I left my heart in San Francisco...and died

You’ve got your San Francisco checklist. You’ve marked off walking the Golden Gate Bridge, visiting Alcatraz, smelling the sea lions at Pier 39, and enjoying an espresso in North Beach. Whether you’re a local or a tourist, you feel like you’ve seen it all, done it all, and are ready to do it all over again. Well, you’re wrong.

That’s because what you may not realize is that the San Francisco Bay Area is home to surprising twists and turns almost anywhere you go. So if you’re ready to heighten your knowledge of the area to a whole new level, get rid of that fanny pack, put the visor away, and take a walk on the other side.

Our first destination is a tour that goes bump in the night. There are a lot of creepy things that come out when the sun goes down, and I’m not talking about the living. When darkness fills the sky, the dead come out to play. The San Francisco Ghost Hunt tour starts at 7:00 pm, but by that time, the ghosts are already awake. This tour is jam packed with ghosts, stories, and ghost stories, all about San Francisco’s spooky history.

The tour starts at the Queen Anne Hotel, which, as you’ve probably already guessed, is haunted! Jim, the tour guide dressed as if he were a ghost of the times, will greet you in a friendly manner, but once the tour begins, he’ll add a twist of fright to his friendly demeanor. You’ll have a chance to explore the hotel, and maybe even enter the most haunted room of them all (and no, it’s not 1408).

After you leave the hotel, make sure you have an ectoplasmic pack, because you’re about to go ghostbustin’. The tour takes you around the Pacific Heights district, stopping at several haunted locations. You’ll even have a chance to check out some of the oldest Victorian houses in San Francisco. Just make sure you keep your eyes peeled, because if you’re lucky, maybe you’ll catch a glimpse of the supernatural. Then again, maybe you’re lucky if you don’t.

This tour is not just about ghosts, but the history lesson of San Francisco that you didn’t learn in school. A lot of the stories explore the history and influence of women in the city, both in the flesh…and not. Not a block goes by without Jim telling you a story that makes you check over your shoulder, just in case. Jim also has some twists up his sleeves that will make you think twice before calling Bloody Mary in front of the mirror again.

At this point, you might be thinking that all of this is a joke. Well, go ahead and stick to walking the Golden Gate a couple hundred more times. But my group has photographic proof that this tour is alive even after death.

The next time you encounter a ghost, who you gonna call? Not me, that’s for sure.