The Plan: Day 1

This is the beginning of a 16 part series where I discuss my planned itinerary. All times are estimated and subject to change.

On the night of October 9th, I plan to go see Andrew Bird in Asheville, NC. Hopefully, one of the cool people I know up there will let me crash with them for one night or I will get a hotel. Either way, I am starting the trip on Saturday, October 10th.

9:00 am- Leave Hotel (or friend's house).

9:10 am- Arrive at Chicken Alley, Asheville. Besides being a cool alley, this locale is supposedly haunted by the ghost of Dr. Jamie Smith, who died in a bar brawl in 1902. I don't expect much since this will be in daylight.

9:20 am- Leave Chicken Alley.

10:25 am- Arrive at the Okolona Rd exit in Johnson City, TN. This is one where I can (maybe) test the legend. Based on the story of a man who died while trying to push his broken down car (with his family inside) to safety, you are supposed to put your car in neutral on the exit and it will roll uphill. If done long enough, you see handprints and the rear windshield gets foggy. This should not take long.

10:30 am- Leave the Okolona Rd exit.

1:30 pm- Stop somewhere for lunch

3:30 pm- Arrive at Kiester School, Harrisonburg, VA. This one is a little troublesome. The haunted spot is in a wooded area behind an elementary school. I don't really want to snoop behind a school but, since it will be the weekend, that may not be an issue? The woods are said to be haunted in that you feel someone watching you. Also, a dude disappeared into the woods in the 1960s and was never found.

3:50 pm- Leave Keister School.

5:35 pm- Arrive at St. Peter's Catholic Church in Harpers Ferry, WV. Home to a ghost priest and the screams of wounded Civil War soldiers.

5:55 pm- Leave St. Peter's.

7:10 pm- Arrive at Edgar Allan Poe's grave in Baltimore, MD. Nothing haunted here, just want to see the guy's grave since he wrote some awesome scary stories.

7:30 pm- Leave Poe's Grave.

9:00 pm- Arrive at Dead President’s Tavern in Wilmington, DE. The home to the ghost of a prankster named Lemonade Mullery who died in the 1960s by slipping on piss in the men's room (!). Apparently, he likes to play gags by throwing dishes around and levitating objects in the game room. I figured this would be a good place to stop and eat dinner, maybe grab a pint. I was originally supposed to stop in Aberdeen, MD, for the night but this is just too good an opportunity to pass up.

9:45 pm- Leave Tavern for my hotel.

That is day one, and a long day it is. However, I will get 6 states out of the way. Pretty good, I think. Let me know if you see a flaw in the plan.

Josh