The Wandering Disciple

Asheville, North Carolina:  There is no better way to see and learn about a city than by taking a ride with a local.  That's exactly what Asheville Trolley Tours does, gives riders a glimpse into the local culture of Asheville.  Cradled in the mountains, Asheville is a quirky town with something to offer for everyone. Your trip on the bright red trolley begins at the Asheville Visitor's Center, stop one of the tour.  Park your car here in one of the many free parking spots and hop aboard the trolley for a day filled with interesting stories and amazing sights. There are ten stops along the route, each with something new and exciting to explore.  During the summer, there is a trolley every thirty minutes giving you time to explore the area around the stop.  If you choose to stay on the trolley, it takes about an hour and a half to complete the entire circuit.  We chose to stay onboard for one entire circuit to hear the history of the area and get ...

Tampa, Florida: Since 1926, thousands of movie goers have passed through the doors of the Tampa Theatre to catch a film in the historic theater. But its not just the guests that love the theater, the Tampa Theater has five ghostly spirits that love the theater that much they don’t ever want to leave. It is the actions of these spirits that makes the Tampa Theatre one of the most haunted places in the area. Today we took a look at the ghosts that haunt the Tampa Theatre as part of the Ghost Stories tour hosted by the theater. Guided by the theater’s Director of Marketing & Community Relations Jill Witecki, we took a look at the historic theater’s haunted history. Today’s tour combined the history and architecture of the theater with a detailed focus on the ghosts that still roam the halls. The tour began in the lobby of the theater were we heard the story of a box office attendant who died of a head injury on payday. The attendant known for his unique way of taking tic...

Sarasota, Florida: Sarasota has a rich and colorful past. Throughout history, the city has been home to many influential people as well as a hotspot for arts and entertainment. Many people have called the city by the bay home including John Ringling who’s mark can be seen throughout the city. But with all this glimmer, Sarasota also has a much darker side. A side filled with murder and suicide which can be explored with the Sarasota Ghost Tour. For the past few years, we have wanted to take the ghost tour through Sarasota’s Rosemary District. However I have always been hesitant to go. I have spent 13 years in public safety in Sarasota, working these same streets and visiting these same places in which the tour visits. I’ve worked deep inside the Golden Apple Dinner Theater, Sarasota Opera House, McCown Towers and many more of these haunted places. After countless visits to these places with no experiences, did I really want to pay for a tour of these places. But my wife d...

St. Augustine, Florida: Take a trip into the darkness of the third most haunted city in the country onboard Ripley’s Ghost Train Adventure. Board the train and listen to the dark history of the oldest city in the county, while stopping to look for paranormal activity at three haunted locations. The tour begins at the Warden Castle, home to Ripley’s Believe It or Not Museum. Here you are issued an EMF detector and a disposable camera to use on your tour. After a brief introduction and lesson on your equipment, the group boards the train and its off to explore the city. As you travel the city, the hosts tell you stories of the various haunted establishments in the city. From the ghost that charges the fences of the Tolomato Cemetery to the ghost of a little girl that is found near the city gates, these are just a few of the stories that St. Augustine has to offer. The first stop of our tour was Castillo de San Marcos. From here, we split into two groups and explored the grounds of...

St. Augustine, Florida: All aboard!!! Hop aboard the red train for an entertaining tour of the nation’s oldest city. Ripley’s Sightseeing Train is your ticket to the history that awaits you in St. Augustine. Established in 1953, the red train is the oldest motorized tour in the city. They operate a continuous loop tour through the ancient city, making a total of 24 stops all with unlimited off/on privileges. Trains run every 20 minutes, allowing you to hop off and enjoy the sites without having to worry about how you will get to your next attraction. Here are the stops on the tour as well as some of the nearby major attractions: Stop One (Old Sugar Mill): Old Sugar Mill Stop Two (Welcome Center Train Station): Old Jail, Oldest Store Museum, Antique Carousel and Public Library Stop Three (Parking Garage and Visitor’s Center): St. Augustine Visitor’s Information Center and Playground. Stop Four (City Gates Train Station): Old Drug Store, Huguenot Cemetery and Tolomato Cemetery. Stop Five...

Sarasota, Florida: Hop aboard a safari tram for a trip into the wilderness of Myakka River State Park. Learn about the history, ecosystems and residents that make up one of Florida’s last few remaining true wilderness experiences. The one hour tram rides takes you into some of the backcountry of the park. You depart the paved road at the Power Line Trail and begin your off-road adventure. Here you will travel along the old rail bed that was once a main line into Sarasota. It is along here that you witness first hand the importance of prescribed burning on maintaining the growth of plants. It is hard to believe that at one time, this thick field was once a vast wide open prairie. As you turn onto the next trail, the ecosystem continues to change. Gone are the wet floodplains of the river. We are now in an ecosystem of pine trees, oak trees and the animals that call this area home. This is the part of Florida that was the hunting ground for the Florida Native American tribes. Th...

Sarasota, Florida: We decided to spend today exploring Myakka River State Park, just a short drive from the house in Eastern Sarasota County. We visited the park a while back and explored some of the popular trails, but today we decided to head back and try a wildlife tour. When we arrived at the park, we headed to the concession area to reserve a spot on the tour. The tours are operated by Myakka Wildlife Tours, not the state park system and are an independent fee in addition to the park admission. Myakka Wildlife Tours operates an airboat tour and a tram tour. We did not have enough time for both tours and the airboat tours were pretty full so we chose to do the tram tour and were booked on the 1:00 trip. We had about forty-five minutes to explore the park before our tour begun so we headed out to the area behind the Outpost building where the dam is located. When we got to the water, we found a few wading birds by the water’s edge including a juvenile Yellow-Crowned Night He...

Key West, Florida: The island of Key West began to flourish once Henry Flagler opened the Overseas Railroad, connecting the tropical oasis with mainland Florida. Its only fitting that tourist today tour the island on a modified train. Conch Tour Trains offer riders a ninety minute tour of the island, enriching its passengers with the history and folklore of Key West. The Couch Train took passengers on their first tour in 1958. Since then over fifteen million passengers have taken a ride on the train. Guest board an environmentally friendly trained fueled by propane to take an inside look at the island. The tour focuses on Old Key West. During the ninety minute journey, riders will see the sights and hear the stories that make Key West famous. Embark on the journey from the Front Street Station. From there the tour will wind through the streets of Key West, passing by some of the island’s landmarks including Duval Street, Bayview Park, White Street Pier, Casa Marina, Southernmo...

Washington, DC: One of the best ways to see the sights of Washington DC is aboard the double decker buses operated by Open Top Sightseeing. Operating 26 stops throughout DC, the buses are one of the easiest ways for tourists to get around the city. The tour headquarters is located inside Union Station. Here you can purchase tickets for the hop on-hop off double decker bus tours. The passes are good for two consecutive days and provide unlimited on and off throughout the day. There are 26 stops on the route that allow easy access to many of the cities tourist destinations. The stops in the order they appear on the route and the main attractions they service are: • Stop 1; Union Station, Postal Museum and National Japanese American Memorial. • Stop 2; US Capitol, Supreme Court, Library of Congress, Botanical Gardens and Sewall-Belmont House. • Stop 3; National Museum of Natural History, National Museum of American History, National Archives, National Gallery of Art, Old Post Offi...

New York, New York: Looking for a way to visit all those tourist destinations in New York City without the hassle of learning the subway system or paying high cab fares, Gray Line New York has the answer for the NYC tourist. The All loops tour gives the rider an overview of the city, with great narration and plenty of stops at all the destinations. The tour is valid for forty eight hours and gives the rider unlimited hop-on hop-off access on four separate loops, Uptown Loop, Downtown Loop, Brooklyn Loop and Night Tour (closed loop/no hop on/off). Each loop takes over two hours to complete and hits most of the major tourist attractions in the city. The double decker buses provide open air seating on top and climate controlled seating underneath along with a knowledgeable tour guide to give you facts of the city while you take in the sights. The Downtown Loop includes the following stops: • Stop 1: Times Square • Stop 2: Broadway, Theater District • Stop 3: Macy’s, Madison Square Ga...