The night before Hallowe’en, Mike and I did a tour of Bank Street after work where I stumbled upon a rare find – a record store which actually had NEW vinyl! I am very excited at this prospect as I have been searching for one over a year now. We also hit up a couple of comic stores along the way. I was interested to see that Silver Snail offers their comic books at US prices instead of the CDN price. Viva the smart retailers!
We then went to the Manx Pub which we have heard about over the years but have never visited. It was a very cozy place and wasn’t too loud. We had a few drinks until Carrie showed up and then we ordered dinner. Carrie and I ordered the lamb/curry wrap from a suggestion from Krista and it was delicious. I would definitely recommend the Manx Pub to anyone.
We then headed towards the Ghost in the Gallows tour which is a tour where they take you to the old prison in Ottawa (aka, now the Ottawa International Youth Hostel). In all the years I’ve been here, I’ve never gone on the tour so the Halloween time was the best time to go!
We met up with Vero and Mel, had some hot chocolate and started walking with the group towards the prison. Stopping along the way, our guide recounted tales of how Darcy McGee was assassinated and how the ghost of the murderer haunted the old prison house.
The old prison house/hostel is quite the archaic place. It was odd to see a bunch of youth hanging out there as it was a hostel, whereas we are a group of people traipsing along hunting for ghosts! We checked out a few old prison cells, heard about the ghosts that have inhabited them, heard about how the top floor has been shut down due to hostel-dwellers being freaked out by ghosts appearing in the middle of the night…it was all very fun. We also saw the gallows with the noose and while the guide was talking, the steel floor let go beneath it with a BANG! It gave us all a fright and she was very concerned as that never happens.
Well, at least that’s what she said. We had heard a scream and a bang when we entered the building and so a few of us thought it was part of the act. I would like to believe in the ghosts myself.
We grabbed some hot apple cider and toured a little more and the tour was over. I thoroughly enjoyed it and I believe the others did as well. I am anxious to go on the other haunted walk in the future as it takes you around various locales in Ottawa that are haunted.
Highly recommended!