I love anything paranormal and haunted sites—from a distance. It is totally different when you are the one involved in the haunting. I grew up seeing spirits, and over the years, I have become comfortable with the thought that I will always have spirits around me. The funny thing is that I have become so comfortable with being surrounded that sometimes I forget to be open to the energies around me.

I was living with my sister, Tracy, in San Diego, California, and we decided to take a trip to Maryland. Me, for seeing my sons and their family and her, to see her nephews she hadn’t seen in years. Deciding where to stay was fun as my son Steven and his family lived in Gambrills, northern Maryland, and my son James and his family lived in Waldorf, southern Maryland. Plus, Tracy and I wanted to do some wine tastings and explore primarily in south Maryland.

A retired Navy veteran, Tracy got reasonable rates at the Navy Recreational Center, Solomons Island, in southern Maryland. Since we planned to visit family and do sightseeing for a week, we decided to stay at the Rec Center at Solomon’s.

When we checked in the first night, it was like staying in a fully furnished apartment. It had a kitchen, two bedrooms, one bath, a dining room, and a living room. My bedroom was near the kitchen, and you had to go through the kitchen, dining room, and living room to get to Tracy’s bedroom. It was perfect. We each had our own personal privacy, but we were still together.

The only weird thing was that Tracy’s bedroom was freezing, but we passed it off as the A/C was really good in her room. Tracy didn’t mind the cold, and in fact, she liked it that cold, which is why she took the room. I like it cold, but not near freezing, so I had no problem with her taking that room. The thought of anything paranormal happening never even entered our minds until…

It had been a long day of flying and driving, so we ordered food and relaxed that evening before visiting family and sightseeing. After dinner, we went to our respective bedrooms to sleep.

Except there was a lot of noise from the kitchen outside my bedroom. The best way to describe it was as if someone was throwing a temper tantrum: cupboard doors slamming, loud bumping on the walls and ceiling, pots and pans banging. Except nothing was out of the normal the following day. There was no mess, no dishes lying around, nothing.

It had been so noisy that I turned on the lights to investigate, and I found nothing to explain the noise, which continued through the entire night. Every time I got up to go look, it got silent. Then, about twenty minutes after I was back in bed, it would start up again. I must have gotten up four or five times only to be greeted by total silence.

We went sightseeing, visited family, attended a few wine tastings, and enjoyed the seafood at Solomons Island. It was a great vacation except for the nightly tantrums in the kitchen. Tracy didn’t hear anything, and as she pointed out a couple of times, as much noise as I was claiming to hear, she should have heard something, too. I was beginning to think maybe I was crazy.

A friend visited and stayed with me in my bedroom the next night with absolutely no noise. I had the best night of sleep that night, and the next before, he had to leave on the third night. On the fourth night, the noise started up again, preventing me from getting any sleep that night.

I kept getting up to investigate, and again, the noise stopped, and nothing was out of place, but twenty minutes or so back in my bed and the racket started up again. I even yelled at the damn spirit to stop making noise. It just got worse.

On the fifth night, my youngest son, James, called to say he was bringing his family to visit with us. I told him what was happening, so he got his camera and walked around the apartment, taking pictures while visiting.

Both my sons, Steven and James, are sensitive as well, so although they might think their mother is weird, they don’t disbelieve me when I tell them of my experiences.

James actually caught pictures of shadows on the ceiling and walls. He pointed out that they looked like they were trying to escape his notice, as they seemed to be moving away from the camera. Seeing those pictures made me feel so much better because now I knew I wasn’t crazy. I really was hearing the noises.

So, Tracy, James, and I sat down to discuss possible reasons for the spirits to be acting up. Remembering how cold Tracy’s room was, I thought maybe it was because Tracy was in their bedroom, that maybe they didn’t like having a stranger in their space.

As a test to see if we were right, Tracy slept in my bedroom, and lo and behold, I finally got a good night’s sleep.

Coincidence? Maybe it was because the noise didn’t happen while my male friend slept in my room. So, either I was correct that Tracy was in their space, or it was because I wasn’t alone, and they only liked bothering me when I was alone. Either way…I didn’t care because I was finally able to get some sleep, and we were leaving on the sixth day, and the spirits could have their apartment back.

It was the first time I had such a negative experience, and I was glad we were leaving. Although I was also curious, I did some research on the area. The recreational center was built on the remains of a prospering town until the 1933 Chesapeake-Potomac Category 4 hurricane hit the area. It killed 47 people and caused over 42 million dollars worth of damage. Its 140-mile-an-hour winds destroyed the oyster beds the town depended on for its livelihood.

That area never fully recovered, and in 1941, the Navy built the Navy Recreational Center on that land. I will probably never know why the spirits were upset with me or even if they were casualties of the hurricane, but the experience taught me never to become blase about our surroundings.

There is always more history about the places we visit than just the surface, and we should be open to the energies of that history.