Arrival
The group arrived at the hotel at 4:45 pm. After check in, gear was loaded onto a cart and brought to the room. After everything was unloaded, the group went up to the third floor Salons that would be investigated to cover the windows and any lights they would not be able to extinguish, in order to eliminate as much ambient light as possible.
By 6:00 pm the area was sufficiently darkened and the group went for dinner at the Boundary Waters Sports Bar and Grill, located in the lower level of the hotel. During dinner, the group was told by the owner, Lloyd, that he had witnessed the door of the men’s room in this area opening on its own; however, the group did not investigate this area on this particular evening.
At 8:15 pm the group hauled gear to the third floor salons. A base camp area was established in the Winter Salon in a sitting area to the right of the bar as one is facing it.
At 8:30 pm, Jann went outside on the veranda area of the Autumn Salon to take readings of outside conditions using the Kestrel 3500 weather station while Noah, Gravy and John began to unpack gear and determine where it would be set.
When one enters the salons from the staircase, one is in the Winter Salon. This is a somewhat small area that houses a bar and a sitting area furnished with two wicker love seats. There is a ledge that is approximately 5″ wide that surrounds the stairwell. A Mini Ion Generator was placed on this railing, as was an Olympus VN 8100PC Digital Voice recorder. An increase of negative ions has been noted during paranormal activity. By artificially increasing the negative ions it is hoped that we can increase the possibility of paranormal activity occurring.
On the bar in the Winter Salon there was placed a Mel-8704R Vibe, an EM Vortex (EMF pump), and a touch activated flashlight. These items were all placed within view of a SpecterCamCorder that was in the sitting area of the Winter Salon and directed toward the bar. The Extech RHT50 Datalogger #1 and a Zoom H1 audio recorder were also placed on the bar. Dataloggers are small devices that collect temperature, humidity and barometric pressure data so that fluctuations that occur within the timeframe of perceived paranormal activity can be noted.
The Autumn Salon is upstairs from the other Salons. This is a large room with windows along the front that open onto a veranda. Rows of banquet tables and chairs were set up with an aisle down the middle. A Sony HDR-SR7 was placed in the corner of the room in order to capture the maximum area possible. A cigar, a foam baseball, and a toy car as well as a touch activated flashlight were placed as trigger objects on a table within the view of the camera. Trigger objects are used to hopefully attract the attention of curious entities.
The objects on this table were all light weight and easy to move so theoretically, if a spirit was drawn to them, it would not take much energy to move one of them. The cigar was the most location specific item on the table as this room is rumored to have at one time been Al Capone’s private suite. A Zoom H2n digital audio recorder was also placed in this room as was Datalogger #2.
In the Spring Salon is a banquet hall that is appropriate for events such as weddings and proms. There is a bar to one’s left when entering this room and a wooden dance floor on the far end. There was placed a Sony DCR-SR85 and a Sony HDR-SR5 so that the entire room would be within sight of a camera. A Zoom H1 Audio recorder and Datalogger #3 were also placed in this room. A small stuffed cat was placed in this room as a trigger object along with a touchlight, a Mel-8704REM EMF detector and an EMF pump (EM V2). EMF pumps generate electromagnetic energy which theoretically provides energy for spirits to manifest. A geophone was placed on the dance floor so it would light up if it detected any vibrations.
The Summer Salon is slightly smaller than the Spring. It does not have a bar, but it does have a wooden dance floor at the far end. A Sony HDR-XR200V camera was placed in the Summer Salon as was a Zoom H1 digital audio recorder.
All members were carrying Zoom H1 recorders as controls. Noah carried a FLIR E40bx Thermal Imaging Camera with him and John carried a Trifield EMF Meter.
By 9:47 pm, equipment was set up, and John had finished recording his sensitive impressions. The group gathered in the Winter Salon base camp area to discuss sensitive impressions and claims of activity from 9:58-10:14pm at which time they moved to the Summer Salon to begin the investigation.
Investigation
Summer Salon – 10:18 pm
The group spread out in Summer Salon and observed five minutes of control silence. At 10:18 pm an EVP session was started. This session lasted until 10:44 pm with no apparent activity. At one point it did appear as though there was a knock that may have been responsive, however, when Gravy asked for the knock to be repeated, there was no reply.
END TIME: 10:44 pm
There was no observed activity in the Summer Salon, so the group decided to move to the Autumn Salon.
Autumn Salon – 10:46 pm
All group members spread out in the Autumn Salon for an EVP session. An EVP session was held until 11:09 pm and once again no observable responses were noted. There were several knocks and noises, but the group concluded that these noises were coming from the bar in the hotel.
END TIME: 11:09 pm
At this time Gravy and Noah went to the hotel room to get sweatshirts. Jann and John stayed behind.
Noah and Gravy returned to the Suites at 11:20 pm and everyone checked the batteries in their cameras. At this time, Jann noticed that the battery in her Zoom H1 recorder had died and she replaced it. After the equipment was checked, the group moved to the Spring Salon.
Spring Salon – 11:28 pm
All group members went to the Spring Salon and spread out to do an EVP session. There were no responses heard or recorded during this session. Noise contamination was still an issue at this point as the bar was still very busy.
END TIME: 11:48 pm
Winter Salon – 11:50 pm
The group passively investigated this area until 12:11 am. There was no noted activity during this session. It was decided during this time that the group should venture downstairs to investigate areas on the main floor where there have been claims of activity.
END TIME: 12:11 am
At this time, the group did a quick check to ensure that all equipment was charged and operating properly. They then moved to the first floor Ladies’ Restroom.
First Floor Ladies’ Restroom – 12:30 am
Earlier in the evening, a hotel patron had shown the group a picture that she had. In the picture it appeared that there was a figure peeking out of the last stall in the restroom.
The group took several digital photos trying to replicate the angle at which the picture was taken. Nothing unusual appeared in the photos. It is suspected that the photo that the person had shown them was from an “insert a ghost” smart phone application as the person who had the picture did not know who had taken it.
Other than the photo, there are reports of activity in the ladies’ room so the group did decide to stay and do an EVP session. The session ran from 12:47 am until 12:58 am and no activity was observed during this time.
END TIME: 12:58 am
The group checked out the men’s bathroom, but decided not to do an EVP session in this area, but instead to move on to Lillie’s Ice Cream Parlor.
Lillie’s Ice Cream Parlor – 1:10 am
The group entered the Ice Cream Parlor and began an EVP session. There are reports of the juke box turning on by itself in this location so during the session the group asked if anyone was able to turn it on. However, the machine did not turn on. The group remained in the Ice Cream Parlor until 1:26 am. There was no perceivable activity during this time, however upon review of the group’s audio they discovered a short female or child voice. What the voice was saying could not be determined but this was included as evidence.
END TIME: 1:26 am
At this time the group decided to head back up to the Salons for a break in the Winter Salon. At 1:48 am, Noah, John and Gravy checked the batteries in their cameras while Jann remained in the Base Camp area. When they were finished checking batteries, the group moved to the Spring Salon for a second EVP session.
Spring Salon – 2:01 am
The group spread out in the Spring Salon for a second EVP session. At 2:09 am, Noah reported seeing a shadow moving, but was not certain what caused it. The session was otherwise uneventful and no other activity was noted.
END TIME: 2:34 am
The group decided to move to the Autumn Salon.
Autumn Salon – 2:35 am
The group once again spread out in the Autumn Salon. An EVP session was conducted in this area until 2:51 am. No activity was noted and no responsive noises were heard.
END TIME: 2:51 am
The group decided that the next room they would investigate was the Summer Salon.
Summer Salon – 2:55 am
The group moved to the Summer Salon and spread throughout the area. An EVP session was conducted during which time no responses were perceived. The group then decided to move to the Winter Salon.
END TIME: 3:16 am
Winter Salon – 3:17 am
The group moved to the Winter Salon/base camp area. They investigated this area until 3:30 am when they decided to end the investigation and turn off equipment. There were no audible responses, and no activity was noted during this session.
END TIME: 3:30 am
