The REAL Grey Ghost Story!
I posted yesterday about the Carolina legend of the Grey Ghost or Gray Man and that "we knew someone" who had had an encounter. My awesome mom has written out the account for me to share! I give you her guest posting:
Lila White Bost Shay was a lady from Concord, distantly related, probably as everybody was. Sometime in the late 1940's she moved to Ocean Drive Beach (now North Myrtle) and opened a guest house called the Rendezvous, which she ran till the mid 60's. Guests had individual knotty pine paneled rooms and shared two hall bathrooms.
There was a huge open deck on the front, a screened porch, living room upstairs, and lots of camaraderie among the guests.
The most wonderful thing about the Rendezvous was the food! Lila White, her sister-in-law, and seasonally a black lady whose name I don't remember put out three full meals a day, from scratch, fresh and local ingredients, the like of which I have never tasted again in my life...and remember, I was raised by Grandmommy.
Anyway, in 1954 one breezy fall day after dinner (lunch,) Lila White was washing dishes at the sink and looked up to see a man dressed all in gray outside the window. Thinking he may be hungry, she walked out the back door to talk to him. She could not find him anywhere, even though the street was just a few cottages and houses that you could easily see around.
Walking back inside, she felt a chill down her whole body. She realized the man was not just wearing gray, he was gray top to bottom, face, hands, clothes, everything. She knew who he was.
Lila White and her sister-in-law (whose name I also cannot remember) packed up and left the beach that afternoon and drove up to Concord. That night, Hurricane Hazel came onshore just north at Oak Island - full moon, high tide, equinox. It wiped out many of the houses at Ocean Drive and submerged all but one hill on Oak Island; but true to the legend, the Rendezvous was undamaged.
I still get chills! :-P Thanks, Mommy! ♥ (And feel free to guest post anytime! :-))
Lila White Bost Shay was a lady from Concord, distantly related, probably as everybody was. Sometime in the late 1940's she moved to Ocean Drive Beach (now North Myrtle) and opened a guest house called the Rendezvous, which she ran till the mid 60's. Guests had individual knotty pine paneled rooms and shared two hall bathrooms.
There was a huge open deck on the front, a screened porch, living room upstairs, and lots of camaraderie among the guests.
The most wonderful thing about the Rendezvous was the food! Lila White, her sister-in-law, and seasonally a black lady whose name I don't remember put out three full meals a day, from scratch, fresh and local ingredients, the like of which I have never tasted again in my life...and remember, I was raised by Grandmommy.
Anyway, in 1954 one breezy fall day after dinner (lunch,) Lila White was washing dishes at the sink and looked up to see a man dressed all in gray outside the window. Thinking he may be hungry, she walked out the back door to talk to him. She could not find him anywhere, even though the street was just a few cottages and houses that you could easily see around.
Walking back inside, she felt a chill down her whole body. She realized the man was not just wearing gray, he was gray top to bottom, face, hands, clothes, everything. She knew who he was.
Lila White and her sister-in-law (whose name I also cannot remember) packed up and left the beach that afternoon and drove up to Concord. That night, Hurricane Hazel came onshore just north at Oak Island - full moon, high tide, equinox. It wiped out many of the houses at Ocean Drive and submerged all but one hill on Oak Island; but true to the legend, the Rendezvous was undamaged.
I still get chills! :-P Thanks, Mommy! ♥ (And feel free to guest post anytime! :-))
How have I lived in NC my entire life and never heard of this? That story gave me the chills too! :) Now that I have heard it, I hope I don't see him when I'm at the beach in a couple of weeks!
ReplyDeleteI don't know, Leslie!!! :-P I was so fascinated, though, I checked out every Carolina ghost story book the R. Brown McAllister library had! :-D
ReplyDeleteJust thought I would add... I am currently staying at The Rendezvous with my family like I have every summer since I was a kid. This really is a cool place! It has two kitchens, more bathrooms, showers, and bedrooms than you would want to count, and no sheetrock in sight!! Some of the doors still have the room numbers and keyhole locks on them. It is nice to se something still here that was built in 1941, considering all that is around it now! The current owners are friends of the family and bought it from Mrs. Shay in 1968. They have pictures all over the inside of the house from the 50's on up, complete with a newspaper article on Mrs. Shay. I have always endeavored to find some literature on this place and today happened on your sight. Thought you might like to know it is still here on South Ocean Blvd!
ReplyDeleteJust thought I would add.... I am currently staying at The Rendezvous this week as I have every summer since I was a kid. This place is truly is unique. It has two kitchens, more bathrooms, showers, and rooms than you would want to count! It is all wood (no sheetrock in sight) and many of the room doors still have keyhole locks with the room numbers still affixed. It is nice to see something built in 1941 still standing in North Myrtle. It has a charm all its own, no doubt due to its interesting history! The current owners are friends of the family and bought it from Mrs. Shay in 1968. The interior, both up and down has many great pictures of the place from the 50's on up, including an old newspaper article on Mrs. Shay. Just thought you might like to know it is still here on South Ocean Blvd., with the only modern touch to the outside being vinyl siding!
ReplyDeleteHi John my name is Kevin and Ms shay was my great grandmother this totaly blew my mind as I found this blog by complete chance. I would love to get a copy of that newspaper article and picture's for my family. Ms Shay (grandma shay) passed away in the early 90's and any kind of family history with her would be gest to have.
DeleteOh, John! Thank you so much for taking the time to share this!!! And happy beaching!!! :-)
ReplyDeleteLila Shay was my grandmother. Thanks for bringing back some wonderful memories. Ms. Estelle "Lila White and her sister-in-law" was a family friend and probably the name you couldn't think of. I miss them both, but you brought it all back to life. I know Grandma is smiling and would have enjoyed reading your blog. Thanks again!
ReplyDeleteHow wonderful!!! I'm so glad these memories have brought back happy times! :-D
ReplyDelete