The Dark Side of Massachusetts

The Old Yarmouth Inn Restaurant and Tavern is located on Cape Cod in Yarmouthport. Built in 1696 this two story white colonial house is now a high quality restaurant and tavern. The restaurant consists of three dining rooms, an informal tavern, and an inn. It is the oldest inn in America. Before the Civil War the owners of the house were part of the Underground Railroad and had a secret room in the attic to hide runaway slaves.

In the Quisset Harbor Room a guest woke up in the wee hours of the morning and saw the apparition of a man dressed in 19th century costume. The entity who considered this to be his room was surprised by seeing a guest sleeping there. Another guest got a real scare since he was afraid of ghosts. This guest woke up to see a spirit sitting on the end of his bed. Being frightened the guest hid under his covers and the entity began to massage his feet. When the guest did not respond to this the spirit started shaking the bed. The guest was so scared that he ran out onto the porch and spent the rest of the night there.

The lights in the dining room keep turning on by themselves. It appears that ghosts do not like to be in the dark all the time and unexplained cold spots and drafts have been felt by employees who have also heard their names being whispered.

Early one morning the owner's relative went to the kitchen to get a cup of coffee. While in the kitchen the mixer suddenly turned on by itself. This provided the entity who was doing it with an amusing reaction to his or her prank. Another time a guest who was heading for the kitchen was not sure how to open the door and a disembodied voice said, "Push!"

While the female bartender has glasses in her hand to pour the drinks someone likes to slide ashtrays the length of the bar and then flip them into the air. A tavern customer who did not believe in ghosts saw an air conditioner cover come undone, fly ten feet across the room, and then graze his head. The customer quickly became a believer and knew not to make any ghosts angry. Window panes have been loosened at the hinges and door fly open and shut all by themselves. The spirits at this inn are very playful.

The Colonial House Inn is located on the north shore of Cape Cod in Yarmouthport. Captain John Minot who was a solider and physician built it in 1730. Then in 1730 Joshua Rider built a Federal-style house with a hip roof right next door and later the two houses were combined. During the Revolutionary War the house was used as a hospital and Dr Minot's operating room was in what today is Room 224.

For the next 100 years this house was called the Eldridge House and passed from descendant to descendant. When more room was needed a house was brought down from Nantucket and added on to the foundation at the rear. Finally it became the Colonial House and the owner Malcolm Perna renovated it in 1979 with three dining rooms and guest rooms with baths. The carriage house has suites and a conference area.

The inn is close to the King's Highway and in the old days Indians and other people would pass by the property on the way to town. The most interesting apparitions occur in Room 224 with the spirits of Dr John Minot, an Indian girl, and Ralph Waldo Emerson.

When a young bride and her husband stayed in the room she met Dr Minot while her husband slept. She saw a misty gray figure appear about four feet from the bed. He looked at her and then faded away. It is not known what the Indian girl's connection was to the room but Ralph Waldo Emerson once stayed there, The Indian girl has been recorded singing a native song. There have been feeling of sadness and pain felt in Room 224 since it was once an operating room and researchers have felt cold hands touching them.

A waiter was going to put a customer's credit card through the machine when it was suddenly grabbed out of his hand and taken away, The front office is haunted by a ghostly monk who enjoys knocking books off of the shelves. Here the living and the spirits manage to live side by side.