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Took a quick detour on the way to work this morning, becuase I really wanted to shoot a picture of my bike with this place, and it will be in the 90s on the ride home.

This is Angelo’s & Vinci’s, a well-known Italian restaurant in Fullerton, CA. It’s been one of my favorites for many years. The food is great, and the atmosphere is very whimsical and theatrical. The owner had told me that it was a dance hall many decades ago. It has a supposedly haunted dungeon (an underground passageway with spooky mannequins) that guests can walk through, along with narrow, hidden passageways leading to private rooms.

Years ago, I had started seeing a girl in the local area, and as Angelo’s & Vinci’s was one of my tried-and-true early date locations, we went there for dinner. Everything was going well, but during dinner, she put her fork down several times, and went into what appeared to be a catatonic state.

After she did this a couple of times, I asked her if she was ok. She said “There are many spirits in this room… I should probably let you know that I can communicate with the dead. There’s a little girl who can’t find her parents.”

Ok… sorta funky, but not a deal breaker in my book… yet. This went on a few more times before we finished dinner. I had parked my truck next to the adjoining Fox Theater, a classic movie house which, at the time was long closed and was perpetually seeking donations to renovate.

As we got to my truck, she said that the spirits were getting stronger. Rather than getting in the truck, she dropped the tailgate, sat on the back, and apparently had several conversations with the spirits. I was a little bored by now, so I decided to walk across the street and get a cup of coffee. When I got back, she was wrapping up her visitations, and I took her home.

I don’t recall asking her out again, but this restaurant became my litmus test for future dates. Thankfully, when I took the future Mrs. Gone here early on in our courtship, she didn’t mention anyone trying to reach out to her from the beyond, and it's become one of our favorite places.

Gin60: That is haunting enough for me.

Yeah, the place is pretty popular at Halloween. The orange barricades were a little weird to see when I rolled up this morning, but I surmised that it was a safety measure to keep their COVID-era outdoor parking lot dining zone separate from the actual parking lot.

Probably a good idea for those who have ambled out to their cars after a little too much Chianti. Not that I would know...

By the way, Gold, you brought up the story of the girl in the water tank at the Cecil Hotel in downtown L.A. I was thinking of heading there on one of my upcoming commutes to the Petersen Museum, since it's downright creepy, and is no doubt haunted with the ghosts of several pimps, crackheads and other miscreants.

As you can imagine, that story was all over the news in Southern California at the time. A side story... just two weeks after that happened, I was on a late night flight from Philly to L.A. Two girls in their late teens or early twenties were sitting next to me, speaking German and looking through a Los Angeles visitor guide printed in German. Eventually, they started asking me questions about what they would be able to do on their week-long visit to the city.

Since the flight was landing at about 1:00 AM, I asked if anyone was picking them up at the airport, and where they were staying. They were going to wait an hour for a bus in a rather unsavory area near the airport, and were staying in a hostel in Santa Monica.

I started having visions of news bulletins about two young missing German tourists. Eventually, I said that they should not be waiting for a bus in that part of town in the middle of the night, and if they thought that they could trust me, I'd like to drive them to their hostel just to have the peace of mind that they made it safely.

They thought about it for a while, then took me up on the offer. As we were waiting for our luggage, my wife called to ask if I had landed safely. I said yes, but that I'd be home later than planned, since I was taking a couple of teenage girls to Santa Monica.

"Hmm... can't wait for you to explain that in the morning..."

Great story Gone.

Who knows the good you provided on that night Gin60. A good outcome nonetheless.

Thanks, Gold. I don't have an altruistic bone in my body, but for some reason, I got the sense that I should help these girls, if for no other reason than to keep their spirits from haunting me if something bad happened. Actually, I was pretty jealous. The hostel where I dropped them off was surrounded by beachfront Santa Monica hotels that command some pretty high prices.

Story starts not more than 60 years ago, in Jazeerat Al Zaab, or Jazeera Al Hamra (The Red Island) when tbe native tribe Al Zaabi had a falling out with the local Sheikh (tribal chief, also a term of respect used for an teacher in the mosque - Imam, not to be confused in this instance)
Practically overnight, the whole village packed up and caravaned out to Abu Dhabi where the ruler gave them asylum and land which they could call theirs, where they stayed. Al Zaabi can still be found around Ras Al Khaimah, although scattered and not connected to the tribe.

One thing you have to understand is that Muslims have very strong doctrine, and a lot of things about their faith exist in the intersection of beliefs and superstition. An intersection of 300 roads, without traffic light, without signs, and where everyone has their own rules - it's easy to get lost and get stuck. The only entities that are actually able to make sense of that are the Jinn. Something other religions may call demons or ghosts, yet they are not. They are metaphysical beings that exist in the same space and time with humans, however they are not made out of matter. As they cannot build a world for themselves, they use the world of humans as their own, and as soon as there is an empty house, a family of jinn moves in. And that is (obviously) what happened to the old village, now knows as Ghost Village. Jinn moved in, marked their territory and are there to stay.

Many people testified of hearing things and seeing things, but as jinn are not evil by default, just very territorial, they haunt and scare people to keep them away. There have never been any disappearances or murders on site, and to be honest it doesn't even feel particularly spooky.

Village has been in ruins ever since the tribe left, only recently the far side of the village is being restored by the government into a "heritage village/museum/gallery" - that actually looks very nice, and it's a must see, but it's not the topic of this months photo challenge

'14 CB1100 STD 5 speed

Thanks for taking the time to share that Tod. Very interesting for sure. I had to read it a few times to completely follow,you. Good stuff.

Oooo, unique story Tod.

Mysterious images ... with CB1100!

Terrific history and culture lesson. Thanks for this, Tod!