My Trip To Jerome, Arizona

Day One

Let me start by thanking my mom for taking me on this trip. Despite hating ghosts and all things scary she booked us a stay to celebrate my high school graduation and eighteenth birthday. 

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June 25, 2021, 10:03 pm

We rolled into Jerome at about 1:12 pm and checked into "The Grand" after driving around town a bit. And when I say a bit, I mean it. The main town consists of two or three switchback roads lined with houses and shops, it took three minutes to finish our sightseeing before rerouting to the hotel. 

Our room wasn't quite ready so we walked back to Main St. to shop around, I suggest checking out the kaleidoscope store Nellie Bly. Not only do the employees encourage you to play with literally everything, but they make you take a custom photo through the kaleidoscopes. A lot of the stores sell copper jewelry and decor, as well as rocks. I had to have my mom take my wallet because I am obsessed with rocks, gems, and minerals. My collection is already taking over my window sill. There's one store that sells all types of geodes, cut and polished rocks, and assorted gem necklaces/pendants. I almost bought a small skull-shaped rock. 

By then our room was ready so we went back to the hotel to put away our stuff and explore. I may or may not have scared or "squabbed" (for those Two and a Half Men fans out there) my mom a few times. My mom couldn't stand one more minute inside the former hospital so we went back out and hit the town. 

We had dinner at the Haunted Hamburger which is arguably the best restaurant in town, with gourmet milkshakes and heaping sandwiches. I highly recommend the Philly Cheese Steak, you'll definitely need a few napkins. We walked around some more and stopped for some dessert and drinks at Bobby D's BBQ (English Kitchen).  The history behind this site is almost as famous as the Jerome Grand. 

The English Kitchen restaurant building was built in 1899 as an adobe structure on a stone foundation. The builder, Charley Hong, built the establishment on leased land after losing his previous restaurant at the Connor Hotel building, in the great fire of 1899. The new restaurant was opened for business before many of the other commercial businesses had a chance to recover from the devastating fire.

Hong's Restaurant, later known as the English Kitchen, was where miners, residents, and travelers could obtain good meals using cash or popular meal tickets. The Kitchen was known as the best Chinese restaurant in Jerome, frequented by people of all classes and nationalities. Local legend says Charley Hong passed away in his sleep at booth #3 where he often took naps.

During World War I days the main room, as well as the much-used opium den rooms downstairs were used for meetings of the radical labor unions, the Industrial Workers of the World. In July of 1917 members of this union were rounded up and shipped out of town unceremoniously by cattle car. In 2007 the English Kitchen closed down, ending its run as the longest continuously operated restaurant in Arizona. In 2011, Bobby D and his sister Kathryn brought the old building back to life and installed their Ole' Hickory pit smoker in the lower lot. In lighter news, try the cheesecake. It's to die for. 

We soon hit the park where tourists and locals alike have reported seeing the translucent silhouettes of children running and playing. It wasn't dark enough to catch "orbs" on our cameras but we stayed for a while and played horseshoe until 7:30 pm. There isn't much to do after 5:00 pm when all of the shops close down for the day. So we went to check out the general store for some last-minute wine and red bulls. 

I kid-you-not, this is one of the coolest/cutest stores in town. The old couple who own the building actually live there and the first three rooms of their house are the store. Everything you see is for sale. They have vintage retro fridges for the cold items, a drawer cabinet filled with candy, wine, vinyl records, and so much more. It is the only grocery type store in town and the closest actual store is in Sedona, 27.3 miles away or a 40-minute drive on a good day. Our last stop of the day was at Ghost Town Tours. When I tell you the man running the place was gorgeous, I'm talking a rugged Zak Baggins, beefed-up, clean beard, hunk of a man. He told us about their tours and how they are the only ghost tour business that has exclusive rights to commercial use of the cemetery. So make sure to book through them if you're brave enough. 

The hotel had quieted down by the time we got back so we walked through the halls one more time, taking pictures to try and catch "orbs" of lights. It was fruitless but I did manage to scare my mom one more time before settling down for the night. 

This is where it gets creepy.

Despite chugging a Redbull prior, I fell asleep rather quickly. Which, for someone with insomnia, is unheard of. Day one's total ghost/creepy encounter count is at six instances.

1. Rather early in the evening, we were entering our hotel room and my mom had gotten the door open about two inches before it was slammed shut in our faces. She said it was as if someone was pushing the door closed from inside as she tried to open it as well.

2. The same thing happened to me before I went out to the car at 9:18 pm. I couldn't for the life of me open the door from the inside. I had to lean back and put all my weight into my feet to pry it open. I ended up having to close it to regain my breath before opening it again and I almost ripped the door off of the hinges with how much force I used. It felt weightless in comparison to just seconds before. 

3. My mom and I had left our phone chargers in the car so we decided to leave one phone and make an audio recording while we were out of the room. As soon as I announced that we were leaving, a large thud was heard on the recording, this was before we left the room. A few minutes later you can clearly hear what sounds like labored breathing directly on the mic as well as a gasp and sigh. There was also a crashing sound very close to the mic, as well as what sounds like someone dropping the phone off of the counter. Multiple door slams can be heard without hearing footsteps and voices in the background as we heard earlier in the day. 

4. Right before going to bed we heard what sounded like someone dropping a phone on the counter again. When we woke up the next morning, my phone was resting on top of my mom's. Three inches from where I set it on top of a can of almonds. 

5. At around 5:00 am I woke up to the sound of our deadbolt being jiggled from the inside of the room, when I turned to my mom, she was sitting straight up staring at the door as the dead bolt moved. I asked her about it later in the morning and she can't remember waking up or hearing any noise like that. I later recreated the noise by jiggling the deadbolt myself. Low and behold it was the exact sound I heard. 

6. My mom couldn't find her ear plugs or her hair ties and she noticed they were hidden about two inches under the decorative table cloths on the nightstands. The thing is, she was wearing the earplugs when she went to sleep.

That concludes day one. Day two is when we have our ghost tour through the town as well as when we plan to explore the parks and roam the halls.