Last night, I participated in my third Match.com event. This one was fascinating. It was a tour of Denver's former red light district, and various "haunted" places in LoDo. Our guide, Ren, was hilarious. We started out at the Blake Street Vault, which had originally been a brothel. This particular brothel was known for its discretion, and it had, I believe, six different tunnels leading to it from various hotels, as well as the capitol building. The tunnels, as well as the building itself, are said to be haunted.
Once we left our starting point, we stopped at a corner a few blocks away, and Ren dramatically climbed onto a marble bench and declared that was her favorite stop, because she gets her own stage and spotlight. It was pretty amusing. While standing atop her platform, Ren told us the story of the Denver Strangler. He was basically the Denver version of Jack the Ripper, though a little less gruesome. This one didn't take out body parts. He did, however, only target prostitutes. He killed three before the killings mysteriously stopped, and shortly after, the Great Denver Fire broke out. It's assumed he died in the fire. As we walked away, I said to the guy standing next to me, "You don't think she likes her job at all, do you?" And he laughed and said, "No, not even a little!" We got to talking after that, and more or less kept a conversation going the rest of the evening.
We ended at Union Station, which may as well be renamed "Hogwarts," for all of the apparent paranormal activity that goes on there. One particular story has to do with a little girl that haunts one of the bathrooms (she died in an electrical fire around 1910), and terrorized the maids so badly, they lost 5 maids in about 3 weeks. They finally solved that problem by always leaving the bathroom door open when they clean it, and always sending in two maids at a time. She apparently still haunts the bathroom, but doesn't terrorize them as much. Union Station has its very own Moaning Myrtle.
Chilan and Vien came with me on this adventure, and it was fun to have friends along for the ride, though Chilan kept wearing her skeptical scientist face. At different times, those of us on the tour would discuss how accurate these stories were. I said they were most likely legit. Any city more than a hundred or so years old has verified stories of unexplained phenomena. Now whether or not that's actually paranormal activity, is up to the individual to decide. We talked a little bit about different theories of time and space, and how that could explain things. Apparently, there's an apartment building near Cheesman Park in Denver that actually has a line in the lease saying you cannot break your lease because of paranormal activity. Because it happens SO MUCH there. Skeptic that I am, I don't know that I would sign that lease.
At the end of the evening, I walked back to my car and headed home. It was a great evening, and I loved learning a little about the history and myths of Denver. I have heard from the guy I was talking to last night, and looks like we may be getting together soon. I actually have options right now. Two guys I'm interested in who are BOTH interested in me as well. Um. Huh? This formerly homeschooled courtship-committed girl doesn't even know what to do with herself right now! I have one more Match event coming up next week, and we'll see what happens. But so far, I'm 3 for 3 with these events, so if nothing works out with either of these guys, I'll probably keep going. I love feeling like I have options, and I love rising to the occasion and challenging myself to engage in social situations, which I have always shied away from in the past. For me, putting myself out there is definitely part of being Dauntless. But I'm looking those fears straight in the eye, turning my charm all the way up, and pushing forward. And I love it.
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