Let me tell you about some of them.
We had just purchased our house. We knew that it was listed on the National Historic Register as privately owned. I'm not sure why the general public thinks that if a property is on that list, it must be open to public visits. We had also already placed a security camera on the property. Every time we'd come up to check on the place, do some work, some cleaning, etc., we would check the camera history. And nearly every time there'd be something interesting to see.
Now the layout of our property consists of 2 structures with a small grassy alleyway between leading from one side of the yard to the other toward the lake parallel to the highway. We had posted "No Trespassing", "Private Property" and "Private Driveway" signs in the opposite direction at the front and back because the house sat empty for about 10 years.
Where did they come from?
One time we watched a golf cart appear from through the little area in between the house and garage, cut across the driveway and the rest of the yard to park at the gazebo. They stayed a little while fishing at the lake and then followed the same route back out. We just watched and shook our heads and double checked that our signs were still in place and that the gate at the back of the driveway was secured closed. They must've come in off the highway. That's our best guess.
The cutest was when we saw a small group of elderly ladies just appear walking from the area between the house and garage, dressed to the nines like they just came from a Sunday at a southern church. They were carrying picnic baskets and proceeded to walk their way to the gazebo to sit and have a lovely afternoon lunch by the lake. When finished, packed up and walked between the two buildings again and were gone. We had a little laugh and secretly hoped they had a wonderful time. But again, did they walk up this dangerous highway? Rarely is anyone driving less than 60mph. We don't have a neighbor in that direction. Just some more woods and a side street. It was probably about this time we added a camera facing this direction as well. We were curious!
Time to go.
The ballsiest was a group of 3 gentlemen who didn't speak very good English except one.
My brother-in-law had come to fish, and I was here cleaning. He drives a pickup truck. I drive an SUV. Both of our large vehicles were parked side by side in front of my garage so I couldn't see the little hatchback parked at the end hidden from view. My brother had gone out in one of the boats. I happened to look out of the kitchen window and see a stranger. I knew he hadn't brought anyone with him, and he wasn't expecting anyone else either. So, I grabbed my phone, ready to dial for help if needed, and went out to see what he wanted. As I was approaching, 2 others came out from the trees at the edge of the lake and I halted my steps more than several feet away. Where did they all come from? I hadn't seen their car and my initial thought was that three brazen men walked down a very dangerous highway past my various signs essentially saying "Keep Out" and just didn't care. "Can I help you?", I ask. The man that spoke English replied "Oh, we were just here to see if you rent kayaks for fishing. It's such a beautiful place, like a park or something." I pointed to the sign directly next to his head posted to a tree:
To be sure they understood I reiterated "No, this is private property, we don't rent anything." at which point I thought they'd say their goodbyes and walk toward the road to leave. Instead, they walked towards the gazebo and tried to sit down! This makes me nervous, and I repeat, louder this time, "This is private property. We don't rent anything here." Two of them kept speaking to each other in their shared language and the other kept trying to convince me that I should rent this equipment. I politely asked them to leave the property. He wouldn't listen and they weren't budging. This non-welcomed conversation lasted approximately 10 minutes. It was distressing and without any courtesy whatsoever told them to go. When they began walking toward the garage, there was a moment of alarm where I thought are they going to try entering the house? until I saw they had parked there. I stood in disbelief. Who doesn't leave when asked to leave?? They left peacefully enough, just not quickly enough. I decided right then I would start bringing my English Mastiff with me if I ever had to investigate on my property again.
Are you with the bride or groom?
I don't know what I'd call this one, probably just a misunderstanding.
As I've mentioned in previous posts, we have had many adventures here. One such was a wedding. We were only acquainted with some of the guests, not all. And the place was still pretty new, everyone was curious. We were walking people through the house giving tours so to speak. I was just finishing one up and my husband smiles and asks if I would walk these newcomers through the tour. I oblige and I'm giving the history of the place and pointing out all the original parts that remain and answering their questions about our plans for the future. We probably spent a good 20-30 minutes doing this and finally make it back to the front patio where all the other guests are milling around waiting for the ceremony. My husband joins me as I'm asking them which side of the family they're here to witness. To which they reply "Oh, we're not here for the wedding." Naturally it takes both of us a beat. We look at each other puzzled. I say, "I'm sorry?" "No, we're not here for the wedding. We thought you were hosting an open house for tours. We've driven by for years always wondering what the inside of this house looked like and when we saw all the cars, thought we'd stop." We all had a good chuckle and wished them a safe drive to wherever they were going. I think that might've been the day my husband and I concluded this was just going to be the norm for us now.
Do you need a glass of water, a straightjacket perhaps?
This by far was the weirdest visit. I wasn't here, this one was all husband. He had come to the house to do some work and a vehicle pulls in the driveway with a man & woman. The woman gets out and asks my husband if she could see inside our beautiful home. Since this has become the norm for us and we figure one day it'll come to an end, why not oblige? He did ask her if her husband was also coming in and she answered that he wasn't interested and that he puts up with her brand of crazy. They had a laugh and he stayed in the car. She stated she'd always been curious to see inside. Once inside and going through "the tour" she claims to my husband she's a psychic and can feel the presence of spirits. He doesn't say much, probably because he doesn't put much stock in that, and continues the tour up to the second floor. In the southwest bedroom she collapses on the couch with an "oh!" and lay there as if she'd fainted. My husband has no idea what to do it was all so strange. He of course checks on her to see if she's ok and when she responds he asks if he should call her husband in from the car or maybe a glass of water? He's also having a flash of consideration that this was all a ploy to distract him and the man is going to come in and murder him or try to rob the place. You know, the dark thoughts anyone would have when something could possibly go bad wrong. She answers him, "no no I'm fine. There's a lot of energy in this room!" Now he's a bit nervous and decides to walk through the rest of the tour a little quicker than usual. When she got to the northwest bedroom across the hall she tells my husband, "This is where all the ladies would gather. There is a strong female presence here." I think she had something to say for most of the rooms in the house, but he was a little too shook to remember much. Downstairs in the last room before leaving she told him that room was "where the men did business and they don't like when women enter." Sounded sort of ominous. They said their goodbyes and she thanked him for his time gushing over how big and beautiful our new home was. He called it a day, locked the door behind him and checked that the cameras were working before leaving.
Now my headline for this story may upset people. I am a believer AND a skeptic if that's possible. I am by no means poking fun at people who possess extra sensory abilities or gifts. I welcome them! We've had several requests for walk-throughs, ghost hunting crews, and tv show producers wanting to visit and see for themselves and we USUALLY say yes. We're curious too! But seriously, folks, who knocks on a random stranger's door, asks boldly for a tour of the inside of their home, all but faints on the sofa then gets back up like "keep walking, nothing to see here folks"? Maybe I'm not painting the image of the incident as accurately as I could because I'm using my husband's account of events. But let me tell you, if he was freaked out and the flash thought of being murdered crosses his mind, it had to be extra weird. He's 6'3" and retired Army for crying out loud!
Don't forget to lock the front door!
This happened recently. Before going to sleep, my husband turns to me and says "I don't think I locked the door." To which I replied " Well, it'll be fine for one night." We don't live in a place that is necessarily considered high crime, so we felt relatively safe. We were also being lazy and neither of us wanted to go downstairs to do it. Nothing happened through the night, but the next morning we heard someone downstairs inside the house yelling "hello?" My husband goes downstairs to find a lovely woman walking out the front door. She was attempting to sell some knick knacks and thought we would like to buy them for our historic home. INSIDE THE HOUSE!! She came all. the. way. in. Maybe she didn't realize that this wasn't a bed and breakfast anymore. Your guess would be as good as mine. I now make it a priority to lock the door every night.