GC114M2 BOO Y'ALL - Bulluck Hospital (Traditional Cache) in North Carolina, United States created by fraygirls

This cache has been archived.

fraygirls: Went to give this one a check, and it appears to have been carried away by those troublemaking ghost children! The number of times that this one has vanished has now exceeded our patience with installing replacements, so we'll let this one go and open up this neat little area for another cacher to hide something [:)] Thanks to all who have visited over the years!

GC114M2 ▼

A cache by fraygirls Message this owner

Hidden : 2/25/2007

Difficulty:

Terrain:

Size: Size: small (small)

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Geocache Description:

Welcome to Wilmington - a quaint, historic port city tucked along the Cape Fear coast. As you stroll along the streets of downtown Wilmington enjoying the views of the river, the gnarled live oaks, and the significant old homes, you must brace yourself and face one inescapable truth: Wilmington is full of history, and such history is usually accompanied by ghosts. If you keep your eyes peeled, you may spot a cache…and a few lost souls who still call Wilmington home.

This installment of the BOO Y’ALL series brings us to Bulluck Hospital, which was established by Dr. Ernest S. Bulluck in 1922 and served Wilmington until the doctor’s death in 1944. At that time, the hospital closed and the majority of the building went unused for many years. However, the top floor, where the old children's ward was once located, became an informal hostel. Visitors here began reporting strange happenings on the third floor. Some claimed they could hear the laughter of children while others described the mysterious sound as weeping. Others had seen the figure of a young boy with wavy black hair standing at the rear of the building near the old staircase. The child, upon being seen, would quickly melt into the darkness of the staircase and disappear. Even stranger stories involve the dreams that some people reported experiencing while staying at the hostel, but these are just too scary to repeat here! It’s no wonder that the hostel here didn’t stay open for very long.

At one point, the owners of the building let out a room on the top floor for a band to practice here. The band would sometimes report hearing strange sounds late at night; doors opening and closing in the hallway, the elevator ascending up to the top floor with only the sound of footsteps exiting from the elevator. A local cacher, who has a connection with the members of this band, can verify this story!

Finally, be sure to peek at the alley behind Bulluck Hospital after you find the cache. Many years ago, there a local police officer who worked the downtown night shift and he used to pull his squad car down that dark tunnel and into this little alcove so he could catch a quick nap. After dozing for a short while he would wake and head back out on patrol. This worked well for several months, but one night he awoke to find what looked like the figure of a small child standing in the shadows by the staircase over to the side. The officer flicked on his searchlight and shone it into the corner only to find tall alley weeds there.

This happened several times in the following month, but always he found the alley weeds and nothing else. Then one night, after awakening abruptly and with a very bad headache, the officer again saw the alley weeds swaying gently. The officer decided not to turn on his flood light, as his headache was hurting rather badly. Instead, he reached forward and adjusted the rear view mirror so he could see himself to clear the sleep out of his eyes. As he looked in the mirror there was movement in the reflection, coming from behind him. As the officer's eyes refocused in the mirror he saw a child with a vacant stare sitting in the back seat. The officer jumped from his car, drawing both his gun and flashlight. As the beam shone into the back seat of the car, there was no one there. The officer quickly swept the beam around the alcove, and upon finding no one there, he jumped back into his squad car and left, never to return to this spot again.

Don’t you feel lucky that we didn’t hide the cache in the alley, and chose instead to hide it near an area where you can peer safely from above? Don’t feel too secure, though, as your hunt for this cache may be witnessed by the past inhabitants of the Bulluck Hospital children’s ward from the third-floor window...Good Luck!

FTF HONORS GO TO MRRMOD!