Contents

Introduction
Lighthouse or Outhouse?	9
Chapter I
Adventures	12
Chapter II
Bed & Breakfasts	30
Chapter III
Caves	54
Chapter IV
Coastal Magic	60
Chapter V
Fall Colors	72
Chapter VI
Fun Places to Visit	86
Chapter VII
Ghostly Encounters	117
Chapter VIII
Gold Towns - Then & Now	125
Chapter IX
Hostels	144
Chapter X
Islands	152
Chapter XI
Lakes & Campgrounds	158
Chapter XII
Lighthouses	182
Chapter XIII
Missions	191
Chapter XIV
Museums	197
Chapter XV
National Parks	205
Chapter XVI
Special Occasions	217
Chapter XVII
State Parks	231
Chapter XVIII
Train Rides	249
Chapter XIX
Unique, Historical, and Interesting Places to Visit	258
Chapter XX
Waterfalls	283
Chapter XXI
Wildflowers	298
Chapter XXII
Wildlife & Zoos	303
Chapter XIII
Works of Art	326

Excerpt

Ghost Walk at Columbia

I really get excited when I find a place that is interesting to visit, has great history, and ghost stories all combines! Columbia, "gem of the southern mines," has all these qualities and more. John Walker discovered gold there in 1850. It was mind-boggling to learn that eighty-seven million dollars in gold was taken out of one square mile. At first gold was easy to obtain as it just seemed to be lying around and did not require much work to be found. Eventually, placer mining was needed, but water was not readily available. Water was finally brought in but the price was very high, and by the time the gold started running out, silver was found around Virginia CIty and most of the miners left, leaving Columbia a ghost town

Anywhere gold has been found, add the onslaught of miners, saloons, gamblers, and unsavory characters of both genders, and there are bound to be some ghost stories generated. It is said that ghosts are the spirits of those lives that were cut short, and they walk the earth trying to fulfill those lives. If that is true, then Columbia, like most gold towns, is an ideal place to find them. Life was very hard and very short for most of those who came seeking gold and for those who tried to take the gold away from them with whatever means were at their disposal.

On my trip to Columbia, I found a wonderful storyteller that made these stories come alive. Carol Biederman is a retired teacher who taught California history. Carol and her husband Gordon started giving ghost tours in Columbia. Carol had been researching the archives and talking to old timers around the area for some time. She had planned to write a book about ghosts of the area, but after visiting England and taking ghost tours there, she brought this great idea to the Columbia Committee. They liked the idea and so began the Columbia Ghost Tours.

The tour lasts approximately one-and-a-half hours. We met Carol and GOrdon at the City Hotel where Carol gave a short history on the two cemeteries, one on each side of town. In a year's span thirty-six were buried there, eight being children. Only four lived to be over fifty and only one died of natural causes, inebriation. As Carol said, "The rest were lives cut short."

The tour started by walking toward the Fall on Hotel down the street, but first Carol said we were going to stop at the Native Sons Building for a story that shows ghostly episodes are still an ongoing occurrence in Columbia.

Restoration is continually going on in Columbia and the story goes that a contractor met with a park ranger in the Native Sons building to talk about work that was to be done there. While they were talking, they heard footsteps in the room above them. Because of the deterioration of the buildings, certain portions are completely off limits to the public. Such was the case of the second story of this building. It was locked and no one should have been up there. The ranger and the contractor went up to get the person out. When they reached the room, the door was still locked. After unlocking the door and going into the room, they still heard the footsteps, but no one was there. The footsteps came toward them and went out through a wall. The contractor had not been a believer in ghosts until that moment when he became an instant believer. In the few moments of silence that followed Carol's story, I think the others on the tour, like myself, were listening and straining to hear those footsteps. It was one of those moments of mixed feelings, when we wanted to hear those ghostly steps, but yet did we? Our reverie was interrupted as Carol led us down to the Fallon Hotel where the parlor offered coolness and more stories of ghostly happenings.

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