I spent the week in the Florida Keys with my family for our vacation this summer. This one was one for the books and one I will never forget. All because of a doll named Robert.

I should start by explaining who Robert exactly is and why he is of such importance for my article this week. Robert is 111-years-old and lives at the Fort East Martello Museum in Key West, Florida. He was a gift to the young boy named Robert Eugene Otto (Aka Gene). The family had a maid who was caught doing witchcraft and voodoo in the house which cursed the doll. The maid was fired. Gene grew up to become a prominent artist. After Gene passed away in 1975, the doll began doing some weird things. Tenants would hear footsteps in the attic where Robert was kept, a plumber heard giggling and found the doll on the opposite side of the attic and the doll's facial expressions have changed.

So, my aunt brought along with her a book about 101 things to do in the Florida Keys. Robert happened to be in this book and I was instantly hooked when I read his story. My uncle and I planned to go while the rest of my family got a little paranoid about us going. My uncle and I went the next morning and saw the famous Robert the Doll. I do have to say, he is one creepy looking doll. He is very beaten up and sits in a wooden chair behind a plexiglass case. I would have a picture to show you, only I do not, because I could not take a picture without Robert's permission. Yes, you heard that right. Permission from a doll.

Even the lady at the front desk warned us to ask his permission for a picture. If you do this without Robert's permission, Robert will create evil occurrences in your life. People who do this without his permission have suffered from loosing expensive/ important articles, broken bones, weird spirit encounters, a ray of bad luck all in a short amount of time. I was not risking the chance because there was proof of this. On a TV screen to the left of Robert were digital images of letters people actually wrote to Robert asking him to kindly leave them alone. I then was freaked out and slid my phone in my pocket hoping he would not even notice I had it out.

After we saw Robert, we continued on with our vacation. My family was a little upset we went to see him and really thought bad things were going to happen, but I was not worried. I nor did my uncle capture a picture of Robert so we really had nothing to worry about. Or so we thought.

My uncle and I pursued the gift shop afterwards and he purchased a book. He handed the lady his credit card and when she slid it, it did not go through. She tried again and it still denied the card. She then yelled out, "Come on Robert, stop playing around" and slid the card once more. It worked. My uncle and I enchanted glances and walked out pretending it did not happen. On the car ride back, I tried to call my mom to let her know I was on my way back and the call dropped. We joked and blamed it on Robert.

Later in our vacation, things still got a little weird. My uncle lost his credit card, my credit card would not swipe at a local CVS, and my uncle backed into a tree and smashed the back window of his rental car.

Two major events happened and it started to get a little scary. My cousin lives out in Marathon, Florida, and he invited us onto his boat to snorkel. We drove out to a nice little spot, got our gear on and jumped in to explore the ocean for sea creatures. My sister, bother, little cousin, aunt and uncle traveled out pretty far. They decided to turn back and realized that the current was so strong they could not fight it and get back to the boat safely. My aunt at one point was getting very tired and was short of breath while she hung on to my uncle who was the only smart one to put on a life jacket. They waved us down in panic and we had to rescue them. My aunt said she has never felt a current so strong in her entire life.

Towards the end of our trip, my cousin invited us over for dinner. We had to cross the 7 Mile Bridge to get to his house, which is a stretch of just ocean between the different islands of the Florida Keys.

As we are on the bridge, we come to dead stop traffic not even a quarter mile in. We turn on the radio to hear there was a head on collision between two cars: no fatalities, but some injuries occurred. They closed down the roads and informed us to find something else to do since they could not tell how long it would be before they opened the lanes back up. We ended up waiting an hour and forty five minutes until traffic was normal again, but got some great pictures as we waited for the traffic to start again.

Now, all of these events I have listed could have happened regardless of the fact my uncle and I gave Robert a visit. Most of my family blamed it all on Robert and the fact that we saw him, but I am not sure if it was him. I did nothing to provoke him in any way and this all could have happened to any family on vacation, not just mine. I am glad I saw Robert. I do not know when I will be back and seeing him was a good but spooky experience. All I have to say is, "Robert did it!"