Driftwood Resort

The Driftwood Resort, located in Vero Beach, Florida, was created and developed by Waldo Sexton, an eccentric businessman and visionary who dedicated himself to constructing a unique and memorable destination that would reflect his artistic sensibilities and creative ambitions. Sexton designed the resort with meticulous attention to detail and architectural innovation, creating a property that blended natural landscape features with carefully constructed structures meant to evoke a sense of discovery and wonder for its guests. The resort opened in the early 1960s and quickly gained a reputation as one of Florida's most distinctive and charming hospitality destinations, attracting visitors seeking an alternative to the commercial standardization that characterized much of the contemporary tourism industry. Waldo Sexton invested his life's work and personal fortune into the development of the Driftwood Resort, making the property a reflection of his personality, values, and aesthetic vision.

Waldo Sexton died in 1981 after devoting decades to the creation and operation of his beloved resort, and his death marked the beginning of a new chapter in the property's history as a haunted location. Shortly after Sexton's passing, guests and staff began reporting paranormal phenomena concentrated in the areas he frequented most during his lifetime, particularly the breezeway connecting different sections of the resort and the stairs leading down to the beach where he enjoyed walking and contemplating the ocean. The most distinctive manifestation involves the appearance of an apparition consistently described as Waldo Sexton himself, dressed in his characteristic attire including a hat and suspenders, walking through the resort corridors and outdoor spaces as if continuing his eternal rounds of inspection and maintenance. Witnesses have reported seeing the ghostly figure appear at specific times and locations with such consistency as to suggest a supernatural routine paralleling Sexton's movements during life.

The paranormal activity includes the phenomenon of unexplained footsteps in corridors and along the beach stairs, indicating the presence of an invisible figure moving through the resort and engaged in the same types of perambulation that characterized Sexton's daily activities when alive. Disembodied voices and unusual noises occur throughout the property, sometimes seemingly to emanate from specific rooms or areas of the resort undergoing maintenance or renovation. Particularly intriguing are the paranormal readings registered by electronic equipment in the vicinity of a large and ancient banyan tree on the property, suggesting that specific locations may serve as focal points for spiritual concentration and activity. The historical narrative and emotional investment that Sexton placed into the resort appears to have created a powerful spiritual attachment, binding his consciousness or some aspect of his being to the location even beyond physical death.

The Driftwood Resort continues to operate as a functioning hospitality establishment, welcoming guests and maintaining operations that Sexton established decades ago, creating a continuity that may facilitate the persistence of his haunting presence. The resort has incorporated the haunted reputation into its identity as a historic and distinctive property, though without making sensationalist claims or promotional use of the paranormal phenomena. Guests seeking to encounter Waldo Sexton's apparition have visited specifically for that purpose, and paranormal researchers have investigated the property with permission of the management. The profound personal investment that Sexton made in the creation of the resort, combined with his apparent spiritual attachment to the property beyond death, creates a haunting narrative that transcends typical ghost stories and speaks to the power of human creativity, vision, and love of place to persist beyond the boundary of mortal existence.