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                                        Hannelor Osfolk in 2010, Bier Garden Owner  Anton and Hannelor Osfolk never expected to provide home and haven to a ghost when they left Germany to make a better life for their growing family in America.  Hannelor said she loved to cook and people would always compliment her concoctions, so recipes and talented husband in tow, they took a chance and opened the Bier Garden in Olde Town Portsmouth, VA in 1997.  She said her husband was skilled in all the brick and mortar aspects of the restaurant so they ultimately added a charming outside garden which butted up against an old courthouse and jail. To add to the intrigue of their endeavor, they learned that the historic jails lawn had been the areas execution grounds for prisoners. Executed prisoners ranged from sailors in the wrong place at the wrong time to turncoats, murderers, and everything in between during this historic prisons heyday. Along with all the challenges one encounters when startin

This haunted waterfront town is filled with curious ghostly tales and centuries of engaging history so obviously it's one of my most favorite to visit in October especially. Even as far back as Captain John Smiths recounts of his explorations, he mentions Portsmouth, VA in 1608 when he writes of a Native American village in the now "hospital point" area of the city.  FYI! Visiting it after sunset is even more exciting, so go for it and let your curiosity and imagination take over. The city's havoc-filled history includes the famous and the infamous such as traitor Benedict Arnold and famous Brit, General Cornwallis.  The strategic port city was even headquarters for the British forces in 1781. Besides the many elaborate church steeples adorning the skyline, I think my most favorite is a building completed in 1845, with an unusual and intriguing connection to its adjacent structure so read on.  It's the old Norfolk Courthouse and is in the "prison square area&