Ghost Walk – Petoskey
Michigan – 2017
After having a great time participating in the Holly
Twilight Tour (Ghost Walk), we decided to book another one, but this time
within our annual fall trip to Petoskey. …and it just so happened to fall on
October…Friday the 13th. Oooooooo spooky!
The tour started at 8:00pm on the large front porch of the
Perry Hotel (which has a number of ghost stories involving the location). The
weather was just a little chilly and it was misting rain here and there. It was
actually quite fitting for a spooky ghost walk. The tour guide (sorry, can’t
remember his name) was extremely knowledgeable about Petoskey, its history and
ghost stories as well as being a great speaker. He added humor to much of his
tales to help lighten the mood a bit.
We walked all over downtown Petoskey. He told us stories
about the large hotel that burned to the ground that once housed solders
returning from WWI, the murder of a woman in an apartment above a retail shop,
the underground speakeasies and tunnels for running alcohol back in the
prohibition days and possible visits from Al Capone and his gang. There were
lots of murders, deaths and unexplained happenings in Petoskey since its
beginnings. All of these stories were quite shocking to my wife and I, because
we had no idea how much great history was in Petoskey…let alone all of the
death and carnage.
There’s no doubt that Petoskey has its fair share of ghosts
and spooky stories. We’ve been traveling to Petoskey every fall for the last 4
years and will never quite look at it the same way again the next time we are
there.
Although unfortunately we didn’t actually see any ghosts on
our walk; the setting, date, dark night, speaker and stories made for an
outstanding evening. We will certainly book another ghost walk in Petoskey and
other Michigan towns. They are entertaining
and a great way to learn about local history and folklore.
Ever been on a Ghost Walk?