Ever since an episode of “Ghost Hunters” aired on the television this year, Jeanette has had her curiosity tweaked. The episode was filmed at the Naples Hotel which is on the main street of Naples, NY, a little village which sits a few miles south of the southern end of Canandaigua Lake. Jeanette kept asking me, “Have you ever eaten at the Naples Hotel?” Since today’s weather has been a mix of snow and light rain, I decided to take a drive to Naples and see for myself if there was a ghost in that old hotel.
The little village of Naples, NY is almost deserted in the wintertime except for the public school located there. The village is hoping to make a big comeback in the spring when Hazlitt Red Cat Winery opens its tasting room to the public. The workers along route 245 were busy pruning the grape vines and tying up the new growth. The vineyards have been neglected for several years since Constellations Brands closed their operations in Naples.
No sooner had I crossed the street to take some pictures of the Naples Hotel, when a young lady came out and put up the “open” flag in front of the hotel. I crossed the street and walked into the front door. “Are you serving lunch today?” I asked. “Yes”, she replied, “but why don’t you come into the Tap Room and then we can talk.” I ordered a hamburger and some coffee for my lunch and then asked if it was OK for me to take a few pictures in the hotel. She said, “Sure” and she took me on a little tour of several of the dining rooms. I asked about the ghost that lives in the hotel and she said that he “moves some things around every now and then, but that we don’t pay much attention to him.”
Well, I returned home and told Jeanette about my having lunch at the Naples hotel, and asked her if she wanted to go there tonight for Valentine’s dinner. She thought a little bit and then said, “No, three for Valentine’s Day dinner is too many!”