Strange Escapes in Gettysburg Review
Ever since I started working in the paranormal field and launched my podcast, I have met so many wonderful people virtually. There is nothing wrong with meeting people safely online and chatting with them through Zoom calls and emails, but I was starting to feel a little isolated in my work. I quit my job in June to go back to college with online classes and work harder on my podcast, but by the time September rolled around, I found myself pretty lonely.
When the pandemic hit in 2020, all that time in my house had given me more social anxiety than I have ever had, and I could feel myself slipping into that “never want to go out again” funk, so when Strange Escapes posted an advertisement for a paranormal meet-up full of lectures, historical tours, and a ghost hunt in Gettysburg, Pennsylvania, I decided to swallow all my social anxiety and go for it.
Strange Escapes is a company that creates special events where people who love history and the paranormal can get together and enjoy a nice weekend with like-minded folks. Amy Bruni founded Strange Escapes; you may recognize Amy Bruni’s name from shows like Ghost Hunters and Kindred Spirits. She has been working in the paranormal field for years. If you listen to my podcast, you will know that I often talk about the paranormal as more of a feeling and a personal experience. It is more than just EMF detectors going off at random and video evidence. I have had so many personal experiences in my life that I believe in the paranormal, and I have always felt that it is not up to me to prove that my personal belief is real to anyone. However, I have to admit that it was nice to be surrounded by people who also think that ghosts and other worlds could be real. I had so much fun at this event that I am happy to give you a non-spoiler review of my first time at Strange Escapes.
The Hotel
The Gettysburg Strange Escapes event took place November 4th - 7th and was held at the historic Gettysburg Hotel. This hotel is perfect for anyone who wants to be in the heart of Gettysburg. Located on Lincoln Square, even though it is a large roundabout, is the ideal location for those who wish to walk around and enjoy several restaurants and unique shops. Right from the front doors, you can see the David Wills house. This house is where President Abraham Lincoln stayed while preparing to deliver his famous “Gettysburg Address.”
Gettysburg College now owns the hotel. My room was a two-queen room, and it was nice and clean, with a window looking down at the back entrance courtyard. It also had plenty of working plugs to charge all of my electronics. There were only two drawbacks. One was that my room had no microwave or fridge. Gettysburg has so many great restaurants that it was a shame I could not save food to snack on later. The other drawback is paying to park either on the street with meter parking or in the 3-story parking garage behind the hotel. These things did not dampen my overall experience; they were just some things I noticed.
The lobby looked cozy, with plenty of chairs to lounge in and use the complimentary Wi-Fi to get projects done; they also had a game table full of board games that were free for you to play with and even bring to your room. But my favorite part about this hotel was that it was connected to the One Lincoln restaurant and a Starbucks. Both of these businesses had street access, but you did not have to walk outside to enter them. They both have a separate entrance within the hotel lobby. It was convenient to be able to get coffee and food without having to leave the hotel. My favorite room in the hotel was the ballroom; this large room once was a bank. It still has the bank vault inside, and you can rent this room for large events like weddings and things like Strange Escapes. The ballroom was where all of our lectures were held.
The Event Check-in and Welcome Party (Nov. 4th)
When I checked in for the event on November 3rd around 3:30 pm, I was given a t-shirt and our itinerary for the event. I had chosen the general admission option. There was a VIP package for more money, but I opted for general admission because this was my first time, and I did not know what to expect.
After checking in around 6:30, we started with a cocktail welcome party inside two smaller meeting rooms. And this is where I had to try to ditch that social anxiety and try to mingle, and I am so glad I did. This is when I knew I had found my people, and they were not just through electronic communication. I met many wonderful people that night, and I also got to chat with the presenters who would be speaking at Strange Escapes.
I bought a few books and had the authors sign them. I purchased two books from Mark Nesbitt, author of the Ghosts of Gettysburg series. I picked up his newest book, Ghosts of Gettysburg, Volume VIII, and Gettysburg’s Hidden Haunted Spots. He is also the owner of Ghosts of Gettysburg Candlelight Walking Tours. He was very nice to talk to, and I enjoyed his lecture the next day.
I also bought Amy Bruni’s book, Life With the Afterlife: 13 Truths I Learned about Ghosts. She also signed it for me and was very nice to chat with, though I did not say much because I was too shy. Honestly, I froze when I met her and was a bit star-struck. I wish I could have told her how much she inspired me and my podcast. When I was in middle school, she started working for TAPS, aka Ghost Hunters, and now Kindred Spirits. I always loved how she cared for history. She did extra historical research at every paranormal location she investigated.
Now that I have my podcast, I always investigate and research as much history as possible for every location I do because I want to make sure I give voices to those who have passed on so that their stories are as accurate as possible to the best of my ability. I call it the Amy Bruni Standard. Of course, as I mentioned, I told her none of this because I was way too shy. I may go on another Strange Escape trip one day and finally have the courage to tell her that in person.
I also met Adam Barry, another person from Ghost Hunters and now Kindred Spirits, whom I admire. Adam is exactly how he is on TV, too. Hilarious and super nice! He had fun quoting The Little Mermaid movie at me, and again, I was so shy I didn't know what to say. I thought it was hilarious and wished I had thought of something better to say when we talked. I have always enjoyed how respectful he is of the deceased people who could be reaching out to communicate.
All of the presenters were great to talk to as well and were very nice. It was fun getting to know them and chatting about the paranormal together. Some even added me on Instagram, and I was blown away by how supportive they are of new podcasts and investigators like me.
The Lectures on Day One (Nov. 5th)
I had so much fun listening to these lectures; I was also the only nerd in the room with a notebook, taking notes as quickly as possible. I did not want to miss anything and wanted to absorb all the knowledge I could get from experienced paranormal investigators. These lectures were spread out over the course of 2 days, with lunch breaks scheduled. On day one, we had four presenters. Up first was Mark Nesbitt with “Gettysburg’s Hidden Haunted Hotspots.” He gave us a wonderful overview of the history of Gettysburg and mentioned that the town was haunted way before the Civil War battle that it is famous for today.
Aaron Sagers presented the next lecture, “Giving Up the Ghost (Hunter): How I Learned to Stop Investigating and Start Experiencing.” Aaron has been featured on paranormal shows like Paranormal Caught on Camera and 28 Days Haunted. He brought up some great points about how technology, in general, can take away from the overall enjoyment of the investigation and even sometimes life.
Joshua Dairen presented the next topic, “The Reality of Urban Legends and the South.” He shared the true history he learned from digging into the origins of urban legends. His takeaway is to have empathy and learn from history by embracing the true story. I found his lecture very interesting and thought-provoking.
Our last presentation was with Beckie Ann Galentine, whose topic was “Grief and Ghost Hunting.” She emphasized that back in Victorian times, people were allowed to slowly go through the grieving process, while today, we are expected to rush through it and basically forget and move on. Honestly, her presentation was so heartfelt it made me teary-eyed.
The Ghost Hunt
At the start of the Escape, they split us into groups with a colored wristband, and that color indicated what night we would be doing a ghost hunt and what night we would do the walking candlelight tour. My night for the ghost hunt was Nov. 5. I was excited but also cautious. I did not know what to expect, if it would be taken seriously, or if, my biggest fear, it would be faked. I am happy to report that it was one of the best ghost hunts I have been on yet, and it was taken seriously, but it was also fun. I got an adrenaline rush, and I can’t wait to do it again.
If you would like to hear an in-depth account of my trip and what paranormal experiences I had on the trip, I am posting a special bonus episode for my Patreon members where I go into much more detail. Click here if you would like to check out my Patron Page.
But I will tell you a little bit about my ghost hunt. After arriving in front of the Jenny Wade House, the large group was split into smaller groups, and we spread out between 3 buildings: the Jenny Wade House, the Orphanage, and the Ghost of Gettysburg Candle Light Tour building. I got lucky, and my group entered the Jenny Wade House first with Adam Barry as our guide. Jenny Wade was the only civilian casualty of the battle. We entered the basement where Union troops had taken her body after she was killed, and we spread out on some benches. Adam handed me a K2 Meter, and I had to do everything I could to not fangirl over it. We had the most activity inside the basement; it was wild! We heard footsteps in the empty house above us, had light sensors going off, and the shadow detector’s music box was very active. We even got some yes and no responses from it. I also had my EVP question answered when I asked, “How old are you?” More happened, but I will save it for my bonus episode.
We went to the Orphanage next. It was really cool to sit in the dark basement with Aaron Sagers as our guide and see if we could get responses from different objects like cat balls that light up and EMF detectors. We went upstairs with Richard Estep and tried the human pendulum experiment, which was very interesting. I thought it was a load of waffle, but I tried it, and it actually drained me. The idea is you let spirits use you as a yes or no tool. My yes was leaning forward and no backward. While doing it, I had a very intense feeling and a vision pop in my head, which was very unexpected. I still do not know what to make of it.
By the time we got to the Candlelight Tour building, I was exhausted. We tried a few things, like dowsing rods and the Estes method. By the time we got to the house, I felt like the ghosts were as tired as I was, and as the investigation went on, things went from active to quiet. It was as if they went to bed.
My overall thoughts? This was one of the best paranormal investigations I have been on, and I learned so much from all of the paranormal investigators who were there that night.
Day 2 (Nov. 6th)
The next day, I was super tired from the ghost hunt, but it was still fun mingling with others as we all shared our experiences. We had two more lectures that day. Richard Estep’s presentation was “On the Gettysburg Ghost Trail.” Richard gave us a rundown of the most paranormal active spots in Gettysburg and the history behind them. He also put more perspective on what the soldiers and townspeople went through during and after the battle. The last lecture was “Principles of the Paranormal” with Amy Bruni and Adem Berry. I learned a lot from this lecture, and they encouraged us to continue our interest in the paranormal.
The Battlefield Tour
After a lunch break, we went on the Gettysburg Battlefield Tour. This was such a cool experience. The Gettysburg Battlefield Tours bus picked us up right in front of the hotel, and the tour lasted 2 hours. While the bus drove us around, our guide told us all about the history of Gettysburg and important buildings to watch out for along the way. We stopped at different monuments scattered around the battlefield, and he would tell us more information at each stop. It really helps put the battle into perspective when you are actually standing there looking at the rolling hills and understanding the troop's movements. I would highly recommend this tour to anyone who wants to know more about the battle. For me, it was a highlight of the trip to get a chance to learn even more history.
The Candlelight Tour
I finished the Escape with the “Mark Nesbitt’s Ghosts of Gettysburg Candle Light Tour.” Our guide, Nick, was a delight! He was super nice, and you could tell how much he cared about history. He wore Civil War-period clothing and carried a lantern with a real candle. He took us around Gettysburg, stopping in front of various houses and explaining the history and spooky ghost stories. I heard a few on his tour that I had never heard before, so I really enjoyed it. It was nice to see Gettysburg when it was less crowded, and you could relax without hearing so much traffic. It was also cool to walk around at night. It really does have a spooky vibe once the sun goes down.
Overall Thoughts
I had a blast on this trip! I would highly recommend Strange Escapes to any paranormal and history enthusiast. They offer several different types of escapes all over the country, and I will be back to check out another location someday, hopefully in the near future. For now, I am glad I went to Gettysburg and met some wonderful people and had fun. I learned so much history on this trip, the paranormal activity was just a bonus.
