St Petersburg Ghost Tour

St. Petersburg, Florida:  Halloween is right around the corner and cool weather is in the air so we decided to take a ghost tour.  We originally wanted to take one in downtown Tampa but it was full so we decided on their sister tour in St. Petersburg.  The tour we took was called the Ghost Tours of Historic Haunted St. Petersburg.

We headed north to Pinellas County right after dinner and I was hoping to get some photo time at Tampa International Airport.  But I misjudged my time and didn't have enough time.  As we were crossing over the Sunshine Skyway, my wife noticed a Carnival cruise ship coming towards the bay.  So we decided to pass some time by waiting for the ship to pass under the bridge.  Its amazing how little room remains, at least from our angle, from the ship to the top of the bridge.

After watching the ship clear, we continued in to the bayfront in St Petersburg.  Boy was it hopping downtown.  The closest parking spot was over a mile away from the tour.

We checked in with our guide at the Hooker Tea Company.  We still had about thirty minutes to spare so we sat at a table by the street and people watched until the tour began.

Our tour was packed.  There was that many people that they had to bring in a second tour guide.  The number of people combined with the drunk group that joined us already started the tour on the wrong foot.  But I tried to look past that in an effort of having a good time.

The tour began in the park across from the Vinoy Hotel.  The Vinoy is haunted by a woman in white who is believed to be the murdered wife of the owner.  The fifth floor of the hotel is where the majority of the paranormal activity is reported.  It is here where visiting baseball teams stay when they are in town to play the Tampa Bay Rays.  A player for the Cincinnati Reds even had an experience during their stay where he was pinned to the bed and it shook him up that bad that he reported it to the AP reporter who did a feature on the haunted hotel.

From there we went to Walker Mansion.  The mansion was once a popular spot for weddings but it is known for it's ghostly resident Harriet who roams the second floor of the Victorian style home.

The tour then passed by the Flori De Leon Apartments.  Once home to the Great Bambino, Babe Ruth, the Flori De Leon is also believed to be haunted.

Our next stop on the tour was the lobby of the Hotel Indigo.  Once known as the Martha Washington Hotel, it is haunted by a young girl who can be seen playing in the third floor hallway.  They even have problems with the artwork in the lobby constantly falling off the wall in which staff believes is caused by the playful spirits in the hotel.

We cut through a back alley and into our next stop, the Pier Hotel.  Here we were introduced to the ghost of Charles.  Charles was a butler at the Cordova Hotel and is still known to help guests straighten up from time to time.

After leaving the Pier Hotel, we continued the walk through downtown St Pete until we reached the Detroit Hotel in which we departed ways.

I was really disappointed by this tour.  The tour failed to step outside the pages of the book in which it was based from.  They never really helped us connect to the story, it was just a walk and talk and not much more than that.

The tour also failed to deliver on many of the promises of their website.  Several of the stories that they advertised on their website were never mention on the tour and the tour was done in about an hour, less then the 75-90 minutes they state on their site.  Plus the large group of drunks really helped distract from the experience.  They also failed to honor the $2 discount on tickets purchased on-line, they take it off the adult ticket but fail to take it off the child ticket.

While researching this tour prior to our trip, I encountered plenty of negative reviews along these same lines.  But we decided to give it a try anyhow and see what happened.  In the end, I was really disappointed with the results of this tour.  I think we could have easily saved us some money by buying the book and doing our own tour.

But if you would like to give them a try and see for yourself, they offer tours nightly at 8pm and depart from the Hooker Tea Company on Beach Drive.  It is $15 for adults and $10 for kids.  Check out their website for more information.

Click on the photo above to view photos from our Ghost Tours of St. Petersburg photo gallery.