Carolina Inn
By Martin Ames

The ultra-fancy and elegant Carolina Inn in Chapel Hill combines the youth of being a university-owned hotel with old-time southern charm. Architecturally, it combines antebellum Southern plantation with Georgian and neoclassical features. It is so breath-taking to look and so pleasant to stay at, you would never want to leave. Apparently, Dr. William Jacocks felt the same way.

Dr. William Jacocks had lived at the Carolina Inn for almost 20 years. He lived in Suite 252 from 1948 until his death in 1965. In life, Dr. Jacocks was known to be a friendly and kind man with a sense of humor. His joyful spirit seems to have stayed in his beloved room. Over the years, Jacock"s playful ghost enjoyed messing around with guests who stayed in his room by locking them out occasionally. One time, after several attempts to unlock the door, the room's door had to be removed from its hinges because it wouldn't budge.

Though renovated with new electronic locks in 1990, there have still been reports of the door refusing to open. Everyone feels that Dr. Jacock"s shenanigans are not malevolent in nature, just good 'ole practical jokes that his ghost gets a kick out of.

There have also been other practical jokes reported. One ghost investigator reported that while he was using the sink one morning, as he tried turning the water off, both handles fell off the fixture into the sink leaving water spraying everywhere. Good one Dr. Jacocks.

While in Room 252, another guest awoke to find his bathmat rumpled, his curtains pulled back in a strange fashion, and an overwhelming smell of flowers in the morning.

Another couple that spent one night in 252 recently heard a loud whoosh of air during the night that emanated from nowhere near a ventilation duct. And one of the two felt his feet get very cold at one point during the evening.

The Carolina Inn was recently voted one America"s Top 10 Haunted Hotels by about.com. Thus the Carolina Inn invited paranormal researchers to take a look. They collected video and audio of ghostly happenings in the hotel, including an orb-like object floating in the air, faint sound of a piano, and a few softly spoken words.

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