Exploration #23 from the book, How To Be An Explorer Of The World: Portable
Exploration #23
HOW TO UNCOVER A MYSTERY
1. Let the mystery find you-something that piques your interest and unleashes your rabid curiosity.
2. Research. This could be conducted through a variety of venues (library, internet, dictionary, interviews, etc.). Dig up as much info as you can on the subject/event. Collect clues.
3. Follow all "leads" (pieces of info that cause you to head in new directions). Contact people involved.
4. Get involved directly with the thing you are researching (for example, take a class, write experts, etc.)
5. Conduct a re-creation (of an object or event). Use maps, dioramas, photos, diagrams, etc. Look at the situation from different angles.
So, my assignment is to uncover a mystery. I have been thinking about it for days and think I have finally settled on one. The first step in this task was to let the mystery find you, and thinking back over the last few weeks, I was actually presented a pretty awesome mystery to investigate! If you recall in my December 30th post, Sleeping With Ghosts At Crescent Hotel, I mentioned a ghostly encounter I had one night when I woke to use the bathroom during our stay at the 1886 Crescent Hotel in Eureka Springs, Arkansas. That night after I had been in bed for some time, I woke to go pee. As soon as I entered the bathroom I smelled cigar smoke. Anyone who has been near cigar smoke knows it has a very distinct smell, even different from cigarettes. I had a distinct feeling that what I was smelling was somehow related to a ghost. Today I plan to uncover the mystery and will log my findings below.
 |
| 1886 Crescent Hotel |
I found the following paragraph in an article by Tom Uhlenbrock. I did a general search for cigar smoking ghost at the hotel.
"Fugate and Heath came to the Crescent from San Francisco in 1995, and bought a Victorian home near the hotel that once was owned by Dr. C.F. Ellis, who was the staff physician when the Crescent opened. When they got the contract to do the ghost tours, they wanted to open a headquarters in a hotel room that formerly was the doctor's office. When negotiations with the hotel bogged down, they sought help -- from Dr. Ellis, who they said is the cigar-smoking ghost in the stovepipe hat ."
A cigar smoking ghost named Dr. Ellis? What else can I find out about this man?
In another article I read that Dr. John Freemont Ellis is sometimes seen on the staircase from the second floor to the lobby. That article also mentioned that people smell his cigar smoke near the elevator.
We stayed in room 425 so I thought I would see what I could dig up about that room. Here is an interesting fact that came up in my search around the number 425.
- An estimated 425 people died at The Crescent between 1938-1940 when the hotel was owned by Dr. Baker and was a cancer hospital.
Not much came up about room 425 but I read that room 419 is one of the most haunted in the hotel. 419 was on the opposite end of the hall and on the same side of the hall as us.
Smelling the cigar smoke is just one of three encounters that I have had at the hotel. I was more pleased than surprised to find out about Dr. Ellis. I also read about the public bathroom near the lobby being a hot spot for activity in the hotel. In February of 2013 I had my first encounter with one of the Crescent ghosts in that bathroom. I'm glad that I had these encounters with no previous knowledge about the hotel and its history. It lends to the credibility of these ghosts.
Although my research brought up many more ghost stories, what you have here is about all I could uncover concerning a ghost who smokes cigars at The Crescent. I feel like, for me at least, that the mystery is solved. I have little doubt that Dr. Ellis was roaming the hotel on the night I smelled the tobacco.
We stayed in room 425 so I thought I would see what I could dig up about that room. Here is an interesting fact that came up in my search around the number 425.
- An estimated 425 people died at The Crescent between 1938-1940 when the hotel was owned by Dr. Baker and was a cancer hospital.
Not much came up about room 425 but I read that room 419 is one of the most haunted in the hotel. 419 was on the opposite end of the hall and on the same side of the hall as us.
Smelling the cigar smoke is just one of three encounters that I have had at the hotel. I was more pleased than surprised to find out about Dr. Ellis. I also read about the public bathroom near the lobby being a hot spot for activity in the hotel. In February of 2013 I had my first encounter with one of the Crescent ghosts in that bathroom. I'm glad that I had these encounters with no previous knowledge about the hotel and its history. It lends to the credibility of these ghosts.
Although my research brought up many more ghost stories, what you have here is about all I could uncover concerning a ghost who smokes cigars at The Crescent. I feel like, for me at least, that the mystery is solved. I have little doubt that Dr. Ellis was roaming the hotel on the night I smelled the tobacco.
~ Love & Light ~
No comments:
Post a Comment