Last Friday, my sister-in-law and I participated in a Ghost Walk along First Street in Benicia, CA.
I didn't know much about it, and I had never been on a Ghost Walk before, but I saw an advertisement on Facebook and I thought, why not?
Tickets were $25 and I thought that was a bit steep for a two hour walk along First Street, but now I think it was well worth the experience.
We met down at the Railroad Station at the bottom of First Street. It was the night of the summer solstice and the night before the Super Moon. I thought we were rather silly to be trying to "find" ghosts on the longest day of the year.
Our guide was Devin Sisk, who has an impressive biography in the world of the paranormal. His info can be found on the Ghost Walk link (as is a short video).
Okay, I will admit that I was a total skeptic. I believe in paranormal things and things I can't explain but I don't believe spirits come out for a bi-monthly show. I expected to get a history lesson of First Street, really. But ghosts? Naw, I didn't really believe that.
We were joined by a group of "ghost hunters" (my words, not theirs) who wanted to experience the Ghost Walk with Devin. They said more about themselves, but I wasn't paying attention. I was cracking jokes to my sis-in-law. Sorry.
We were shown the tools we would all have a chance to use to detect & communicate with spirits. There was two rods you held in your hands & the spirits could move them to answer yes & no questions (crossing the rods was a yes, pushing them out was a no), a device that lit up and vibrated when spirits were near (which may or may not have been when I quipped "ma'am, your table is ready." to my partner in crime that night), two devices that had a spectrum of light across the top to light up & detect different spirits strengths, and a pendulum on a string (no clue how that worked).
I will tell you that I did hold the device that lit up & vibrated at one point. I didn't want to hold anything but a woman handed it to me saying, "I feel it wants to go to you." And I immediately thought, "Yeah, cause it wants a break!" But it did actually go off. When we walked over a PG&E grate. No ghost. Sorry.
Okay, it's easy for me to joke and take it lightly. But when we went into the warehouse section of the old train depot and started talking to a spirit named Benjamin, I thought to myself, "Sh** just got real!" Benjamin used to work at the railroad and visited the brothel next store. He apparently thought it was funny when asked if there was sex in the afterlife (there is). Benjamin is a known trickster who likes to move things around the office of the people who work in the building. We didn't spend much time there but at this point, I was no longer taking things so lightly.
Devin explained that with the Super Moon, the gravitational pull of the moon was exceptionally strong and that may make the spirit world stronger.
We walked out behind the depot into a dirt area by the marsh. I hadn't been out there before. It used to be a shanty town behind the depot and a brothel that was frequented by a lot of children. Orphans have a sad story in America's past. I was told that orphanages acted like animal shelters and once a child's time was up, he/she was put down. So rather than go to an orphanage or work house, many children turned to the streets. I had also learned that two major fevers that killed a lot of people in Benicia, one of them being yellow fever. So, this shanty town was known for having a few child spirits.
And one of them came to the group that night. She was new to the guides but people around me felt her story and could tell different parts. She had a younger brother she was taking care of while her mother worked in the brothel. She tried to protect her brother but he died. She had watched the Ghost Walk groups before but it was the first night she wanted to contact them. She wanted help. There were people in the group who said they could help her cross over, and they would come back.
So, that was a downer. We crossed the street and went behind the Tannery Building and made a circle. One of the women immediately started saying, "There is a happy drunk person nearby." Enter Irish John. Irish John was a bare knuckle boxer who made extra money "shanghaiing" guys. That's when you hit a guy over the head and they wake up on a boat in the middle of nowhere, where they were given a choice: they could either swim it or work it. Irish John seemed to be a bit of a flirt and pointed out a young woman who caught his fancy (my sister-in-law).
After we said goodbye to Irish John, we went into the Tannery Building and stood in front of a pub. Okay, so it was a pub that I used to hang out at in my younger days. And maybe it was a pub my friends all went to.
Further back in the Tannery Building was the spirit of a little girl. No one knew how the little girl died, but they know her father worked in the Tannery Building before he and her mother died of a fever. The guide tried to do an experiment where someone hid a bracelet on another person in the group and the little girl had to show the guide who had the bracelet. The experiment didn't work. The little girl picked the people all around the person, and apparently one of the people chosen broke out laughing saying they said in their head, "Pick me & let's mess with them!"
After the Tannery Building, we walked up the street to a historic corner of First Street. Now, for those of you unfamiliar with Benicia, you need to know it was a railroad stop, it had docks for ships traveling from San Francisco to Sacramento, and at one time it was even a stop for the Pony Express riders. And it had a bunch of brothels. A lot of hookers conducted their business there. It was said a lady was never seen below a certain street, where the brothels started.
The Union Hotel and the Washington House are still standing today. In fact, you can stay at the Union Hotel. People claim it's haunted, but the owners say it's not. There is a story of a unhappy hooker hanging herself naked outside one of the windows.
We tried to get some spirits of the ladies of the Washington House to show up, but they didn't really. Only men tried to communicate with the ladies though. And I thought this was sad. I saw a documentary once of the Old West and "soiled doves" were lonely and had pets for companionship. I would think that just because they entertained men for a living, we shouldn't assume they just want to talk to men. That was how they made a living, and it's not a living I'd envy. I think a sympathetic soul would be welcome too. I think that's sad and it made me think it was pretty sexiest.
By this time, we were nearing the end of the walk. We went to a restaurant that has changed it's name quite a few times, and I forget what it's called now. I want to say Sailor Jack's. But it's at the end of First Street, across from the depot. There we met a gambler who liked the ladies of the night. So they lined several women up, for the spirit to "choose" his lady for the night. I was not among the ladies in the line, so he didn't chose me. I'm sure he would have chosen me.
Afterwards, we sat around and heard some more history of our guide and some different cases he's worked.
Was it real? Some people had some very intense experiences, while others didn't feel anything. Some people say it's not real and don't feel it's worth the money. I think that if you have an open mind, it's worth your time. If you believe in spirits, then this is a good walk for you.
I'm glad I went on the Ghost Walk, I learned a lot more about First Street and it was something I had never done before. So there you have it, my experience doing a Ghost Walk.
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