The Delta King of Sacramento is a fabulous river boat, it stays parked permanently along side the Sacramento River at Old Sacramento. I have eaten at this establishment perhaps 3 times and they serve up everything from Sauteed Quail to Sauteed Veal Sweetbreads to Calamari Rings to their famous Delta King Chop that is mixed with gathered local greens - grilled breast of free range chicken - Point Reyes blue cheese - applewood smoked bacon - avocado - tomatoes - hard boiled farm egg - shallot-blue cheese vinaigrette! I better stop, my mouth is watering...wait a minute, I didn't tell you about the Filet Mignon, Rib Eye Steak, Veal T-Bone, Seared Diver Scallops, Local Rack of Lamb, Du Breton Pork Chop, Kobe Beef Short Ribs and MORE! During beautiful days you can dine outside on the deck and take in the fresh air and look over the beautiful Sacramento River.
The employees that I interviewed on this gorgeous riverboat are Greg Costenson - Beverage Director, Alice Briggs-Ben, Stacey Sorokowsky, Karen Macias - Guest Receptionist. Greg has never seen a ghost, but he has heard all kinds of stories about the ghosts on this boat. While I was interviewing Greg, HPI Paranormal Investigator Debbie Talani was trying to gather some photographic evidence of paranormal activity on the boat. Debbie had an unusual situation happen while taking pictures. She took a picture of one of the employees of the boat and when she looked back at the picture, he was no where in the photo. This was quite odd! On this night, I had a date who does not want to be identified with this story and I sat her down at the bar, while I conducted interviews and Debbie did some lone scouting investigation. There was supposed to be another paranormal investigator-in-training that was going to work with Debbie, but he didn't show up for reasons unbeknown to me. Greg brought over an employee named Alice Briggs-Ben and she tells me that patrons have heard a little girl playing or a man walking. Patrons have seen a little girl going down the hallway, or heard her singing...'ring around the roseys'. In the Suspect's Murder Mystery Theater and the Delta King Theater, there are stories of many entities that hang out in this area of the boat. While I was talking with Alice, I was amazed at all of the energy Greg had, going up and down the steps, moving things. Greg has been working on the Delta King for 2 years now and he is a hard worker, he enjoys his work and I can see why, it would be fun to work on the Delta King, I especially enjoyed the bar area, they had a great rock and roll band playing and the atmosphere was very festive!
I learn that the boat sunk a couple of times and that when the boat was operational, it used to run back and forth to San Francisco and back to Sacramento hauling gas and cargo, sometimes it was loaded with fish. The boat has 80 rooms altogether. Yes, there is a hotel on the boat! This boat has a lot of history, but I wanted to know more about the little girl ghost and the man ghost. It is rumored that the little girl with blonde hair died on the boat during the 20s or 30s and that the man committed suicide on the boat. As I am detailing the ghost stories, I keep getting sidetracked with the elaborate history of the boat. The boat was used one time as a Navy barracks and at another time it was abandoned in Stockton. The Delta King would also be involved in boat races and there is a sister boat called the Delta Queen. Another employee Stacey Sorokowsky tells me that one time at 2am, she went downstairs and she was locking up inventory, when all of a sudden the air in the room chilled with coldness. That was her only paranormal experience, but she was told by the server that he actually saw the little girl ghost. Now Karen Macias has been an employee for 8 years and she has experienced the presence of the little girl ghost 3 times and the man ghost 3 or 4 times. She has seen the man ghost with her peripheral vision, she saw him walk one way and then back another way quickly. She has heard the little girl laughing. One time a patron told her to keep the little girl from playing in the hallway, because he couldn't sleep, he didn't know she was a ghost. After 10pm is when the paranormal activity usually starts according to Karen. Karen tells me that there are more ghosts in the theater. Unfortunately, there was a play going on. Debbie and I, could not investigate this area. Debbie's digital audio recorder would not work for her tonight, so we couldn't pick up any EVPs. Karen shows me a book that Stan Garvey wrote about the boat, called 'King and Queen of the River'. This book details the history of the Delta King. The book was published in 1995. It's a hard book to find. In this book, I learn that the wood was cut in Scotland and assembled & launched to Stockton, where the boat was built. I asked Karen how old does she think the girl ghost is? Karen thinks the girl is anywhere from 7 years old to 9 years old. One employee saw barefoot footprints of the little ghost girl show up on the floor. He freaked out and quit his job instantly. I asked Karen what does the man ghost look like and she describes him as wearing a dark cap, white shirt and dark pants.
One time Karen thought the man ghost was mad at her and he shifted all of her papers on her cabinets to the left hand side of one cabinet.
From all appearances, the Delta King is haunted by two main entities, the little blonde girl ghost and the man ghost. Then of course there are the theater ghosts. These ghosts should have some kind of nickname, because they seem like harmless spirits that want to stay bonded with the boat. So today, this Friday, February 29, 2008, I would like to give these ghosts some monikers, so they can be easily identified. The little blonde girl ghost who is fond of singing 'ring around the rosy' should be called The Ring Around the Rosy Girl Ghost. The man ghost, that possibly could have been a captain can be called Captain Delta. The theater ghosts can be called the Delta King Audience Ghosts!
This was an enjoyable preliminary investigation and I want to thank the employees of the Delta King for their hospitality! I also want to thank The Ring Around the Rosy Girl Ghost, Captain Delta and the Delta King Audience Ghosts! With ghosts like this, it becomes the stuff of legend!
Paul Dale Roberts, HPI Ghostwriter, Ghosthunter
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Copyright © 2008 Paul Dale Roberts, HPI Ghostwriter Copyright © 2008
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Wed Mar 05, 2008 8:52 am
