Edwina Tries… A Ghost Tour
Tour Erie invites you on a history walk for their Eerie Stories, Legends, and Lore Ghost Tour
What's better than taking an evening stroll in Downtown Erie on a clear, 60 degree night?
Taking that stroll while learning about historic deaths and spooky ghost stories. Enter Tour Erie, the brainchild of mother/daughter team Heather and Lauren Cass. The walking tour features our city's unique landscape and history, along with tales of ghosts, apparitions, battles, shipwrecks, and gruesome deaths – all just in time for spooky season.
A product of Gannon's Small Business Development Center and the Northwest Pennsylvania Innovation Beehive Network, Tour Erie allows the Cass gals to share their love for Erie with groups, one walking tour at a time.
As their website explains, they are "unabashed Erie cheerleaders," and their enthusiasm shows. While they offer tours at other times from June through October, I was thrilled to join on a perfect early fall night. The tour took just over 1.5 hours and is just a little more than a mile long, at a very comfortable pace with plenty of places to rest along the way. It is probably a little intense for younger kiddos, but isn't too terribly scary.
We met on North Park Row, just in front of the Flagship City Food Hall, and Heather and Lauren were both very welcoming and friendly. They went around the group to ask where people were from, and in addition to a large group from the Eastside YMCA, there were also visitors from Cleveland and Youngstown, Ohio. The tour had a perfect balance of Erie history and creepy stories, expertly delivered by both of our guides. They elegantly carried on, even when met with some surprise downtown characters.
The Casses dealt with noise, interruptions, construction, and street closures with grace and kindness. It was a lovely walk – I would definitely take it again or join one of their other themed walking tours.
For more info or to schedule your tour, visit toureriepa.com
Edwina is Erie's (self-proclaimed) biggest fan who loves being a tourist in our own town. If you have an idea of something new she should try you can email her at edwina.capozziello@gmail.com
