Wednesday, December 03, 2008

Off on another ghost hunt...

I can't wait for Saturday because I'm headed out to Long Beach, California, for my first ever trip and ghost investigation on the haunted Queen Mary.

(Cool picture, eh? This is an infrared shot taken by my buddy, Patrick Burns, star of TruTV's HAUNTING EVIDENCE - photo available for purchase on his website.)

The Queen Mary was a luxury liner back in it's heyday, but now it's permanently docked in Long Beach as a hotel. It's said to be one of the most haunted places to go to. The hosted some of the world's most famous people like Greta Garbo, Clark Gable, David Niven, Mary Pickford, just to name a few. When World War II broke out, the Queen Mary was transformed into a troopship. By the end of the war, "The Grey Ghost," as she was referred to, carried more than 800,000 troops and played a significant role in virtually every major Allied campaign. She also transported more than 22,000 war brides and their children to the United States and Canada.

I'll be attending the Darkness Radio Event with all of the "paranormal celebrities" who'll be there giving presentations and leading investigations. I'll also get the opportunity to investigate many of the haunted locations on the ship, including the first class swimming pool, the engine room, and many of the staterooms. Can't wait! Maybe even my cabin will be haunted! Hoping to capture something cool on video again or get some amazing recordings.

Should be quite an adventure!

What's the most unique adventure you've been on? Share your story!

Hugs,
Marley = )

GHOST HUNTRESS: THE AWAKENING (Coming May 2009, Houghton Mifflin Harcourt)
GHOST HUNTRESS: THE GUIDANCE (Coming October 2009, Houghton Mifflin Harcourt)
GHOST HUNTRESS: THE REASON (Coming May 2010, Houghton Mifflin Harcourt)
SORORITY 101: Zeta or Omega? (Available from Puffin Books)
SORORITY 101: The New Sisters (Available from Puffin Books)

10 comments:

Louisa Edwards said...

Oooh...if you could arrange to be haunted by Clark Gable, I think even I would sign up for this trip!

Kristen Painter said...

One of the most interesting trips I was on was with my husband to Berlin, Germany. He was working the airshow for the USAF and I was along for the shopping, natch.

For some bizarre reason, we decided to take the bus from the airport to the hotel instead of a cab. I believe some crazy airport employee convinced us it was simple. Yeah.

Anyway, long story short, we decided halfway through the bus ride that it was not going where we needed to go and figured we'd better hop off. With all our luggage. (Something like 7 or 8 pieces, I think.) We got off and collected ourselves on the sidewalk to formulate a plan. As the bus pulled away, my husband realized he'd left his classified government computer on the bus. *panic*

With me guarding the luggage, he took off down the cobblestone street, his sandals flying into the air behind him like some cartoon speed demon. Two nice American college students brought the shoes back to me.

Several looong minutes later, he returned, computer in hand, feet black from the street and explained how he'd pounded on the bus door but the driver wouldn't let him in until someone on the bus pointed out that he'd left a bag behind. Relief!

We still had to find our way to the hotel. Of course we had no idea where we were, but we saddled up the luggage and began our trek toward what looked like a more populated area.

That's when we saw a subway system. Hey, we should try that! Getting all that luggage down those steps proved to be so problematic that at one point, the Germans milling past us simply picked up all our bags and moved them to the bottom for us without asking. Or being asked.

Once we got to the bottom and looked at the map (why didn't one of us go down there and do that first?) we realized the subway went no where near the hotel. *joy*

The trek back upstairs completed, we were wiped. Then I spotted a cab stand across the road at a concrete center median. Success was in sight! We hauled everything over there and procured said cab. Once safely settled, we looked out the window as the cabbie made a turn and realized we were in front of the Brandenburg Gate.

So much for sightseeing.

The (Mis)Adventures of a Single City Chick said...

I'm sufficiently green with envy, Marley! ;-) DEFINITELY post photos after your trip. How can you NOT capture something on the Queen Mary? I can't wait to hear all about it.

TinaFerraro said...

As a writer, I can "find the story" in many of my vacations, but for pure stress value, I don't think I can top my husband and me taking our hyperactive 5 year-old, whiny 3 year-old, and newborn to Italy for a very, very long month. LOL.

Anonymous said...

God this sounds awesome! I just looked up that DarknessRadio site, man that host is a hottie. ;)

See you soon Goober!

Dave

Marley Gibson said...

Louisa...TRUE DAT!!!

Kristen...I can totally SEE your story. Wow...you should be a writer. = )

Christina...you've got to start going on these ghost hunts with me!!!

Tina...you're a brave woman!

Dave...you're a dork! LOL!! = )

Anonymous said...

i took my daughter on a girl scout camping trip one time and this raccoon attacked our tent and ate all of my toothpaste. don't know if that qualifies as and adventure but there was one forrest creature with no cavities after that.

Natalie Hatch said...

Really interesting fact during WW2 the Queen Mary was hit by a rogue wave (think Perfect Storm) it was big enough to swamp the ship. Quick thinking on the part of the Captain saved the ship a few others in the area weren't as lucky. The QM was heavy laden with troops bu came through it unscathed.

stephhale said...

Cool picture. It reminds of that movie Ghost Ship, which was scary as heck! Have fun this weekend. I can't wait to hear about it.

Tina~ you are a brave soul. I'm scared to fly with two just to Florida. ;)

Heather Davis said...

Have fun, Marley! Your travels are giving me the chills...

Heath