#24 Go on a Ghost Tour of the Hermitage

Most of my teen years were spent playing "Presid-ass" (an improvised card game that basically followed the rules of "President/Ass"), watching the Simpsons, sleeping, and sculpting religious idols out of manky old carrots at lunch time. But I always heard rumblings from the cooler kids who like, did stuff, about this place in Ancaster called the Hermitage.

'Carrot-Jesus'

The Hermitage is this old half-built mansion, located in the middle of a forest. It is said to be the most haunted place in the area - and according to our tour guide, it is possibly the most haunted place in all of  Canada. I guess in high school it was kind of a thing to sneak into the place at night, and explore it all rebellious-like. I missed that boat at the time, so this summer I really wanted to go on a tour of the place so I could find out what all of the fuss was about.  

Well, that's it. 

I went with my friends T and M, and the tour started just after sunset. So that gave it a good creepy atmosphere. Unfortunately, the few dozen other people on the tour negated the creepiness factor. They were really annoying, actually - if they weren't talking over our caped tour guide (as a former tour guide, that is one of my big pet peeves  -talking, not capes. capes are awesome. ), they were constantly flashing their cameras in attempts to get pictures of ghosts or orbs or something. 

For those who don't know - that lens flare in the upper left corner is what ghosty-type peeps call an 'orb.'  It is clearly just a camera malfunction, but some people like to think they have something to do with dead people

Ok, I understand the allure. I used to be terrified and fascinated by 'orbs' when I was little. I think I must have seen some ghost hunting show about them, and so my biggest fear when I went to bed at night was that there would be an orb floating in the corner. I wasn't afraid of burglars or murderers, but I was petrified of floaty light-balls. (and aliens.) Anyways, I think that is what these people were trying to get a picture of. With the amount of pictures people took, they probably got one or two - but in the process they basically blinded me. 

I personally didn't see any ghosts or feel any special feelings. So I'm still on the fence about paranormal activity. But it was fun to go exploring in the forest at night, guided only by the light of my iPhone and M's keychain penlight. (Being noob ghosthunters, we all forgot flashlights).