Haunted Road Trip #3 – Destination: Hudson Valley Region/Catskills - Part Two

Read Part One here.

The first overnight stay I wasn’t THAT freaked out about: Pine Bush House Bed & Breakfast.

An absolutely stunning home from the outside, my nerves calmed down when I heard, “Come here, gimme some sugar!” from the front porch. Awaiting us were Barbara and Mark Grey, owners of Pine Bush House, who were so kind to reserve the whole house for us (and Barbara welcomed us with a big hug!).

Mark took us around the house to show us our choices for rooms and gave us the historical background. The house was built in 1904 by the first millionaire in Pine Bush. Mark explained that Pine Bush was a “jump off” point from New York City; people would stop on their way up north.

The house was a veteran’s home and a senior residence before it was converted into a bed and breakfast (right before the Grey's bought it) about nine or 10 years ago. The renovations to the house were immense and mostly done by Mark, himself. He explained to us that a b&b is a unique experience—you are experiencing the owners’ vision.

The Greys wanted to create a relaxing environment in a period-Victorian home, with warm ambiance. All the modern amenities (and more) are there, but hidden. The bathrooms are incredible (one room has a walk-in shower that could be a sauna and has 14 shower heads and different colors of lights) and every room has a Keurig and a flatscreen TV that is hooked up to AppleTV, Netflix, and more.

After our historical tour, we geared up for our paranormal tour! Barbara was thoughtful to ask Barbara Roth, a medium/psychic (who I’ll later find out is actually a “psychometrist”) who has visited the b&b several times, to walk us through the house and tell us what she sees/feels.

We started downstairs in the living room. Barbara said she saw a jazz musician sitting at the piano, dressed like he was from the 1920s. This being my first experience with a psychometrist, I asked her what that actually meant. Did she SEE with her own eyes, a man sitting there? Or did she SENSE it? Nope—she saw him, plain as day, she said. Right after she explained that to me, it felt like an air conditioner was blowing on my arm closest to the piano. I took a deep breath, stepped away a few feet, and then we went upstairs to the second floor.

Room by room, Barbara told us what she had encountered before and what she was encountering in the moment. She calls the Cabaret room the “whisper” room. She gets a feeling of warmth, quiet, privacy, and a lady-like presence. In Zinfandel, she said there was a welcoming gentleman, but that he used to have a cat, because she started getting itchy. The Champagne room had a different feel from the first two. She said there used to be an older woman living in the room and she doesn’t want anyone there. This spirit will tell people to leave and there is a very odd energy in the bathroom—Barbara won’t go in there.

The Chardonnay room is where my father and I stayed! Barbara noticed the bags and said, “Ooh, who’s staying here?!” I reluctantly told her. The Barbaras looked at each other and then told us that they have a problem with smells in this room.

“Smells?” I said. “Like … old people smells? Nursing home smell?”

Barbara R. nodded. “Yup. Also, kind of like they didn’t find her quick enough …”

Well, that was enough for me to want to pick up my bags and move to a different room! (They made me stay.)

Up to the third floor, where Barbara G. says she won’t go by herself and where I just had a weird feeling and didn’t want to stay up there. Susan, however, had no problems on our first walk-through and decided she would stay there! (It’s basically a suite—two rooms, one with twin beds, and a bathroom. Completely private.)

As soon as we were up there, Barbara R. had to sit down. She said she was feeling dizzy and nauseous and wasn’t really making sense when she was talking. Then she started crying. She apologized and said she just gets such overwhelming feelings of sadness on the third floor. She feels that the elderly who couldn’t walk or were very sick were just left up here—possibly the mentally handicapped, too.

She got the feeling of two old men (and kept getting the name Paul). A very lonely, depressed, achey feeling. Both men wanted to be noticed or visited and felt like no one was going to check up on them.

Barbara G. couldn’t wait to get back downstairs, but Barbara R. told us that sometimes there are mentally handicapped boys who will trip you down the stairs. Sure enough, once we got to the top of the stairs, she told us to hold onto the banister because someone was crouched on the stairs waiting to trip us. That was all I needed to hear to rush down the stairs!

After everyone made it downstairs in one piece, we all sat out on the beautiful front porch and learned more about the b&b, Pine Bush, and Barbara R.’s gift. She had some very interesting insight for each of us! (Everyone take note, I should be married/engaged in three or four years.)

I woke up once in the middle of the night and thought I heard some tapping in the corner of the room, but was able to fall back to sleep.

We had an early morning—breakfast with the Greys, Linda Zimmermann, a Hudson Valley/New York State paranormal and UFO expert, some administrators from Pine Bush, and Mary Ann rejoined the party!

Linda has written multiple books on UFOs in Pine Bush, as well as several paranormal books. (She’s also been to many of our haunted locations!) She said 60 to 70 percent of the ghosts she encounters are people who had sudden deaths, were cheated in life, and/or had regrets or unfinished business. She told us that most of the time, when you investigate and give them attention, the “hauntings” stop and they most likely pass on.

In regard to UFOs, Linda said sightings go as far back as 1909—she has a newspaper clip that reported mysterious lights in the sky, seen by thousands. Apparently, Ward Avenue is the official UFO-watching spot, if anybody is interested!

It was very interesting listening to everyone talk about their paranormal and/or UFO experiences and how they were working to grow the UFO Fair they hold every year.

Unfortunately, we had to cut the conversation short and head to our next destination—The Shanley Hotel, the only haunted location I refused to stay at.