Theresa Travels: To Louisville, Kentucky!

Waverly Hills August 10, 2024

This past weekend, I traveled from Charleston, WV to Louisville, KY for a bucket-list level visit to Waverly Hills Sanatorium. I was joined by SRI founder/president, Brian Clary, and my spooky buddy Angie for an intense, six hour investigation of the old tuberculosis hospital. That was the main focus for our trip, and it certainly was the highlight.  Waverly Hills is one of those top haunted locations in the world, but even though its less than four hours away, I had never had the opportunity to tour it. But, even though we came for Waverly, we couldn’t come to town without cramming in as much spooky fun as we could. We were only there for a short amount of time, but we filled nearly every minute with what Louisville’s paranormal scene had to offer. Join me on my trip to haunted, historic Louisville!

Angie I drove down together from Charleston, while Brian left from Huntington. We left around 10am and had a nice, easy drive down I-64, stopping briefly for lunch at CookOut. The trip was uneventful, but we spent the 3.5 hours chatting about the ghosts of Waverly Hills…and laughing more than necessary at topics that bear no repeating here! It was fun, and we were in great spirits as we pulled into town and met Brian in Old Louisville. Since we still had about an hour before we could check into our AirBnB, we decided to officially start our trip with a little side trip.

The Witches’ Tree, located on the corner of S. 6th St. and Park Avenue, is like something out of a fairy tale. The large, knotted, gnarled tree dominates the landscape, covered in offerings of beads, coins, crafts, toys, and much more. It stands as a stark reminder not to mess with the local witches! As the tale goes, during the late 19th century, a coven of witches gathered at this particular tree, which was located just outside of town. Despite being an integral part of the witches’ ceremonies, the town decided the large maple would make an excellent Maypole for their annual celebration. Amid warnings from the witches, the town went ahead and cut the tree down, an act that would result in a curse. 

The curse would finally take hold 11 months later on March 27, 1890. Around 8:30pm, a massive tornado ripped through the area. It lasted only five minutes, but resulted in the death of 100 people, dozens more injured, and extensive property damage. Amid the rubble, a new tree began growing from the stump of the Witches’ Tree. It grew into the twisted, writhing, knotted giant that is there today. Of course, we had to get plenty of pictures, and leave a few offerings of our own. 

Next, it was time to head to our AirBnB! Brian had suggested a Halloween/Horror themed house about 15 minutes from Waverly Hills known as The Haunted Hideaway at The Black House. Decked out in spooky decor, including a 12 foot skeleton in the backyard, the house was the perfect place to crash for a few hours before and after our investigation. It was clean and comfortable, with a twin bed, a Queen, a futon, and a GIANT couch. It’s also pet-friendly if you need to take your furbabies with you. I highly recommend it to anyone staying in the area, even though we didn’t really get to spend that much time there, as we were so busy. My only complaint would be that there is only ONE BATHROOM. That made things a little difficult with three people trying to rush to shower and get ready before check-out. 

The Haunted Hideaway AirBnB

Anyway, we got in a quick power nap before we had to leave to start the first part of our evening. Now, I had my heart set on finding a haunted restaurant for dinner, but Brian, who visits Louisville fairly regularly, suggested an awesome little Irish pub, called the Irish Rover. I am so glad we took his suggestion, because it was fantastic. It was a cozy little diner located in a historic building with a menu filled with authentic Irish cuisine and even quite a few vegetarian options. The prices were extremely fair, the service was great, and the food was served really quickly.  I REALLY wanted to be adventurous and try the Cottage Pie, but a heavy bread bowl with mashed potatoes and smothered with cheese probably would have killed me after walking around so much later on. Instead, I had a safe grilled chicken sandwich and fries, which was delicious. We shared some Cordon Bleu Fritters, which were to die for—a mix of cheese, chicken and ham in a deep-fried fritter.

Dinner was followed by a trip to downtown Louisville where we met up in front of the Brown Hotel with Robert ‘Ghost Walker’ Parker of Louisville Ghost Walks! I was a little nervous about taking a walking tour right before an all-nighter at the gigantic Waverly Hills…but it wasn’t bad at all. Our tour lasted a little under two hours, and it was just our little group, so it was like a private tour. The walk was completely flat, nice and easy, and there were plenty of long stops, several with places to comfortably sit while we listened to the haunted history of Louisville. Robert is an awesome story teller, and was extremely knowledgeable about the city and its spooky past. We got some great information about the Brown Hotel, the Brennan House, the Palace Theater, and many other spots. Robert even gave us some information about Waverly Hills. 

Tickets for Louisville Ghost Walks run $25 and tours are held on both Friday and Saturday evenings starting in August. There are several different tour companies throughout Louisville, but I definitely recommend a tour with Robert if you’re in the downtown area. Parking is available close by, but a word of caution—Louisville had a much larger and much more visible population of unhoused individuals than I realized. For the most part, we were in well-populated areas and still had plenty of sunlight throughout the tour. Only once did an individual approach our group, but quickly left when asked. I felt completely safe the entire time. Still, there were a couple of places where you just needed to uh, watch your step. 

With our Louisville Ghost Walk  tour guide, Robert

Being downtown, we stopped in for a quick drink/snack break at Sicilian’s Pizza before heading back to the AirBnB to rest up for the big event!

We only had about an hour and a half before we had to leave for Waverly, so I got in another quick power nap and changed into my SRI t-shirt. We loaded up all the equipment that we had left charging at the house, and made the 15 minute drive to Waverly Hills. 

There are two addresses listed for Waverly Hills, but only one will take you to the gate you need to go to. The problem was, my GPS kept trying to re-reroute us to the wrong gate, no matter what we did. So, it was a little harrowing as we finally just had to trust that we could find the correct road without electronic help, which we successfully did. Eventually. Security is everything that people tell you it is. We had to go through two different checkpoints before arriving at the parking area. We pulled up about 20 minutes before our midnight start time, and there were already about a dozen people outside, milling around, taking pictures, and gasping about how spooky and massive the structure was. 

We were quickly allowed inside to the gift shop where we had to officially sign in and were allowed to make any purchases while we waited. I was a little disappointed in the selection; I had my heart set on some new books, but they didn’t have any. T-shirt and hoodie designs/sizes were extremely limited, but the prices weren’t too bad. I bought a t-shirt. Drinks, snacks, batteries, OTC meds, and small equipment pieces were also available. We had a few minutes to use the restroom while we waited for the 8pm paranormal tour finished up, and that’s when Angie had HER first paranormal experience of the evening! She actually got locked into a stall and ended up having to crawl under the door to get out!

Base Camp

Shortly after, we were taken upstairs to the second floor base camp area. There were about 50 guests that night, and we were divided into two groups for a quick tour and safety briefing. The tour lasted around a half hour and took us to all five floors of the old hospital. It was suggested to leave flashlights turned off and let our eyes adjust to the dark. Unfortunately, that meant that we really didn’t get a good look at much of the hospital. Our guide would be telling us stories and locations, and we just couldn’t see anything. People were also stumbling around and bumping into things, which didn’t seem like that good of an idea. Overall, my one disappointment for the evening was that you couldn’t really see a lot. There were no daytime history tours of the hospital being held that day, and the 8pm-12am paranormal tour was completely sold out. With security so strict, we couldn’t get anywhere near the building within daylight hours to really take some decent pictures or just appreciate the building in the light.

I’ll be sharing more about our investigation in an upcoming blog post, but we had a blast. After the tour, we were allowed to free-roam pretty much the entire the building, including the roof. Although there were a lot of people walking around without lights and sound traveled pretty easily, we actually had a few experiences that we couldn’t necessarily blame on the uncontrolled environment. We absolutely sat and played peek-a-boo with multiple humanoid shadows on the fifth floor after we knew for a fact that we were alone up there. Later, we heard and felt some crazy stuff in the Death Tunnel, including what sounded like the clatter of a plastic bowl or cup being thrown at us. For it to have been another person, they would have had to silently and swiftly got the hell out of there without responding to us asking who was there. 

Death Tunnel

The investigation lasted until 6am, but those wanting to bow out early had the option at 2am or 4am. We stuck it out to the last minute. I was really proud of myself for doing as well as I did. I had to take some pain medication, which helped a lot with my back issues, but caused me to have some brief bouts of heavy nausea. Still, I powered through with the help and understanding of Brian and Angie. We got to see and investigate every area of the hospital, which after awhile, I found was a little less intimidating in regards to its size. I thought for sure I’d get lost, but once you knew the basic layout, it was easy to navigate. The second, third, and fourth floors are nearly identical, and the staircases/EXIT signs are the one thing that ARE well-lit. 

We were sad to leave, but worn out and ready to head back to the house to get as much sleep as we could. We all walked away with a desire to return to Waverly Hills, potentially for a private investigation in the future. But first, sleep. I crawled into my bed as soon as we got in and must have fallen asleep almost immediately. I woke up just in time to get a quick shower before having to lock up and say goodbye to spooky AirBnB. Brian left a little early, but Angie and I rolled out right before 11, still tired but ready for one last adventure.

You can’t go to Louisville without making a stop at the nearby Pope Lick Train Trestle for a visit with the Pope Lick Monster! The Pope Lick Monster is a man-goat-sheep monstrosity that haunts a train trestle outside Louisville. Depending on who’s telling the legend, he was a circus freak that escaped, or a farmer that sold his soul. Sometimes he’s said to jump down at cars driving under the bridge, sometimes he’s seen with an axe, and sometimes it is said he is summoned by crossing the trestle. Unfortunately, several people have been killed while hunting for the Pope Lick Monster, as the train trestle is still an active rail line. There are plenty of fences and No Trespassing signs in the area, but that still isn’t a huge deterrent for some. However, there is a walking/bike path that runs directly under the trestle, so it’s easy to visit the area SAFELY. We stopped and got a few pictures, but didn’t have high hopes of running into the monster at noon on a sunny, summer afternoon with so many people out. 

I’m planning on dedicating a blog post to the Pope Lick Monster legend, but I will say that I’m really glad we took the few extra minutes to stop. I don’t know when I’ll be back in Louisville, and I would have regretted not stopping by to pay my respects. It was a nice little end to a fun-filled paranormal adventure in Louisville, Kentucky.  Louisville is a town full of history and hauntings, and there was no shortage of spooky adventures to be had. There were so many more places we could have visited, but I’m happy. It was a great weekend with great friends, and I think we really made the most out of the short amount of time we had there. I can’t wait to go back!

Pope Lick Trestle

For more pictures of our adventures, please see Theresa’s Haunted History of the Tri-State on Facebook!