Back at the Ryde

In the unforgiving heat I pulled up my vehicle on the unpaved parking lot and did a last mirror check. An oily faced person stared back at me.

" Oily face check, running mascara check, frizzy hair check. Just perfect.", that day, we did an investigation at the Ryde Hotel. A dainty salmon-pink building perched along the banks of the Sacramento River, it greets you with its waving palm trees when you drive up to it on the 160 River Road.

That day, when melted make up was running a gooey mess on my face was also the first time The Group will be shot by Channel 5 KPIX.

I made my way to the front lobby only to find the place deserted. The Group's  pelican case and other cases we use to house the equipments are laid out  by the stairwell but I couldn't hear nor see anyone. I sat on one of the cozy overstuffed chairs by the french door entrance to survey the area when a movement caught my eye straight ahead, down a hallway which leads to a lounge and an employee office. I saw someone move from right to left at  the lounge area only to disappear from view. I stood up ready to greet either one of the investigators or a hotel employee and when I got to the lounge area no one was there.

"This is great. Not even 5 minutes into this place and she's already giving away her ghosts.", I thought to myself.

I met up with The Group eventually downstairs at the Speak Easy when David, another investigator came up to fetch me. We tried to slowly creep down stairs as I have been warned that the interview is on-going and that cameras as rolling. We did a few more shots at the front of the hotel in the beautiful civil twilight right by the neon signs.

 That night, The Ryde opened her doors to us. We utilized our equipment such as David's chatter box, k2 meters, trifield meters, thermal scanners, mini dvs and non scientific tools such as dowsing rods. We were also honored to work with renowned paranormal sensitive Donna Raymond who provided us with incredible impressions of the place.

The Team was split into two groups in the investigation. The group I was in consisted of Deb and Donna with Carl taking the camera shots. The other group consisted of David, Will and Devin with Branson doing the camera shoots.

There were correlating responses with the tools we used as each of them simultaneously exhibit activities - the k2 lights up, the trifield needle moves and David's Talk Box produces a word or two in direct responses to questions. Not to mention, the dowsing rods would move in response as well.

Personal experiences did not limit itself to the paranormal investigators, it came down upon one of the TV Crew member Branson. During an evp session, the activities and responses The Group was getting seems to show that they were making contact with a young girl - a child of maybe 8 or 9 years old. During one of the question sessions or evp sessions, Branson shared that he felt someone take a hold of his hand which it was believed to be of the little girl.  It is interesting to note that one of the EVP or Ghost Voice nuggets that was found in one of the investigator's audio was a child's voice responding to their questions. Donna also provided us with her impression that while we were downstairs. She saw a young girl with her back against the wall looking at us curiously and when she realized that Donna could see her, the girl brought her index finger up to her lips to gesture to Donna to stay quiet about her being there.

Carl who is a skeptic (skepticism is something The Group highly respect and encourage) also shared with us an experience he had while he had a camera rolling. He said that he saw a shadow move towards him and then his camera lost power. Luckily, The Group has another camera set up and the same form or shadow was also captured which further supports Carl's experience. While there are alternative explanations to the camera's lost of power, there is a theory that ghosts need energy to manifest and it can drain a battery power or manipulate electronic devices.

The Ryde still holds the intangible remnants of long forgotten laughter, music and conversations of the roaring 20s and the citizens of the Prohibition Era , where the love for booze was stifled and bootlegged, pushed underground that created places called Speak Easy. Some haunted places give you a sense of dread, evil intent and malice. But the Ryde welcomes everyone with open arms with her beautiful rooms, event venues, wonderful brunches and the bitter sweet echoes of her past.