By Amanda Estes
Staff Writer   
    Lydia Carver, of Freeport, drowned tragically in a shipwreck off the coast of Cape Elizabeth in 1807. Stories told by visitors and staff to Cape Elizabeth’s Inn By the Sea, however, suggest Lydia’s spirit is still very much alive. Last Friday night, I joined nearly 50 other curious individuals in a supernatural investigation of the Inn, hosted by Roxie Zwicker, founder of New England Curiosities Walking Tours, and in cooperation with Ron Kolek, lead investigator from the New England Ghost Project, and psychic Maureen Wood.
    Enticed by the prospect of interviewing a spectral figure, I went to the Inn to learn about its resident “Ghost Bride” over dinner in the cozy and dimly lit library. A portrait of Lydia, dressed in a wedding gown, hangs just outside the room and is the first thing you see when exiting the elevator on the second floor.
    In July of 1807, Lydia, a 23-year-old bride to be, boarded the Charles for a trip to Boston. Lydia was going to Boston to be fit for her bridal gown and 15 members of her bridal party accompanied her. There were 22 people on board the ship including the wife of captain Jacob Adams. At the time, it was thought to be bad luck for the captain’s wife to be aboard.
    On the return trip, a sudden fog descended on the ship and the Charles wrecked on a group of rocks off the shore of Richmond’s Island. Lydia’s body was found on Crescent Beach next to the trunk that contained her wedding dress.
    Zwicker said Lydia was “buried just steps” from our current location and although the headstone is almost 200 years old, it “looks like it was put there yesterday.” According to the stories, Lydia is said to tend to her grave, which would seem to explain what I would later discover to be true: her grave is in remarkable condition compared to the other stones in the small cemetery on the Inn’s grounds.
    Mysterious encounters with Lydia date back to the Inn’s opening in the mid 80s. I wondered if part of the job description for any position at the Inn included: Must be capable of working with the supernatural. According to staff reports, the dining room tables will frequently be reset over night after everything had been cleaned up and the chairs had been stacked. At other times, the temperature rises dramatically even though no one has touched the thermostats and they are inaccessible by the public. The elevator will also travel back and forth between the lobby and the second floor with an invisible passenger.
    Guests to the Inn have also had their share of encounters with Lydia over the years. Many of those guests knew nothing about Lydia’s story before coming to the Inn, but by the end of their stay they were on familiar terms. Zwicker said a man reported seeing a figure walking in front of him in a hallway. When the figure rounded the corner, it disappeared into the wall. Other guests have seen a woman walking along the pathway in the courtyard. On closer inspection, they discovered that her feet were not touching the ground. Guests have also reported seeing strange circles of light in their photographs.  It is brides, however, who seem to have the most encounters with Lydia.
    “Being a bride has to be something special to her,” Zwicker said. She told the story of one bride who hung her gown on the back of the door before going to bed. In what appeared to be a dream, the woman saw the gown rise and spin around the room. In the morning, she mentioned the incident to the staff and they told her Lydia’s story. Other brides have seen a young woman dressed in a gown beside their own reflections in a mirror or an indentation in the bed linens that suggested someone was sitting beside them. I must mention that all the while Zwicker relayed these stories, a wedding dress, owned by Kolek’s wife, hung in the library window. Kolek had equipped the dress with motion sensors that would emit a siren like sound if Lydia decided to make an appearance. As Zwicker spoke, I periodically glanced at the dress, not sure if I wanted to hear the siren sound. 
    Motion sensors are just one of the tools Kolek uses to track paranormal activity. He also employs electromagnetic field meters (EMF) and temperature readers. Kolek joked that Wood is perhaps his most valuable tool because she can sense a spirit’s presence.
    “Sometimes it is like someone is standing far away talking to me or other times (the spirit) channels through me,” said Wood. When asked if she could feel a spirit’s presence in the library, she answered the affirmative.
    After dinner, the group gathered in the Inn’s lobby. Wood became flushed and she said Lydia was moving around our group.  We were walking up to the first floor to peer inside one of the Inn’s suites when the EMF meters, dispersed throughout the group, began to beep rapidly. Suddenly, an opening in the group formed around Wood. Unfortunately, I was not able to make my way to the front to see all of the action, but I heard Wood begin to cry and I saw Kolek reach out to steady her as she fell to the floor. In a grief stricken voice, Wood began to apologize repeatedly. Kolek began to ask her questions, and he determined that Lydia was speaking through Wood.   Then, as suddenly as it had begun, it was over and Wood said Lydia blames herself for the others’ deaths. After this incident, I started to get a little queasy. I became curious as to whether other members of the group were convinced that Lydia was present.
    “I always have believed (in ghosts), but I’m not sure if I’m feeling anything special,” said South Portland resident, Judy Dettore. She said she was more inclined to trust her own intuition than a gadget like an EMF meter.
    The final stage of the investigation involved exploring the grounds, including the cemetery. Before moving outdoors, Zwicker discovered that a spiritual medium from Boston, Kate Haughton, was dining at the Inn.
    Haughton said she is a frequent visitor to the Inn and very familiar with Lydia’s story. She joined our group as we bundled up to investigate the courtyard and the cemetery.
    Once outside, we walked the pathway through the courtyard to Lydia’s grave.  A woman in the group snapped a picture of the surroundings and was surprised to see a circle of light on the screen of her digital camera. I began taking pictures left and right, hoping to capture evidence of Lydia’s spiritual energy.  Although I was just taking pictures of the night sky, I was amazed to find what looked like small, white moons in several of the photos. Zwicker confirmed that I had a series of light orbs.
    When I reached the cemetery, I saw a single headstone rising out of the snow. Except for a couple of cracks, the stone looked as though it commemorated someone who had died in recent years. The small fence surrounding the cemetery has fallen over in places, but Lydia’s stone remains intact. I wonder how a spirit goes about tending to its own grave?    
    Whether everyone in the group was convinced that Lydia actually made an appearance that night is unclear, but judging by the scene of people eagerly snapping photos of the night sky and an empty gazebo, it would appear that Zwicker and company managed to elicit interest and curiosity about the supernatural world.
    I know the investigation certainly raised some hairs on the back of my neck and although the Inn By the Sea is a lovely establishment, for the sake of my nerves, I have decided not to include it in future wedding plans.