Halloween in Southwest Florida

Along with its rich and colorful history, Fort Myers, Sanibel and Captiva Islands have a spooky side as well. To celebrate this Halloween season we at John R Wood wanted to share these stories with you.

The Mermaid Club. A 1950s diner owned by a couple called the Galloways and their little brown dog, now stands as the restaurant The Beached Whale. The reason for this change in ownership was the fact that The Mermaid Club caught fire in 1955. The blaze was no accident, however; the Galloways had been shot by a robber, and to cover his tracks he set the restaurant alight.

Employees of The Beached Whale, in Fort Myers, watch as tops of containers go flying, drawers begin to rattle or when knocks sound at night when no one but the manager is left in the building. The light tap of footsteps echo as well when things suddenly become eerily silent. A piece of advice to be made of the haunting of The Beached Whale is to be careful of the mirrors, as people have seen Mary Galloway and her little dog gliding behind them.

Fort Myers Beach Halloween Southwest Florida

Photo credit: https://fortmyers.floridaweekly.com/places/dining-and-entertainment/beached-whale/

As many know, Southwest Florida is the birthplace of key lime pie. Key lime plantations littered the coast and the people who worked on the one located where the current Kings Crown restaurant at South Seas lies must have never wanted to leave.

One night, after finishing his final tasks before locking up, a worker noticed a light on in the veranda room. Figuring he had forgotten to turn off the light, he walks over only to find two people sitting at the booth enjoying a meal. They were laughing and looked real to the touch. Leaving to grab the maitre d’, the employee arrived back at the table only to find all evidence of these two people and their dinner, to be gone.

Cups vanishing in a matter of minutes, along with glasses above the bar choosing to fall on their own accord are all a part of the experience you get while eating at the Kings Crown restaurant at South Seas.

Sanibel boasts many beautiful bike paths winding throughout the island. Along one of these paths off of Casa Ybel, you can find a small graveyard from the 1800s lined with shells and wooden fencing. The small and weathered, wooden tombstones have bunches of picked flowers placed below them as offerings from locals biking past. And with this historic little cemetery, there comes a line of people who are said to haunt the island wearing Victorian era clothing or military uniform.

Sanibel Island Halloween Halloween Southwest Florida

Photo credit: https://pin.it/7N282JJ

One night, a woman walking home on Casa Ybel looked up to find a girl standing not too far ahead of her. The girl was wearing a long white Victorian night dress, with seaweed plastered to its sides; her hair dripping wet. Before the woman walking home could say or do anything the girl vanished. Others have said to feel a light tap on their shoulders at night while walking the same path.

Another account tells of a confused ghost wearing what seemed to be a uniform from the American Revolution. Some even say he began asking about the Declaration of Independence and where it was to be signed, not understanding that he was asking this hundreds of years too late.