Bogart's Book Store offers Coffee & a Side Order of Ghosts

                                                          

I went to one of my favorite book stores called Bogart’s Books and Café in Millville, N.J. last Saturday. This amazing little bookstore is over a 100 years old and it has everything: atmosphere, ambiance, character, books, gift cards, coffee, and it is all because of the young lady who owns this establishment. Amy Lombardo has a personality that makes you feel welcomed as soon as you set foot inside Bogart's. Her bubbly personality rubs off on her loyal customers, too. 
                                                                     

                                                                    

The very first time that I was at this book store was a year ago. We were there to do a book signing for the South Jersey Writers' Group. Our group had published an anthology called Tall Tales and Short Stories from South Jersey. This anthology has a story for everyone, ranging from slices of life to zombies.
                                                               
After setting up the books, I decided to get a cup of coffee, but I was distracted by the ghost. Yes, I said ghosts and since I'm an Empath and very sensitive to paranormal events, I immediately sensed a very friendly male spirit. He was dancing around and telling me how happy he was to be able to spend his time in a book store. He'd always loved books, and to him; this was heaven.
                                                                              
At the end of our book signing event, I made plans with Amy to return to Bogart's the following month with the Purveyor of Spirits Investigative Team, of which I am a member. Jean is our team leader and magnet for the spirits. Jean and I experience physical symptoms whenever a spirit is nearby; chest pains, nausea, etc. and we can get a good picture of the dearly departed in our minds. Rita is usually the one the spirits love to touch. She doesn’t like it much, but for some reason the spirits like to tap her on the arm and while on our visit to Bogart's; give a little shove. With the three of us working together, we really don’t need that much equipment; relying only on our senses.

                                                                   

 

Amy if we could check out the upper floor and the basement. She said yes and let us have free roam of the place. As we walked up the stairway to the upper level, all of us could feel the air getting heavier. I turned around and took a picture of the stairway because I felt a male presence there. I thought I saw a mist begin to form and took this picture.
                                                                            

Jean and I immediately felt the physical effects of two nearby spirits. The woman I had sensed was not the one that Amy had told us about, but an older woman about my age with dark hair pulled back into a bun. She was wearing glasses. She was curious and wanted to make sure that we did not disturb any of the books or paintings on that level. I had the sense that she was the payroll clerk when this building was once a factory.
                                                                  
There was a male spirit there, too... not our happy Andrew, but a grumpy, slightly overweight, balding, middle aged man in his late fifties. I think it was this spirit that we felt as we climbed the steps. He wore a sleeveless undershirt and suspenders. He reminded me of Jackie Gleason's Ralph Kramden.  I had the feeling that he did not normally hang out on the level we were on, but in the basement. He wanted us to go to the basement and actually gave Rita a slight shove to hurry her steps as we walked back down the steps.
                                                                         
The basement is filled with books. Amy had mentioned that the basement ghost, which she was a bit wary of, was frequently dumping over the boxes and large plastic container, spilling books onto the floor. Rita, Jean and I did our thing and I realized that the Ralph Kramden spirit was there. He'd followed us down to the basement. After looking at the container and the boxes, I was hit with the strongest conviction that this spirit was upset because a book that he liked had been recently packed away and he could not find it. Amy confirmed that this was so. The books were moved and packed. But, which book was the spirit looking for? The sense I got of this man was that he was a grumpy man with a large dose of OCD and he didn't like when things were moved around. 
                                                                          
Your personality is the same dead or alive. If you are a pain in the butt alive, well...you get the picture.
                                                                

This year I had the chance to return for another book signing, but this time it was for my own book, Roof Oasis. This is a sci-fi paranormal story of love and the events that lead to the apocalypse. Roof Oasis can be purchased on Amazon.com. While at Bogart's I had the chance to sell books and interact with the living and the dead.
                                                           

          

You owe it to yourself to head down to Millville, New Jersey and visit Bogart's Book Store. Stay a while; chat with Amy. Buy one of her books and when you're ready for  lunch head down to the Old Oar House Irish Pub and get the best Irish Stew, ever!