NE Florida Travel Guide to Finding Ghosts
Ghosts, the paranormal, and good old spooky tales just aren’t for Halloween. Travel this haunted trail through Northeast Florida and meet locals of a ghoulish kind.
Don’t wait until Halloween, travel to the Cassadaga Spiritualist Camp, St. Augustine, and Amelia Island to hunt for ghosts in Northeast Florida.
Florida Ghost Hunting at the Cassadaga Spiritualist Camp
Victorian weathered homes with the occasional Buddha sculpture make up this camp. Established by George P. Colby in 1894, the Camp is the oldest active religious community in the Southeast United States. Psychics and mediums, commonly called spiritualists, guide visitors and help unlock questions to life during readings. Healers are on site, too.
Don’t have an appointment or are not sure which spiritualist to visit? The Camp’s Welcome Center lists spiritualists available for walk-in sessions. Staff won’t help visitors in selecting a spiritualist; visitors will be intuitively guided in selecting one right for them.
In addition to readings with a spiritualist, join a Camp resident for a guided walking tour and learn about ghosts, and paranormal activity and find out what it takes to become a spiritualist. Scheduled tours are led on Saturdays but tours can be scheduled by appointment. New-age shops are fun to peruse and the nearby Cassadaga Hotel is ideal for lunch. Contact the Cassadaga Spiritualist Camp at (386) 228-2880.
Cassadaga Hotel
Although not affiliated with the Camp, the Cassadaga Hotel provides the nearest lodging. The 1920s Spanish mission-style inn is cozy, romantic, and rumored to be haunted. Call (386) 228-2323 for reservations.
St. Augustine Florida Ghost Hunting
Being the oldest city in the United States (founded in 1565 by the Spanish, it’s the oldest continuously occupied European-established city), there are no doubt ghosts abound in St. Augustine.
St. Augustine is host to many tour companies offering entertaining guided tours to the city’s best haunts. Depending on preference, ghost tales can be heard either on foot or sitting in a trolley. True gothic travelers can join GhoSt Augustine (Tel: (904) 824-8840) on a haunted pub crawl in a hearse to search out spirits of another kind. The CSI-ghost-hunting addict will love the interactive Paranormal Investigative Tours offered by Haunted St. Augustine (Tel: (904) 471-6410). Tour participants use electromagnetic field meters to measure paranormal activity.
Casa de la Paz Bed & Breakfast
The ghost of a young woman haunts this seven-room bed and breakfast. As the story goes, the newly engaged woman waited for her fiancé to return from a fishing trip. His boat capsized and never returned. The young woman stayed in St. Augustine and soon died of a broken heart and her friendly spirit haunts Casa de la Paz. The romantic inn is conveniently located in St. Augustine’s historic downtown. Contact the inn at (904) 829-2915.
Florida Ghost Hunting on Amelia Island
The ghosts haunting Amelia Island’s historic Fernandina Beach are as friendly as the living residents. Flags of eight nations have flown over Amelia Island and spirits of some of the island’s characters haunt the area. Visitors can meet some of the resident ghosts and learn about the island’s colorful past with tours led by the Amelia Island Museum of History (Tel: (904) 261-7378) and Ghost Tours of Amelia (Tel: (904) 548-0996).
A not-so-ghoulish, but romantic ghost tour is a horse-drawn carriage ride through Fernandina Beach’s historic downtown. Guides tell tales about devilish pirates, Victorian maidens, and ghosts who haunt neighborhood homes. Contact Amelia Island Carriages at (904) 556-2662.
Florida House Inn
Fernandina Beach travelers have been welcomed here since 1857. The 16-room Victorian inn once hosted General Ulysses S. Grant but it’s the ghosts of more than 30 townspeople who haunt the hotel. Reservations for the Florida House Inn can be made at (800) 258-3301.
Northeast Florida’s ghostly residents welcome visitors all year round. There’s no need to wait until Halloween to hear a good spooky tale and have a ghoulish time in the Sunshine State.