Monday, August 25, 2008, 3:50 p.m.
When I arrive at work, I always park in front of General Lee's Headquarters, which is located on the hotel property. Yes, this was General Robert E. Lee's headquarters during the three days of the Battle of Gettysburg.
After parking my car, I opened my door and the very strong, pungent smell of cigar smoke hit me hard in the face. I immediately looked around to see if there was a visitor for the museum that is located in the headquarters building with a cigar. No one was in the area. As I walked up to the main building, which is several hundred yards away, the very strong odor seemed to accompany me the entire way.
It wasn't until I opened the lobby door and stepped into the building that it dissipated. I hesitated to even make note of this, except that this is the same reception I have been receiving the last three days that I have worked at exactly the same time I arrive. My arrival times on those three days were always different. I always check the area for cigar-smoking visitors and never see anyone. I will make a notice of the frequency of any future occurrences.
We continually hear many comments from guests who stay in the suite that is located on the top floor of the building where General Robert E. Lee made his headquarters. One comment that is repeated more than any other is the smell of cigar smoke in the suite. There is no smoking allowed in the historic building.
Given the fact that this building was used for strategic meetings regarding the battle and that every Confederate general involved in the battle was present at one time or another inside the building, the possibility certainly exists that at least one of those generals smoked a cigar.
At 4:30 p.m., I went into the breakfast room to push in all the chairs at the tables that were pulled out from the day shift's vacuuming and place the bowls of sugar on the five tables back into the center of the tables that may have been moved by the guests having their morning coffee.
After I had straightened all the chairs and centered all the sugar bowls on the tables, I walked to the back of the breakfast room to check on various items to see if they needed replenishing. Only one minute had passed, when I heard the front lobby door open and turned to see if my co-worker needed any assistance.
I immediately noticed that three of the chairs in the breakfast room, which I had just pushed flush against the tables, had been pulled out about two feet. I also noted that all of the sugar bowls, which I had just centered on the five tables, had been moved to the very edge of the tables. I walked back into the lobby and saw that my co-worker was well into the process of checking in a guest, with another guest standing on the other side of the lobby, well away from the breakfast room, waiting to be checked in.
The last time the sugar bowls "walked" across the tables was approximately one year ago, and it happened in the middle of the night when I was there alone.
At 5:10 p.m., I was sitting at the desk inside the inner office working on some paperwork. Sitting next to the desk is a two-drawer file cabinet. Laying on top of the cabinet is the machine that makes all the room keys, the master key to program the machine, along with a box of unprogrammed keys. The master key is secured to the machine with a one foot length of plastic cord.
As I was sitting at the aforementioned desk, facing the cabinet, watching the news on t.v., a movement caught my eye. I watched the master key, which at the time was located in the very middle of the file cabinet with the cord right next to it, move across the cabinet to the edge and fall off. To say I was stunned would be an understatement. It did not move quickly, but appeared to be deliberately pushed across.
I retrieved the key and tried repeatedly to recreate what I just witnessed. Nothing I did, including hanging part of the cord off the side, made it move from the center of the cabinet. Cool!
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