Belleview Biltmore Hotel -- Right out of a horror flick

This past week I have been attending a National Dropout Prevention Network conference in Clearwater, FL for work. I flew out there on Tuesday, and just flew back into town this morning. The conference was OK, attendance was pretty sparse. But the most interesting part of the conference was the hotel where the conference was held and where we stayed.
The Belleview Biltmore Hotel was built in 1892 and today is the nations largest all wood structure still occupied. It is also listed on the National Register of Historic Place. And the most important things about the Belleview is that it is haunted.

Now I would consider myself a skeptic -- a skeptic with an overactive imagination. However, I can report that the Belleview is stinkin' spooky!!!!! Confession time: I really had three nights of the worse sleep, because I had to sleep with the bathroom light on and I just couldn't feel comfortable in the room. It was all soooooo creepy.

First, the Belleview is about 5 months away from a complete $150 million dollar, 2 year renovation. They are actually closing the hotel for the entire time. So needless to say, they are not making any repairs, updates or upgrades in the mean time. That means the wallpaper is peeling, there are wires and pipes showing everywhere and it just has a VERY rundown appearance inside -- thus adding to the spooky old feeling of the place.

Second, the Belleview has the STINKINEST SCARRY HALLWAYS I've ever been down. Honestly, every night when I had to walk back to my room, I had to call Kiki to keep me company while I was making the 1/2 mile treck to my room.Because of the disrepair of the hotel, I'd guess more than 2/3 of the room are uninhabitable. I passed a room where maids where working and the walls were missing. It was totally creepy.

I was able to take a tour of the hotel and it has an amazing history. Some of the famous people that have stayed there...Thomas Edison, Fred Rogers (Mr. Rogers...he spent many summers here for swim training), Margaret Thatcher, Duke of Windsor and most recently (though I hate to admit it) President-elect Obama. Underneath the Belleview are miles of tunnels, as back in the old days, servents were not to be seen as they went about their duties, so the tunnels were developed for them to travel back and forth between different sections of the hotel. Here are some my photos from the tour.
Underneath the hotelOriginal 1897 shoe shine stand in one of the men's restrooms.

Anyways, besides touring the Belleview I joined my fellow Pinnacle team members for an evening of sea food at Frenchy's Rockaway Grill. Yes, that's right I did eat seafood. Those of you who know me know that I HATE seafood. However, I have photographic proof that I ate actual seafood. And I will admit that for the first time in my life....I loved it! For some strange reason the food at Frenchy's was fabulous -- coconut shrip, jerk shrip, fried clams, and the MOST DELICIOUS She-crab cream soup, yum!

And to put a cap on a unusual weekend Thursday night we went into St. Petersburg, FL had dinner at an AMAZING Tapas restaurant called Civeche. It was so delicious. Afterwards we went on a walking Ghost Tour of St. Petersburg. Our guide was one of the best story tellers I've ever seen -- spooky facial expressions, great accent, and a voice that would carry 5 blocks. Our tour ended at one of the most haunted house in St. Petersburg. My friend Nick was tasked with using diving rods to see if he could detect any spirits. He said he had a definite encounter unfortunately, the photos didn't pick up anything.
Anywyas, it was an unusual weekend to say the least. And boy am I thrilled to be sleeping in my comfortable, but completely boring, bed.