The Captain Whidbey Inn is a historic lodge built among the old-growth forest of Whidbey Island. Originally built as a recreation retreat, the Inn still retains the feeling of summer camp from days gone past. When it was built in 1907, the park had tennis courts, a swimming pool, camp sites, cabins, and horse trails. Old photos still line the walls of the Inn, a snapshot of these summer days over 100 years ago. Overlooking Penn Cove, the Inn still appeals to those wishing to get away from it all, relax in the quiet and fog of Whidbey Island, and remember the slower days of life when summer meant long days in a hammock, playing outside, and hanging out at the lodge. Since its opening, the Inn and park have also been used as a store, a postal station, and a school for girls.
Whidbey Island, cloaked in fog and dripping evergreens, contains a large number of haunted spots, including farmhouses, the seaplane base, department stores, even a mailbox. Legend has it that the Captain Whidbey Inn is haunted by the “gray lady,” who roams the halls at night dressed in gray. Is it possible that this is the ghost of a cleaner of the Inn years ago? Guests report hearing girls laughing behind locked doors. Some report hearing footsteps, doors slamming, and people talking, even when the buildings are empty. Some report their beds being slept in. One family reported that their child talked to other “kids”–but there weren’t any other kids around. Or maybe you will see the ghost of Judge Lester Sill–the designer of the Inn and surrounding park–roaming the hallway on the second floor. Be careful, though–one ghost hunter recalls that when he tried insulting the spirits, a friend with him got a mysterious and painful scratch.
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