From Maryanne, July 2005

My family and I stayed at the St. Francis Inn - St. Augustine, Florida on June 27th and 28th, 2005.  There were several strange things that went on and I would like to tell you about them to see what you thought.

The very strange thing is that I didn't realize that the Inn was haunted until the ghostly goings on and not until we returned home did I look into the web site for information..

GHG asked Maryanne if we could share her experience.

You most certainly can share my experiences at the St. Francis Inn.  I took pictures but when they were developed ALL of them came out all black with a red line straight down the middle of the pix.

GHG asked if the family was aware that the St. Francis Inn is haunted before they made the reservation.

I did not know that the Inn was haunted before going there; I wanted to stay in an old Bed and Breakfast while in the oldest city.  When we checked in the front desk told us that if we left in the middle of the night that the Inn wouldn't refund our money.  They were very willing to speak about funny goings on if you brought it up.

On our first night at the Inn, when you entered the Cottage you could feel the presence of someone there.

Several things happened, of course to set the stage it was raining and thundering and lightning outside.  According to the staff, this seems to be when the most activity is.  At about 1:30 AM my husband and I woke up to the room being VERY HOT the A/C seemed to go off and 11:30 PM, my husband woke up with a frightful face and breathing very heavy and instructed me to look in the foyer (I say nothing) and asked me if heard someone talking. I told him that I only heard whispering but couldn't make out what was being said. 

 Minutes later my daughter comes running into our room telling me that it was very hot in her room and that she felt someone standing over her bed looking at her.

 My husband did not want to scare her so it wasn't until the next morning that he told me that a young girl's voice ask him why he was there.  He has that 6th sense where he could hear spirits talking to him or see them. 

I got out of bed to see if the A/C was working downstairs - it was and the thermostat read 68 degrees and it was freezing downstairs and upstairs was 90 degrees. We heard creaking on the wood floors, lights would flicker on and off, my daughter's new make up case fell over into the sink and when she picked it up the zipper was broken off.  It's been known that "Lilly" the legend at the Inn, loves to play with make up.

My two dogs would - both at the same time turn their heads really fast and follow with their eyes as if someone was walking across the room. I have two French Bulldogs and they are always alert and it was very funny watching them turn their heads suddenly and run up to a wall and stair at the wall.  They never cried or barked but they did twist their heads a couple of times.

When we went to breakfast the next morning at the main house, one of the guests was very disappointed after reserving "Lilly's" room that she didn't show up. Well we informed her that she was in our room and she could join us.

I found the Inn to be beautiful and the staff goes out of their way to accommodate guests in anyway they could.  I really enjoyed staying there and would probably go again.

Maryanne asked,  “when we told some of the girls that worked there about our experience they seemed extremely surprised about things happening in the "Cottage", they said that all the activity happens in the main Inn.

Have you heard of any goings on other than the main Inn?”

We did hear something, but the guest had a logical explanation for each event and did not share the details.  With that said, spirits are not confined by structural boundaries - if your husband is sensitive, 'they' would have known this long before you arrived and may have taken this opportunity to communicate.  Many do not believe or chose to ignore the possibility of ghosts/spirits - this may be the main reason for the lack of reports for the cottage.

There has been much discussion concerning the possibility that the ghosts/spirits (non-residual) may have a learning curve just as we do.  At this point we consider it plausible that as we learn more about ghosts/spirits they too may be learning ways to communicate.  

The "Cottage" is described by the staff as,  "a two bedroom, two bath separate building from the main Inn which overlooks the courtyard.  It was formerly the Cookhouse and  Slave Quarters for the main house and features a kitchen, one  bathroom with whirlpool tub, a living room with working fireplace, and a sleeper sofa on the first floor.  The two bedrooms  and second bath are on the second floor."   The St. Francis Inn history

Other GHG pages related to the Inn and St. Augustine:

The Spanish Military Hospital-  GHG

St. Augustine Photographs - GHG

Submitted The Castillo de San Marcos

Submitted - Energy Streaks

Submitted - "Light Streamers" at Huguenot Cemetery