Ghost Tours in Old Town

With Halloween looking a little different this year, you may be on the hunt for an alternative to trick-or-treating while still embracing the festivities of the night. Fear not! Alexandria’s Ghost & Graveyard Tours can be a treat of entertainment with their ghost stories and historical tales of Old Town under lantern light.We had the chance to talk with Wellington Watts of Alexandria Colonial Tours, who shared how walking tours in Old Town can be experienced with family and friends this fall, in person or over Zoom! Lots of research has gone into the stories told by guides, although new stories of ghostly encounters and historical trivia are added each year as Old Town residents and shop owners share their own experiences. Might you have a story to share?  “Ghosts are on their own schedule,” said Watts, who loves hearing new stories from visitors so he can research the history to learn what (or who) might be haunting a certain building or street. Although Wellington hasn’t had a ghostly experience yet himself, one of his more famous stories comes from two of his tour guides who experienced the same shoulder tapping at the Carlyle House while standing there alone on Halloween weekend... giving them both quite a fright that night!On Saturday’s Halloween night, a Hunter’s Moon will appear in the sky, otherwise known as October’s full moon. Even more extraordinary, this full moon will be a Blue Moon, a fairly infrequent phenomenon when there is a second full moon in the same month. With a full moon in the sky on Halloween night, walking the streets of Old Town, Alexandria by lantern light might turn out to be the perfect activity to end the month.  Since the pandemic, Alexandria Colonial Tours has offered Zoom Ghost & Graveyard Tours to accommodate social distancing. In-person tours are still being offered by guides and both Zoom and in-person tours will be offered this weekend for Halloween. Tours on Wednesday and Thursday are at 7:30pm. Friday and Saturday in-person tours are offered at 7:30pm, 8:30pm, and 9pm. Zoom Tours are offered Friday and Saturday at 8pm. Click here to book tickets online.