November's SPIRITS with SPIRITS!

GHOULA meets for cocktails in haunted places on the 13th of each month. “SPIRITS with SPIRITS” is a casual gathering of regional ghost hunters and those that just like ghost stories. Open to all, from the curious skeptic to the passionate phantom pursuer. Make friends, and toast a ghost! Let's put the “Boo!” back into “booze.”

All those who attend will receive a free G.H.O.U.L.A. button. If you already have one, please wear it so others can find you.

THE DATE: November 13th, 2010 (Saturday)
THE PLACE: Barefoot Bar (@ Duke's)
(21150 Pacific Coast Hwy, Malibu) Map
THE TIME: 8:00pm to 10:30pm

THE GHOST(S):

The stretch of coastal land in between Topanga Canyon and Malibu Canyon was once dotted with Native American villages and burial grounds. Local legend claims that these communities died out when the "Indian" women began to kill their babies in fear that the would eventually become enslaved by the early Spanish settlers. It seems that their blood may have stained this otherwise beautiful area of our county forever. As if cursed, this section of the Pacific Coast Highway has seen more than its share of floods, fires, landslides, and fatal car accidents. Even the former owners of this land have been met with tragedy (like the famous "Los Feliz Curse" of Griffith Park). One such former owner, Rhoda May Rindge, lost her family fortune trying to prevent the government from taking her land to build a highway across her property. Although she eventually lost the battle, for many years PCH (previously the Roosevelt Highway) used to end abruptly at Los Flores Canyon, where a small inn (built in 1915) and a hamburger stand catered to the adventurous motorists that ventured out to this remote dead-end.

Over the years, that roadside attraction evolved into a larger curiosity, the Sea Lion Restaurant, so named because of the giant tank in the parking lot filled with playful sea lions. Additionally, this eatery had two more claims to fame. First, it had the "longest ocean view dinning room in the world" (320 feet long), and secondly it served slices of chocolate cake that where bigger than a phone book. Today, the tavern's name has been changed, the sea lions are gone, the massive cakes are gone, but it still has the "longest ocean view dinning room in the world," as well as it's own unique dessert (Duke's famous "Hula Pie" with a secret message printed on the plate for those that can finish it), and most importantly it still has retained the ghosts from those earlier times.

The staff claims that a full-bodied apparition of a woman has been seen strolling along the walkway that runs parallel to the restaurant's 300 ft. window looking out to the ocean. The ladies room (which is along that walkway) is also said to be haunted by this female form. One of the bartenders told GHOULA, that after the restaurant closed one night, he stuck his head into that restroom to make sure that no one was there before locking up, and "invisible hands" forcefully pushed him back out through the door. Now, he avoids that room.

Additionally, the spirit of a man (affectionately referred to as "The Captain") lingers in the bar area. Bartenders have not only seen him (out of the corner of their eyes), but have heard his apparently distinctive cough as if it were next to them when the room is empty. Chris "The Captain" Polos, bought the Los Flores Inn in 1944, turned it into the Sea Lion Restaurant (as an attempt to save the mammals that were injured on the rocks below), and worked there everyday of his life until he died at 99 in 1986. Two years previous to his death, he sold the restaurant, but continued to live upstairs, and continued to still inspect the food, employees, and the restaurant's business (despite having no real official authority). It seems even in death, he continues.

http://www.dukesmalibu.com/

(to see last month's location...)