Hanley: Ghosts are out to lunch in Occoquan

On my way down to the town of Occoquan to bone up on my otherwordly knowledge, I drove by a glum looking teenager who reminded me of Winona Ryder in the 1980s ghostly comedy Beetlejuice.

As it turns out, she really didn't look anything like Ryder's character. Her hair was a different shade and she had a school uniform on.

I guess it was Halloween playing tricks on my mind. Approximately 10 minutes later, I pulled into town, dressed in my reporter's costume: a plaid buttondown, khakis and casual brown shoes. I wanted to stand out from all the children flocking to town for the second annual Harvest Parade & Fun Festival in their boring Spiderman and witch costumes.

(I kid, I love children. I have one now and she wore tiger and butterfly costumes Saturday).

But I digress. Back to Occoquan. My first stop was 204 Washington St., also known as Attic Treasures. This gem of a place did nothing to dispel my doubts on whether the town was haunted.

Supposedly, several different poltergeists frequent the building. Owner Judy Breunig has never seen any apparitions but from time to time, objects like scissors are misplaced.

"There's times we don't think he's there and then we swear he's moving stuff," Breunig said.

Her co-worker, Anna Brim, said she heard some noises this morning. Turns out it was just the owner's speakers buzzing, laughed Brim.

Damn! So close and yet, so far.

Not to be dismayed, I ventured down the street to 206 Mill St., which supposedly has a spirit named Charlotte that haunts the place. She re-arranges things to her liking, just like my daughter with the same name. Of course, my Charlotte leaves other things for us to clean up. But I digress—again.

Much to my dismay, the owner of the store knew little, instead referring me to an accupuncturist's office upstairs where the occurrences mainly happen. And that office was closed.

I sulked out and walked another block to 302 Mill St. The Golden Goose, housed in a Civil War era structure, supposedly features the ghost of an old woman who used to tattle on roller skaters who raced by her hardware store many decades ago.

The sales counter she looked out over is now in the back of the store. It's age and beauty is undeniable, but its connection to the spirit world? I wasn't exactly feeling it.

Maybe it's because the owner, Pat Bowen, has never seen the ghost. Or that the overwhelming amount of items The Golden Goose sells are Christmas items. Or it could be the Daddy Saw Mommy Kissing Santa Claus song emanating from the radio on the desk.

An interesting story, but nothing too creepy.

Next on my list was the courtyard behind 201 Union Street that formerly housed the town well. It has been said that a spirit likes everything to be extremely quiet, immediately shutting out sounds like wind chimes.

Well, it was quiet all right. But there was no wind, no people and no sound, other than eerie Halloween music coming from Quinn's Goldsmith around the corner.

As the day wore on, though, things became progressively more interesting. Perhaps the most intriguing spots I visited Saturday were the Rockledge Mansion, the old funeral parlor located at 309 Mill St. and The Occoquan Inn.

A Confederate soldier supposedly convalesces at Rockledge, now the site for Georgetown Caterers. An unexplained hand print can clearly be seen above the summer kitchen fireplace of this 1758 mansion that clings to a hillside just above Mill Street.

Gloria Rouse, Georgetown caterer and friend of the owner, spent two nights at the mansion and heard unexplained footsteps the first night she was there.

The second night? She turned up the air conditioning full blast so she wouldn't hear anything else go bump in the night.

At the old funeral parlor, which now houses a My BodYoga Spa and the Artists' Undertaking Gallery, coins have been mysteriously removed and put back into registers before the closing of a day.

Framed pictures have suddenly shifted and fallen from the wall in front of artists and multiple appearances by what supposedly was one of the now-deceased funeral home directors scared one artist so badly that she left and never came back.

"She had her husband come back and pick up her artwork," said co-op artist David Ernst.

Similarly spooky things have occurred in the upstairs dining area and women's bathroom at the Virginia Inn. Legend has it that a Native American was visiting a white woman in her former 19th century residence when he was shot and killed by the woman's jealous husband while coming down the stairs.

Glimpses of that same Indian appearing in the bathroom mirror just feet from the staircase have been reported. And doors have periodically locked with no explanation and even once,  stuck for no apparent reason, said owner Gary Savage.

Savage will never forget the night the door stuck or that waitress, who came flying down the stairs when she couldn't make it budge despite the fact that it was unlocked. Savage walked up the stairs, tried the door and, voila, it opened without any force.

Spooky, huh?

Several hours later, I was watching News Channel-8, and, lo and behold, there was Beetlejuice and he was hanging out in Georgetown.

Maybe I wasn't seeing things, after all.

Staff writer Kipp Hanley can be reached at 703-878-8062 or via e-mail at .