So I was looking for something to do and I went on the internet and on tripadvisor these ghost tours were rated number 2 of things to do. I went on the website and it said that it would be OK to take kids so I thought I could take my nephews, who are nine and seven. We headed downtown and the place where the tours start from was all ready very crowded. We paid the tour guide and later upon thourougly inspecting the website I realized that the tour guide over charged me he should not have charged me for my cousin Mark because he is seven and on the website it says eight and under free. He also told people just walking down the street to join our tour and they could pay him later, I later thought sure why not? you overcharged me who cares if they pay??
our tour guide was dressed in "peiriod clothing and had a long beard he carried a candle lantern.
our first stop was an abandonded house, that had a for rent sign. This used to be a restaraunt and now they rent out the rooms to people.He said that during the civil war that a confederate solider was walking down the street spying to count how many union soldiers and they caught him and he ran into this house and up the stairs and rattled the door trying to find somewhere to hide... but they caught him. to this day you can still here him running up the stairs and rattling the door.He said we would notice the for rent sign and that no one stays in those apartments for long even though you can take the Marc train from right across the street into DC and it will only take you an hour. He said that is anyone is brave enough to want to rent that room then he knows the owner and could hook us up and he would get a commission.... I was surprised anyone lives in it at all because the whole place looked ramshackle and abandoned. He also said that when it was a restaraunt that for nine Saturdays in a row something flew off a table. He said that he doesn't believe that because if something fell off a table once then he would never put it back there again.
our next stop was a little cave, where he said if we go in it now that a weird goat is painted on the wall. He said way back when this Dr. that lived in town used to do experiments on cats and dogs and with herbs and different things but not like serial killer like experiments real ones, to really know the scientific value of things and stuff and he liked to use this cave because it was nice and cool. He said that when the Dr. died he requested to be buried with his head out of the ground so that people could watch and see what happened to him and that after nine days he would ressurect and he hired to guys to watch his head in a glass case, after nine days they left then weather and the elements had there toll.then two kids played kickball with his skull, then I must have zoned out because all of a sudden we are talking about how the skull is in NY and blah blah blah he said this was not a ghost story but more of a legend and that he really would like there to be a headless ghost on his tour because so many other tours have them and he feels like by telling this story that maybe that ghost will come and haunt there....wow..
the next stop was another old house that is now a restaraunt and this confederate solider was there as a POW and the union solders were beating him up and he accidently fell out of the window and died. There is an apartment that is way nice in that house that can not stay rented and the previous owner does not like to go in the basement there. He said that that apartment is now a vacation rental and if we want to stay there he can hook us up cause he knows the owner and he would get a commission.
the next stop was this road called Hog Alley because they used to use hogs to clean up all the trash that was around town. When John Brown raided the town one of his cronies tried to get away and was killed very gruesomly, the tour guide told us ALL the details and if that was not bad enough his body was then taken to this alley and eaten by hogs. To this day you can see his ghost walking up and down Hog Alley and if you are brave enough to go up to him he will lift his hat and look at you with very sad piercing eyes, I later looked this man up on wikipedia and it said that there were letters found on his body from his family and I thought wow, if the ghost story is true it is a miracle that ANYTHING was found on his body I mean seriously but who do I believe the tour guide or wikipedia..??? both very repuatable sources..
the next stop was a house owned by The National Park service that several government workers that used to stay there have seen 3 ghosts in there a woman with a little girl and a fine dressed man, he told us all about who they are and stuff, he said that no one lived in there now and no one ever ever goes in there at night ever... he said they are just offices now, I said so people work in there all day then? he did not answer me. I am not sure the National Park service is a HUGE fan of him sense on of the options he offers is to get on the National Park bus tour with you and give his version of the history so you don't have to listen to theirs....
then we stopped at another house where interns at the National Park stay, three came out during the tour just to see what was up. He said a bunch of stuff happened there like a whistling ghost and a door that should not open did and stuff like that.
then we stopped at another house where a guy used to stay but a crying baby ghost lives there and it was killed by a cannon ball coming through the wall during the civil war. That apartment is also for rent because they cant keep it rented and he can get a commission on that.
Maybe he should take up real estate as a side job... or who knows maybe he IS a realaltor and that is why he gets a commission...
the next stop was back at the beginning of the tour and he told us when he was singing at this one place in town that a ketchup bottle was thrown across the room by the ghost of an angry confederate solider who was mad at him for dressing like a union solider..
he also sang us some songs, on the internet it says he is a musicologist and that he is a licenced tour guide, I am confused because most of the tour guides I get are college students, retired people or people that own the place and it is just part of their family buisness none of them have been licenced tour guides... dude probably just has a buisness licence to operate in this town...IDK
the issues I have with the tour are
1. he charged me for my nephew when he should have been free
2. he talked about whiskey and drinking and said things like " I don't know what they were smoking" and other references like they were not just drunk they were also under the influence of drugs. like anytime he could get a reference to drinking in he did like "one night when I was home reading and drinking a beer...
3. He talked about the ladies of the night in that town and mentioned many times that there were so many pretty ladies on our tour and blah blah blah I feel like he was just saying he was single and if anyone wanted to hang out after..
4. he was really graphic for kids and the jokes were just innappropiate for kids
I would have been OK going on the tour with an adult but I thought wow IDK that this or these jokes or stories are appropiate for a nine and seven year old kid
and my BIGGEST PROBLEM
5. on trip advisor his tours he gives during the day are rated number one and his ghost tours are 2. I find that suspicious because allll the ratings are five stars and they all sound the same like the same person wrote them like hmmmmm....
so I would probably go on his day tour with an adult cause he is informative if you just ignore all his innappropiate jokes but I would not take kids again.
I took my nephews out for ice cream after and Mark who is seven was fine but Alex who is nine was very scared he kept asking me will my house make noises when I go home I said did it make noises last night he said no I said well then it wont tonight. He asked me how I could be sure I said your dad built your house, no one has lived in it but you. they both slept with their parents that night...
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