Brookdale Lodge Ghost

Over the years there have been many sightings of little Sarah Logan. She is often seen in a white and blue Sunday dress walking through the lobby or near the fireplace between the lounge and Brookroom. She has also been seen playing on the balcony of the Brookroom, an area off limits to visitors and guests, and sitting beside the fire in the Fireside Room.

Some have even been approached by the crying Sarah asking if they could help her find her nanny. As they turn to look for the little girl's mother, Sarah vanishes. The sightings aren't limited to visitors. Past owners of Brookdale Lodge have also seen Sarah running about the lodges' lobby. From their description, Sarah was, "very clear, like a whole person" and wore a 1940's style formal dress. She ran silently across the lobby for about five seconds before disappearing through the office window. The owners must have been quite "spooked" because soon after the they hired several priests and psychics to try and rid the lodge of its spirits.

To date, no record of Sarah Logan's death at Brookdale Lodge has ever been found. James Logan founded the Lodge, but the brook through the dining room was installed by Dr. Camp after he bought the lodge in the 1920's. No record of a niece or daughter named Sarah related to any owner of Brookdale Lodge has been found.

The niece isn't the only paranormal activity visitors to the lodge have experienced. In the Mermaid Room visitors have experienced hearing voices, the clinking of glasses, and soft music when the room was empty. The jukebox located here has been known to turn itself on and off when nobody is near it.

When the Brookroom is empty you can sometimes hear glasses and plates clinking and people talking as if dozens of ghostly diners are having a meal. A ghostly woman, has been seen walking over the brook as if supported by a bridge removed long ago. Psychics speculate that she is the mother of Sarah Logan returned to find her daughter. The smell of gardenias often permeates the room at night although there are no gardenias in the Brookroom or the lodge. Could this be the perfume of Sarah's mother?

Big band music has been heard playing faintly in the Fireside Room and in the Pool Room. People have also reported cold spots, presences, and even being touched by unseen forces in the Pool Room.

Late at night doors slam and footsteps are often heard in empty rooms. They are particularly loud from the second floor conference room. Many have reported strange smells and having a sense that the room is full of people when it is empty. Psychics have identified one of the conference room spirits as a man by the name of George. He is a lumberjack and has also been encountered behind the lodge at a place where in the lodge's early years they chopped wood for its many fireplaces.

In the 1970's a wing of motel rooms was built over the spot where once stood the lodge's camping cabins. Room 46 of the motel wing is reported to be very haunted. A woman who worked at the lodge in exchange for lodging has reported that at night objects and shapes would fly across the room. Ghostly ballroom dancers would swirl around leering at her as they floated by. Ghosts would materialize around her bed, their faces sometimes vague and sometimes very very clear. One of the ghosts was a little boy, perhaps 12 or 13 years old, another was a man with his eye hanging loose on his cheek, and still another was a man with a knife wound across his face. Not all of her experiences in room 46 were visual. She also reports that once she felt somebody sit on the edge of her bed and stroke her arm.

In 1991 owners were told by psychics that, in all, there are 49 spirits in residence at the Brookdale. Enough to make it more than worth a visit.

In addition to it's paranormal interest, the lodge, now named the Brookdale Inn & Spa, is centrally located to all the attractions and activities of the Santa Cruz Mountains and a nice place to stay. If you are just driving through I recommend you stop for their very nice Sunday champagne brunch in the Brookroom. (9:30 - 2 PM)

Anytime you visit I think you'll be pleasantly surprised by the charm, beauty, history, and the wonderful live entertainment provided by the lodge. To see exactly what I mean you'll just have to visit for yourself.

Santa Cruz

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