In the midst of a fierce Wyoming blizzard, three travelers seeking shelter stumbled upon a restaurant in the small town of Chugwater, Cowboy State Daily reports.
They enjoyed a meal, grateful for a reprieve from the storm. However, what seemed like an ordinary dining experience took a supernatural twist when they later discovered the restaurant had burned down decades earlier, and the waitresses who served them had perished in the fire.
This eerie tale, detailed in Debra D. Munn’s book Wyoming Ghost Stories, Eerie True Tales, remains one of the state’s most baffling legends. It begins in March 1959, when an airman stationed at Lowry Air Force Base in Denver, along with a married couple, embarked on a road trip to Worland, Wyoming. As they left Cheyenne, a sudden spring blizzard hit, making the roads nearly impassable. After a grueling drive, they spotted the lights of a restaurant and eagerly stopped to wait out the storm.
Inside, they found a welcoming, old-fashioned eatery with white tablecloths and silverware. Two young women dressed in long dresses and aprons served them steak and chicken, while the restaurant staff bustled in the background. After their meal, the group paid their modest $9 bill, left a generous tip, and returned to the storm outside.
Days later, on their return trip, they decided to stop at the same restaurant—but it was gone. In its place was an empty lot. Confused, the travelers spoke to a local resident who told them the restaurant had burned down years earlier, and the two women they described had died in the fire.
Though some details of the event are murky, historical records support part of the story. A fire in 1925 destroyed several buildings in Chugwater, including a restaurant. However, the mystery of the travelers’ meal and the ghostly waitresses remains unexplained, leaving the tale as an enduring Wyoming legend.
