the Old Citadel and the Francis Marion Square and the old Navy degaussing station located in the Cooper River under the Cooper River Bridge. And the Fort Moutrie and Charleston Officers' Clubs. And the Navy Base. I have some old pictures (not many) but would love to know more about it as it was then and as it is now. Thank you, whoever helps. Nancy Kern

I live in Charleston and have for the whole 20 years of life. I recently started working at a Law Firm Downtown, on Broad Street. My office building is haunted and i have seen the ghost (Edgar) two times. This building was built in 1783 by a man named Edgar Wells. It is a three story building with many remaining elements of its Pre-Civil War facade. It was originally a Taylor Shop. Often times you will smell the scent of a cigar burning different places in the office (let me add that its a non-smoking building) much less no one smokes. One day I was standing by my desk when i saw a "white light", very blurred walk out if my Boss' office and into the storage area. I stood there for a minute in shock, looked at my employee and asked "what was that?" They all jumped up wondering if it was ... yes a ghost. Sure enough it had to have been a ghost. I had never seen a "real" ghost before it was quite scary but yet very very amazing. I am on the third floor all by myself close to a conference room piled with files. I walked into there looking for something and approched a man sitting in a chair with hs legs crossed. I knew this time it was the same ghost i had saw a couple of weeks ago. He was very well defined this time. Shy, and also scared, he vanished within seconds just like that! I get picked on at work all the time for being a young attractive woman. All my co-workers say he is trying to tell me something or I remind him of someone because he only comes around when I'm there. If that is true I truly think I would wait to see what he wants. Pretty scary but very very Cool.

I work at Embassy Suites in the maintenance department and I can tell you that "Half Head" is as prominent now as in the past. He regularly shows up in our housekeeping areas and service elevator and sometimes rattles our supply lockers on the 4th floor (housekeeping area). He was reported as recent as this letter (Aug 29th) as being in (or on) a bed as a woman slept. She was awakened by an eery feeling that someone was in the room and asked if anyone was there. The reply was, as stated by the lady, that his name was George. She then asked "George" what he wanted and he replied that he was looking for his pocket knife which he had lost. As she reached around to -touch -George, she found that his head "was not all there" as she stated later upon having her room changed to another part of the hotel. Amazingly enough, we do have an old pocket knife in our hotel lobby display cabinet that was excavated from this site along with many other artifacts of Civil War and Colonial origin. I think it only fair to say, that we probably can't blame "half head" for everything we witness here because I'm sure that there are probably more than one ghost (spirit if you will) hanging around. Many guests and workers through the years have witnessed men in full Confederate uniforms around the atrium fountain at the wee hours of the morning, not thinking much of it at the time... until they ask the next morning about having the Confederate recreators in the hotel...and finding out that we didn't have any staying with us at that particular time...Honest! Pat

My sister and I visited the Embassy Suites for three nights in late August 2003. The only thing I knew about the hotel was that it was very old and I knew we would enjoy the history of it. On the first night I awoke very abruptly because I felt as if pressure was being put on my neck. In the morning I asked my sister if she had noticed anything unusual. She told me someone had tried to get into bed with her. She was paralyzed by his hold, but he leaned over her shoulder so she could see him. She did notice half the head and sandy blond hair. He said "I'm not so pretty". He told her his name which she could not remember when she awoke and told her to tell them he was looking for his pocketknife. We laughed about it that day but my sister was very nervous. The next night as she slept on her stomach she felt as if someone had laid on top of her and grabbed her hard. She told him he was hurting her and he relaxed his grip. When he left she peacefully fell asleep was was feeling like she lost her mind the next day. She asked me to trade beds with her, but finally I told her he had put hands around my throat and obviously liked her better. That evening I went to the front desk and told them I was settling my bill early because we had met their ghost and if he turned up again we would be leaving in the middle of the night. When we arrived upstairs the Manager of Housekeeping came up and asked to talk with us. She confirmed that this was their ghost and that the hotel does not want their employees to talk about it to guests. She said she had things thrown at her and cupboards opening and closing - carts wheeling across the room by themselves and reinactments going on in the mainhall of ghosts from the Citadel. She stressed that the ghost was harmless and most people just let him sleep with them. My sister was upset. I offered to stay awake and keep watch and sleep in the car on the way home. I was up until nearly 2 with the tv on but finally I gave up and shut it off. There was a certain noise before he showed up which was like a crack. When I shut the tv off the crack came and my sister was awake immediately - she turned back on the tv and began silently praying while I turned over and went to sleep. I was awakened by someone grabbing me from behind in a tight bearhug - so tight I could hardly breathe and I said your freightening me - he relaxed his grip but did not let go - instead he leaned around so I could see his face - or half of it. There was more to it and it seemed like he had taken me to a huge hall with a black box, but I shook myself awake - I felt as if I had been drugged and told my sister that he had just visited. We left the next day and now we very much do believe in ghosts. They should give him back the damn penknife!!!