Battlefield Bed & Breakfast - Gettysburg, PA

Battlefield Bed & Breakfast
2264 Emmitsburg Road
Gettysburg, PA 17325

My first impression as we drove up the driveway was - Are you kidding me? All of THIS is just minutes from downtown? 

Located basically in the heart of Gettysburg is the Battlefield Bed and Breakfast, owned and operated by Florence Tarbox. Ms. Tarbox and her wonderful staff turned a great stay in to a memorable one. The b&b got it's name because it is, quite literally, located on 30 acres of the actual battlefield.  We arrived a day early which gave me time to go to some local sights such as the Jennie Wade House and the Gettysburg National Military Park. After settling in to the Reilly's North Carolina Artillery Suite I was ready  to officially start the weekends activities and waited in anticipation for the next day.


Once again, I had the privilege of attending another Truth Traveler event... Halloween weekend which included a meet & greet, presentations, speakers and an investigation of several locations in and around the property. 

A wine and cheese meet and greet was a fantastic way to get to know the other participants and get a feel of our surroundings. After some free time, we gathered for a wonderful sit-down costume dinner Normally, a formal dinner is not offered but is done on special occasions. -- I do want to make special mention about Bill, the manager, who not only made sure my meals were vegetarian but set a place setting at both the main dining room and the Swan Cottage for Ognassanti. (In my house we always set an extra place for our non-fleshies to visit and feast) The picture to the right is the table set for our feast. The salad dressing was "bread-dipping worthy". Can you guess which setting is mine? Yes, you are probably right. 

After dinner there were presentations, a live broadcast of Everyday Empaths and speakers. I was honored to be one of the guests on Everyday Empaths as well as one of the guest speakers. I covered a topic very near and dear to me "the benefits of keeping an open mind". Other topics included fairies and the history of Halloween. I was a team lead and my group was entirely made-up of first timers. It was harder for me because I could see, hear and feel things that not only could I not share with the others, but wouldn't know how to explain "it" to them. I am sure to some of them, I looked a tad strange having a conversation with a barn post. They were a great group. Some skeptics, some with minds wide-open. We covered 4 locations, the Civil War Room, the basement, the dining room and the barn.


The basement was a challenge due to the fact that there was recently some flooding and there was a sub-pump going off in timed intervals. Once I figured out the frequency, we were able to conduct an evp session. Some people said they felt as if they were being touched or that someone was standing nearby. I had an interesting game of hide & seek with a small non-fleshie who liked hiding in the back of the basement in an area I could not access. At one point in the basement, I (and a few others) smelled bread baking. When we returned upstairs to find out if the chef was baking bread, we found out that not only is he not baking bread, but the kitchen was completely empty as the staff left at least an hour before.

The barn was cold. A lot of the photos had a phantom mist that I had to explain was their breath. While we were downstairs we heard boots heading up the stairs. We were in short pursuit. Upstairs we heard shuffling of hard-soles. Everyone present was in rubber-sole sneakers. I had a conversation with a non-fleshy who was a worker on the farm. When I told him to come out of the corner and talk to us, he inhaled, spat and told me "I am workin' ma'am". He later went on to say that one of the men in my group looked like a duck. This man was wearing a baseball cap which he found amusing and confusing - informing me that "He looks like a duck, look at that bill on his face. That's not a proper hat." 

The Civil War Room is located off the main sitting room. It is part of the original building. We conducted an evp session in which we got knocks as answers. My attention was being drawn to my right, which is where the entry door, a set of windows and stairs to the second floor were located. Foot traffic of the non-fleshy kind. One member of the group started to feel ill. She was sitting in what looked like a 'chamber chair' by the window. I had her move out of that chair and she did feel a bit better but later in the investigation she excused herself from the group because of a headache.


The dining room was not originally a rotation but was added on because light movement was picked up on the monitors. Not being part of the original investigation, noise contamination was a problem because some people were present in the building but not part of the investigation. We had to rely on having any activity recorded by the video camera.

After a late night investigating, I was looking forward to my bed. It was so comfortable that I am pretty sure I didn't move, at all, all night. I wasn't looking forward to the morning because it meant a mad dash to the airport, heading home. The only thing that had the power to make me rise and shine, with a smile, was the wonderful aroma coming from the kitchen.  I quickly got dressed and stumbled out to the little sitting area where I was bid a good morning by.... a Civil War soldier? I rubbed my eyes and thought about running back to the room for my camera because it HAD to be the most solid apparition I had ever encountered. A cup of coffee and a giggle later, I sat down and listened to the historical re-creationist. (Not sure that is a word, but it is now.) After his educational tale, we headed outside where I shot a musket. It was HEAVY! How often would I get a chance to actually do that? I wish I had a picture of it because it's once in a lifetime.

I had told Bill, the manager, that my limo (yes, I said limo) would be there to collect me at 9 and if they could just make me a light breakfast I would appreciate it. I was thinking toast and maybe a scrambled egg... not at the Battlefield Bed & Breakfast!!! I couldn't end this post without showing you what was waiting for me at my table-setting. This WAS the "light" meal! It's a miracle the airplane was able to take off after I inhaled a breakfast like that... I really enjoyed myself and looking forward to returning... soon, I hope.