For those who haven’t heard of Jerome, Arizona, it was once an old mining town that is now one of the most haunted places in America. It was founded in 1876 and was once the fourth largest city in Arizona. The drive from Phoenix to Jerome took about 2 hours, and for those with sensitive stomachs – the winding road up the hill might be tough but it has beautiful views. As soon as my sister Debbie, best friend Jamee, her sister Tanya, and I got to the main part of the town, we noticed each store, home, and building had such a quaint vintage-feel.
We arrived on Friday at the Jerome Grand Hotel, which YOU GUESSED IT, is haunted! The hotel is at the top of Cleopatra Hill, so you can see the entire town during the day and all the lights from the town at night. The hotel was previously a hospital with 9,000 alleged deaths. And for all you ghost lovers, there is a Ghost Adventures episode about the hotel! Multiple occurrences have been reported throughout the entire hotel, but the third floor has the most claims to supernatural activity. Unfortunately, our room was on the first floor and right next the kitchen, so we heard noise all day from the guests and workers, but that didn’t explain the noises we heard at night… After we unpacked, poured ourselves a drink, and put on our game faces, we walked down the hill to the Haunted Hamburger. Per usual, Debbie, Jamee, and myself ate family style and shared a few apps and a burger. Trust me, order the onion rings! After dinner, we walked down to the Spirit Room which is one of the two bars in Jerome. When we first walked in the entire bar was silent and filled with locals, so we stuck out like sore thumbs, but Debbie played a little Marvin Gaye on the juke box, and the mood of the room quickly warmed up. We then continued to have a drink or two… or three and DJ’d the juke box until the live music started.
Saturday morning, we started our day by taking a stroll up and down the main street of Jerome. Each shop was so unique and small, I loved every bit of it! Our first meal was at Vaqueros Cantina, I got a michelada and it was probably the best I have ever had…and cured my hangover. In Joeys voice: “The flautas, good! Ceviche, good! Guac, GOOOOD!” Saturday was our main day to be out and about since we were leaving Sunday morning, so we took our time and soaked it all in! We made sure to stop in each shop and check out all the unique artwork and beautiful jewelry. After a walk back up to our room to drop off the goodies we bought, we headed to our first winery for the day, Vino Zona. All the wines we tasted were handpicked by the owner and all made locally in Arizona, we wanted to buy each wine we tasted. The owner had just opened the shop 3 months prior and put such a personal touch to her wine selection, the shop, and especially the bathroom! She had it stocked with anything and everything you could ever need. Winery número dos, Passion Winery, had beautiful views overlooking the hills of Jerome, Clarkdale, and Cottonwood. Although the company and views made for a great wine tasting experience, I would still vote Vino Zona as the best spot for wine tasting in Jerome. We made a quick pit stop at the Spirit Room to hear the live band, and let’s face it, to get our groove on! After round two of the Spirit Room, we walked back up to the room to refresh ourselves and have a sip of some gin and Fresca. With all the wine and gin and gin and wine in our system, we hustled back out to the Spirit Room, met some great people, and danced and sang till our hearts were content!
Now, for the spooky shit!
In the hotel lobby there were three binders with the multiple encounters from the staff and guest. As Tanya started to flip through, she came across our room! The activity in our room wasn’t as intense as room 32 but nonetheless, still exciting, and many reports claim the room is haunted by a cat. On the first night, Debbie was woken up by whispers coming from the hallway and bathroom. I also heard a cart that sounded like a gurney, being brought in and out of the elevator. There were bangs on the walls left and right that kept us up for a bit. We both started to fall back asleep when we felt something hop onto our bed and pull the sheets tight. GHOST CAT??
Night two, Jamee’s encounter:
“My sister was coughing up a lung and driving me crazy because she just kept coughing continuously in her sleep. Then her coughs changed to her holding her breath mid cough, I look at my clock at it was 3:27am… Maybe it’s because she was getting sick, or maybe her body was taken over by a sick patient! Ok, more seriously though, this is the encounter that has me freaking out. And I can’t tell if it was a dream or real life. I felt a cat or vibration on my ear and chest. It freaked me out and I woke up. So, I laid there terrified waiting to hear the ‘purr’ again. AND I DID!!! But I needed to clarify, so I thought to myself ‘ok, listen closer, is this real?’ Then my ears popped! That I know for a fact happened because I physically felt it.“ -Jamee
OH, also… anyone know who Banksy is? We believe we saw a piece of his work in a random small tunnel covered with Plexiglas. Has anyone who visited Jerome seen this?
beccaamariee.life 
NEVER heard of this place before you, of course, not enough melatonin in the world to convince me of spending the night there either! I drive by for the wine and BOUNCE! hahaha
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Well when you do, stop at Vino Zona…tell them beccaamariee sent you 😜 haha
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I had such a good time on our ghouls trip! And I’m so thankful you documented the entire thing, now I’ll never forget the experience! “the wine and the gin the gin and the wine” 🙂
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And running down the hill signing “oh, oh Sheila!”
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Marvin Gaye to get ya body a swayin’
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Such an awesome story ! Now I really want to go ❤️
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Thank you! Let’s plan a trip! 🍷
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