Florida Ghosts  

    Explore the darker side of the Sunshine State!

Casablanca inn, St. Augustine 

Casablanca inn is a lovely setting right on Matanzas Bay in Old St. Augustine.  In the 1920s it was a hotbed for smugglers (rumrunners).  The innkeeper was a young woman who would provide protection for the smugglers from federal agents in return for a fee.  She would signal the rumrunners at sea by waving a lantern if it wasn't safe, and they would keep going up the coast.  The rumrunners would board at the inn and sold their liquor there.  She fell in love with one  of the smugglers, but tragically he was killed in a storm at sea.  One guest had the TV turn on and off, then on.  The night innkeeper  thought he heard something above his head - loud footsteps and doors closing on the floor over him, but that section was unoccupied.  When he went upstairs to investigate, the room was empty, but he felt a presence.  People at another inn across the way have seen a lantern on the widow's walk.  The inn is  run by Jackie O'Sullivan and she offers 20 rooms and suites.  the main House is mostly suites, and the Coach House has 8 additional rooms.  The rates range from just under $150 to about $240, and include a two course breakfast, and afternoon homemade cookies.  Six of the suites are anniversary/honeymoon suites, and have no TV or phone.  There is no smoking, and children must be age twelve or over. the inn is at 24 Avenida Menendez, St. Augustine, Fla.  phone, 1-800-826-2626.

web site:  Casablanca Inn

     St. Augustine Light House and Museum, St. Augustine, FL

The light house tower and the keeper’s house are both open as a museum.  Workers have heard footsteps going up and down the tower stairs.  In the house, a man in Victorian work clothes, and a young girl have been seen.  The second floor gallery and the basement are supposed to be hot spots.  The light house was featured on a Discovery channel show, Real Ghosthunters.  It is located off  A1A South – turn onto Old Beach Road.

    The Herlong Mansion, Micanopy, FL 

This stately looking mansion is in a small town 12 miles south of Gainesville.  Around the turn of the century Mrs. Natalie Herlong inherited a house, which she and her husband enlarged and built around.  She willed the house to her six children, but only her daughter, Inez, could afford it and she bought out her siblings.  She was working on restoring the house but died on the second floor before renovations were complete. Inez is said to haunt the room in which she died. Workmen who stayed there during their restoration work heard the door to a second floor bedroom open, and then footsteps in the hallway when no one is there.  Guests in the haunted room have described strange things with the door, the lights, and the radio.  Two guests reported sightings.  The inn is a no-smoking establishment.  402 N.E. Cholokka Blvd, Micanopy, FL  1-800-437-5664

    Fort Clinch State Park, Amelia Island, FL

 This park covers eleven hundred acres on Florida’s east coast north of Jacksonville.  Fort Clinch was a fort during the civil war, though not completely built and continued to be used as a military station after the war.  By 1898 the fort was deemed not needed and troops stationed there were removed.  The state of Florida bought it in 1935. Staff and volunteers who have stayed there overnight have heard footsteps, seen ghosts in civil war uniforms, seen a woman in white (like a nurse), and have heard the wail of a baby coming from the southwest tunnel.  The last may be from the late twenties, when a homeless family lived there for a few months and while there lost a baby girl.  From May-Labor Day candlelight tours are led on Saturday evenings, and garrisons are held the first weekend of each month.  Reservations are required for the Sat. tours.  Call 904-277-7274,  The park is off A1A with signs to direct you.

    SW Florida International Airport.  Fort Myers, FL

 A reader of this web page told me about this one…. 

Although the airport has only been around since the eighties, it seems to be haunted.  Sad to say, several elderly travelers have expired while on the grounds of the airport.  Stranded travelers at night have been targeted by a mischievous spirit who will ring each pay phone along their path as they go by anywhere in the terminal.  As expected, when picked up, no one is on the phone.  In the A concourse, at gate A-3, An elderly man in a trench coat has been seen sitting in the waiting area. He gets up, walks to the ticket counter as if to check on something, and then disappears into thin air.  Janitors have said that late at night in the mens’ room in the A Concourse they’ve heard toilets flush and water running in the sinks, but on checking, all the sinks are absolutely dry. The staff now tries to finish up in that area before the last flight of the night.  The person who wrote me said that several of the airline workers and even police officers have seen strange things at the airport but don’t like to talk about them.