Inside Green Bay's Captain's Walk Winery, there's more than first meets the eye.
Green Bay Ghost Tour's Tim Freiss says there's a spirit here - one that always wanted this to be home.
"It was built in 1857 by a man by the name of Elijah Morrow, who came from New Jersey," Freiss said.
Morrow's second oldest daughter, Helen, inherited the house but had to sell it because of a financial burden. She wanted it back, but never got it. Well, maybe.
"What she did not have in life, she does have in death," Freiss said. "She's the spirit that does seem to haunt this particular establishment."
And she's not shy about making her presence known.
"Over the years many employees have experienced her antics - everything from things moving on their own to lights turning on and off by themselves, to also being seen here on a couple of different points," Freiss said.
You never know what Helen might do next.
"I always like to ask, what the Helen's going on here today," Freiss said.
It's question he started asking many years ago, after starting on a search for answers.
"It all involves my dad," Freiss said. "He had passed of cancer about 26 years ago - he had lung and brain. And he was really close to my first born who was four and half at the time with my first marriage. He always told me to give her a message when he passed that he loved her and goodbye. The night that he passed he actually did it himself, he showed up at her home with my ex-wife in the bedroom at the end of the bed, as a blue and white light saying - I love you and goodbye."
That got Freiss started. He looked up ghost stories, started giving tours, and found some interesting things. That brings us to another ghost story in Green Bay - a graveyard along the Fox River that time has passed by.
"They desecrated a cemetery, and we're going to have nothing but problems," Freiss said.
The tombstones are gone, swapped out for downtown development.
"And because it was a cemetery and desecrated, they have a lot of poltergeist activity here," Freiss said. "They have everything from things that move in these buildings, to shadow figures being seen, to disembodied voices, to chill spots."
Other Green Bay ghosts are more friendly.
"Here we are at the historical Bellin Building," Freiss said. "Course it is haunted by Dr. Julius Bellin himself. Dr. Bellin was a pleasant man in life, he still is in death."
He's active with guests up and down the building and sometimes on the way.
"Dr. Bellin does like to play games in the elevator," Freiss said. "He likes to keep you stranded some times, or brings you up when you're supposed to go down or down when you're supposed to go up."
It's that kind of history that can sometimes go untold, but it's certainly a story worth telling.
"It's a blast," Freiss said. "People are always amazed at the history we have here in Green Bay, and some of the things that have happened here."
So keep your eyes open. You never know when Helen or Dr. Bellin will want to say hello.
You can sign up for a Green Bay Ghost Tour here.
