Spooky pirates, ghost stories, the nation’s oldest city. Sounds like the perfect recipe for a creepy — but fun — way to celebrate Halloween!
This year, Black Raven Adventures in St. Augustine launched its first ghost ship tour, giving guests a chance to hear creepy tales out on the open sea.
The saying may go, “Dead men tell no tales” — but it’s not true if you’re aboard the Black Raven Ghost Tour.
You’ll meet some real characters, like Daran Hollie, aka Pirate William Frost.
“I’ve always liked dressing up, telling funny stories, being the class clown as it were… started growing my hair out long, people started saying, ‘Wow, you look like a pirate.’ OK, well if I look like a pirate, might as well get a pirate job,” Hollie said.
Pirates are just the beginning. Guests will hear tales highlighting St. Augustine’s famed Castillo de San Marcos, the Lighthouse, and so much more.
As the journey pushes on, just like the sea, the tales get darker.
“We talk about the unfortunate tragedy of the Pittee girls that happened at the Lighthouse. We talk about what happened to Andrew Ranson at Vilano Beach and how he was captured by the Spanish,” Hollie said.
As we learned this month, new stories are still being discovered. A mysterious 19th-century boat was uncovered downtown.
But beware, you might walk away with a few spooky tales of your own. Just asked Joshua Morris — or as he’s known here, Long John Silver.
“Realistically, there’s a lot of things that go unexplained on the water. Stuff will go missing, doors will be open when we’ve left them closed. Things like that,” Morris said.
For Hollie — or William Frost — the experience is a smashing good time.
“The main reason I really do the job is to get that connection with someone. To go, ‘Oh, you had a good time? I made your day?’ When people tell me that, it just makes me go, ‘Oh, thank you so much,” Hollie said.
You still have time to sign up for the Ghost Ship Tour this Saturday. It lasts two hours. People 13 and up can board. If ghost stories aren’t really your thing, Black Raven Adventures offers plenty of other cool tours. To learn more, click here.
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