Tag: Ghost Adventures

The Haunted & Historic Whaley House

img_2343When most folks think of San Diego, they picture gorgeous beaches, beautiful weather and cultural and artistic attractions. But for those who have an affinity for the paranormal, San Diego beckons investigation, with its rich and dark past, haunted spots, spiritual encounters and inexplicable events.

The Whaley House may not look like anything special, but it’s been called the “most haunted house in America,” once by Time Magazine, the other by the Travel Channel series Ghost Adventures. So what makes this unassuming, two-story brick house in historic Old Town San Diego such a locus of supernatural activity? This small house has as many ghost stories as it does historical accounts and that does add up to a lot. The moment I heard about the Travel Channel dubbed “most haunted place in America, I knew I had to check it out.

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The Los Angeles Zoo: Then and Now

The Griffith Park Zoo was originally opened in 1912, amusingly built on the former location of Griffith J. Griffith’s old ostrich farm. It was opened with 15 animals, and due to lack of funding; it opened without any cages, simply stockades to keep the animals in, which were inadequate for several of the species, kept on site.

Stories claim that the history of the zoo was rocky, and it was always struggling. For example, in 1916, the zoo was apparently leaking sewage into the L.A. River, and later during World War I, a meat shortage made it hard to properly care for the animals, forcing the zoo to substitute horse meat for beef, leading to the deaths of many of the meat eating animals, particularly the big cats. Luckily the zoo was free which kept visitors coming.

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