Cashtown Inn - NO GHOSTS FOR YOU
Having investigated many haunted locations, my husband and I saved the best for the last night of our trip to Gettysburg - an overnight paranormal investigation in a private room inside the Cashtown Inn and a great dinner. There are only seven rooms at the Cashtown Inn. I made our reservation (Room #6 Pender Suite) three months in advance on the phone with the owner, Jack. I told Jack how important it was to us to have an 'active' room and the purpose of our trip. We arrived at 11 am, The sign next to the locked front door states that there is no front desk and gives a telephone number, but indicates that the restaurant opens at 11:30. We drove around the the back of the Inn and saw #6 on the door of a separate building - not inside the Cashtown Inn itself. We then realized that our room was not 'inside' the Inn, but a separate addtion built in the 1900's, that is not shown in any pictures. We sat in our car in disbelief and totally disappointed.
We visited the local winery and then went back to the Cashtown Inn around noon. When we entered the front door, Jack was frantic with the dining room, kitchen and lobby. He told us that check in time is clearly posted on the internet and we were too early. We asked for a table in the dining room for lunch. I was so upset, that I had only a soda. After lunch, standing the in the lobby, he hurriedly spat off a long list of rules, asked if we had dietary restrictions, told us times for breakfast (included) and gave us our key. He was very short and frank with us. All of his rooms were booked so he could not move our room. I was so disappointed but realized his hands were tied. I explained to him that we came all the way from Florida to stay IN the Cashtown Inn. Given the situation, I asked if he could do anything for us. Could we could have any access at all the inn, the basement, pictures in the building, etc? He arrogantly told us "There is no way I am letting you see my basesment." He denied us all access to the Inn, stating that "You chose the room yourself. There were others available three months ago when you booked" I told him that I was unaware that a back building existed (and he never mentioned it) but he wouldn't budge. He kept saying "It's all posted on our site." Even though Jack remembered speaking to me when I made the reservation, he flat denied us any access to the hotel. He said I should have 'done my homework' before booking. I actually started crying, I was so upset that we came all that way, were paying $200 a night and would have the exact same access to the Cashtown Inn that night as the public has (the dining room at dinner time and the lobby until 10pm). He kept saying "Quit blaming me for your mistake - you chose that room". He even said "And NOW you're crying in my lobby." He was mad at me for crying! I ducked out of the front door embarrased about my tears and red nose.
We went to our room (in the back parking lot) and set up all of our equipment. We read all of the journals entries from previous guests and pretty much debunked the claims that were written in them - footsteps on the floorboards and noises from above (next room, paper thin walls), light coming from closet with no source (reflection from light through top of hallway door). According to all of our equipment, there was no activity whatsoever in Room #6.
Reading reviews on the various travel sites and see that many other people have had their share of run-ins with Jack. He has no people skills. Jack was right about one thing .... we should have done 'our homework' and read all of the negative reviews before visiting his Bed and Breakfast. One of Jack's many rules was to leave the front porch light on at night to deter any other 'ghost hunters' from taking pictures of his Inn from the street. We paid Jack $200 and we never saw the inside of the Cashtown Inn !!! For all my paranormal colleagues, beware of Jack, the 'Ghost Nazi" - NO GHOSTS FOR YOU!