 |
Haunted Mason House InnBentonsport, Iowa
Stay at the haunted Mason House Inn itself or for non-haunted unusual lodgings, you can stay in a caboose! Where else can you make the choice? And that’s a hard choice. I know. Stay two nights at the Mason House Inn. Or let’s make that 3 nights since there are two rooms that seem to be the most haunted. You can stay in the caboose for a non-haunted night so you can be rested and ready for the next ghost-filled night! And while there’s no guarantee the ghosts will come out, you probably won’t be disappointed. However, lots of guests have had ghostly encounters so chances are pretty good! Plus - and this is so way cool! - the haunted Mason House Inn has ghost classes. You just gotta time your visit for one of them! Stay in a haunted hotel and take a ghost class, too? How could it get any better????? So pack up your digital camera and your laptop, your EMF detector
Mason House Inn was built in 1846 as a hotel for the steamboat travelers on the Des Moines River.
1846? That’s a lot of time to acquire ghosts. And the ghosts seem to like the place and don’t want to leave.
Three owners died in the hotel and a guest was murdered there, too. During the Civil War it was used as a hospital (and we all know how haunted old Civil War hospitals are, right? Just read about the Farnsworth House Inn in Pennsylvania, too!).
Lots of orbs in pictures. Or orbs just shooting around. Like in the dining room or the parlor. That unexplained movement out of the corner of your eye may just be a ghost.
There’s a lady by the fireplace in the dining room of the haunted Mason House Inn. She was one of the owners and she died by the fireplace, sitting in a rocking chair. It was three days before anybody thought to check on her. So her ghost had plenty of practice sticking around the place as her corpse was there for quite a while! Extra people in pictures. An old lady in a white nightgown who seems to like to look through boxes in the third floor south bedroom. Guest staying in Room 5, directly below it, often mention thumping and bumping coming from overhead. Also adding to the ghostliness of staying in Room 5, a doctor died of diphtheria in that room. Unexplained foggy images in mirrors at the haunted Mason House Inn. A boy of about 12 or 13 dressed in knickers on the second floor landing. He likes to wave to people so even if you don’t see him, wave at the second floor landing. You’ll brighten his day! A messed up bed in an unoccupied room. Well, unoccupied by a human in human form, anyway. Doors opening and closing and the distinct sound of footsteps when no one is around. A guant old man with white hair. One of his appearances was as a floating head in Room 8. Check out the old mirror in the second floor hallway and the parlor for the floating head. A man was murdered in Room 7. He was just an innocent traveler, trying to get into his bed after a visit to the tavern. Except, it wasn’t his bed he was trying to get into. Wrong room, wrong bed. Ooooooops. The person already in bed wasn’t too happy about this and promptly stabbed the guy in the heart with a saber. The moral of this story is always know what room you’re in or you’ll end up a ghost haunting an inn forever!
Knock! Knock! Knock! Someone’s knocking at the door. Surprise surprise. No one’s there. Things get moved around at the haunted Mason House Inn. A cat jumps on the bed and curls up at your feet, purring like mad. Perhaps it is the ghost cat, Josephine, making her presence known? What will be your ghostly encounter at the haunted Mason House Inn??? A couple of tips: You might like to learn Morse code before you go! That’s so you can decipher the message a Union soldier named Harold taps on the walls. Provided he’s tapping that day (or night).
Bring some shiny new coins for the little girl ghost and leave them out for her. Be sure and take pictures of them before you leave the room or go to bed. Don’t forget to take more pictures when you get back or in the morning. Don’t want to miss any ghostly activity that may have happened! Plus, cell phones. Well, the Mason House Inn is a “dead zone”. Plus, you know how ghosts react around cell phones. They like to drain the batteries. And, as an added bonus, at the haunted Mason House Inn, the ghosts also like to steal the cell phones, so keep yours with you, even though it’s turned off! While in the town of Bentonsport, keep your eyes peeled for other ghostly activity. you might see a man in black walks back and forth across the Vernon Bridge. If you encounter a black dog roaming the streets late at night, it may just be a ghost dog. The cemetery has lots of orb activity in pictures and many of the old buildings in Bentonsport are supposed to be haunted.
So if you like ghosts or you like trains or you like both Mason House Inn and Caboose Cottage is the place to stay!
From Haunted Mason House Inn to Iowa Tourist Attractions
|
and a digital recorder and voila! you’re ready to go ghost hunting at the haunted Mason House Inn!
