A young Appalachian couple. A spur of the moment New Year’s Eve road trip. A few days in one of America’s most mysterious cities. And a series of strange encounters that would stay with them long after they returned home to the mountains.

Christy and Jeff, not their real names, were in their early twenties and living in a small town in the Appalachian Mountains when they decided they wanted to do something different for New Year’s Eve. There were plenty of ways they could have celebrated close to home, but this year they wanted an adventure.

So they packed up the car and headed south.

Their destination was New Orleans, Louisiana.

For two young people from Appalachia who had never experienced anything quite like it, New Orleans was a different world. They came to see the French Quarter, walk the famous Bourbon Street, experience the food and music, and ring in the New Year in the Big Easy.

But New Orleans is a city with more than one side.

Behind the music, restaurants, celebrations and crowds is a place with centuries of history and folklore. Stories of ghosts and hauntings have been passed down for generations. Voodoo has a long and complicated history in the city. Tales of vampires and other unexplained happenings have become woven into the legends surrounding the French Quarter.

Christy and Jeff were curious about that side of New Orleans too.

They weren’t paranormal investigators, and they weren’t necessarily looking to prove that ghosts, vampires or anything supernatural actually existed. They were simply two young tourists interested in hearing some of the stories and learning a little history along the way.

So when they discovered that they could take a ghost tour through the old streets of New Orleans, they decided to give it a try.

That’s when things started getting strange.

At first, what happened was easy enough to dismiss as coincidence. After all, when you’re walking through dark streets and old buildings while somebody is telling you ghost stories, your imagination can get the better of you.

But then something else happened.

And then it happened again.

As their New Year’s trip continued, those little coincidences began piling up. Things that might not have meant much on their own started becoming harder for Jeff to ignore when they were put together.

Still, they had come all this way to enjoy themselves.

They continued exploring New Orleans. They experienced the French Quarter after dark, learned about some of the city’s stranger legends, and eventually found themselves surrounded by the massive New Year’s Eve crowds that had poured into the city to welcome another year.

Then it was time to go home.

They packed their things, climbed back into the car and began the long journey north. Mile after mile, Louisiana disappeared behind them as they made their way back toward familiar territory.

Back toward Tennessee.

Back toward the Appalachian Mountains.

Back toward home.

Whatever strange things they had experienced during their few days in New Orleans should have ended there.

But maybe they didn’t.

In this episode of Roots & Shadows: The Real Appalachia, we’re sharing the story of an Appalachian couple who traveled to New Orleans for what was supposed to be a fun New Year’s Eve getaway and came home with a story neither of them expected.

It’s a story that begins with a simple road trip from Appalachia to New Orleans and winds its way through the historic French Quarter, ghost stories, vampire folklore, strange encounters, crowded New Year’s Eve streets and a long journey back to the mountains.

What happened to Christy and Jeff?

Was it all just a strange series of coincidences?

Did the atmosphere of New Orleans and everything they had heard over those few days simply make ordinary events seem like something more?

Or did something just may have followed them home?