Ghost tours of historic McDonough offered in October
By Johnny Jackson
jjackson@henryherald.com

Seasons Bistro co-owner Lynn Loggins said she has seen some interesting
things happen at her restaurant during late hours of the night.
Working alone at the back of the restaurant one night, Loggins noticed
the chilling figure of a brunette woman clad in a burgundy velvet
Victorian-era dress — a figure she said she could only see from the
waist up but she could see right through.

The occurrence, now, has her believing that her restaurant is haunted
with 100-year-old spirits.
"There have been too many things here, and people have told me that they
believe it," Loggins said. "I've had customers who have actually called
me over (as they were eating) and asked, 'Do you know that there's a
ghost in your bathroom?'"

The restaurant's facade, located just off McDonough's historic downtown
square, dates back to 1883. At one point in its history, the building
was used as funeral pallor.
Loggins' story is one of several in downtown McDonough where store
owners and patrons believe they've experienced paranormal activity. And
her restaurant will be one of 10 stops along McDonough's new "Ghost
Tours" in downtown which begin in October.

McDonough Hospitality and Tourism Director Leslie Chrysler said that the
tours were long in coming with so many stories from locals of
apparition-sightings and paranormal phenomena.
"Since I've moved to Georgia, everybody's been telling me about folklore
and things about the downtown area," she said.

Chrysler recently called on the talents of McDonough resident John
Quinn, a self-described ghost hunter and hobbyist historian, to conduct
bus-driven tours through downtown McDonough.
"Whenever John Quinn walks into my office, my lights flicker," Chrysler
said of her meetings with Quinn.

Over the past seven years, Quinn has investigated paranormal activity in
several McDonough establishments, many of which were built several
decades ago like the century-old Planters Warehouse and Lumber building
which currently houses the Bell, Book, and Candle bookstore.

Whitney Asbury, who works at the bookstore, said that she was a skeptic
until one rainy day a week ago she went to open the bookstore and found
three small bare, wet footprints at the doorway.
No one else was around to make the footprints and she, wearing shoes
herself, had not entered through the door before she saw the footprints,
she said.
"It didn't scare me," Asbury said. "I thought it was interesting."

But those who work at Scarlett's Retreat Day Spa on the other side of
the McDonough Square say the occurrences in the 1826 Victorian building
sometimes spark more chills than interest.
Spa manager Karen Loner said she has heard the footsteps of a small
child before. She said others have told her of strange occurrences, like
slamming doors, after hours.

Spa co-owner Annette Obanion is more skeptical than Loner.
Obanion said she has yet to see or hear anything strange in the
190-year-old house. But she admits feeling what she called "outside
energy" at times after hours.

"There are certainly things that are unexplainable," she said. "If we
all believe there's a next place to go, I believe that there is some
energy here. Yes, we have energy here."
The McDonough Ghost Tours will be held on Saturdays in October from 7-8
and 8-9 p.m. The first tour on Oct. 7 is already booked full, said
Tourism Director Chrysler.
"This is our first pass at it and if they are successful we'll start
doing it year-round," Chrysler said. "Eventually, I'd like to do
Wednesday night ghost tours."

Tour reservations must be done in advance as space is limited, Chrysler
said, adding that the tour had already filled before more tours were
added during the month of October.
Tours cost is $5 per person, which goes to pay for the tours, she said.

Reservations can be made at the McDonough Welcome Center, located at 5
Griffin Street in McDonough, by calling (770) 898-9311 or (770)
898-3196. The start location of the tours has not yet been determined.