The Ghosts of Marietta Tour, Marietta, Georgia

Last night, Ken and I had an opportunity to take a ghost tour I'd been wanting to take for months. We joined tour guide Joni Goodin and Kevin Fike of Historic Ghost Watch for the Ghosts of Marietta Tour. Ironically, I've taken tours all over the South and this is the first time I got to take the one in the town where I live, Marietta, Georgia.

I had met Joni last Halloween when the local paper did an article on local haunts that included the two of us, and we hit it off right away, so I knew that we would enjoy the tour. A personable and entertaining guide is the prime necessity for a great ghost tour, since nearly every locality can provide plenty of ghostly tales and haunted buildings. Marietta is certainly no exception.

We started out at the Marietta Welcome Center, which is right next door to my favorite haunted location in Marietta, The Kennesaw House. As those of you who were kind enough to read my Associated Content Article, Haunted Places In Marietta: The Kennesaw House know, I love The Kennesaw House. I, of course, knew the story of its past and I knew that people often see apparitions there dating from its use as a Civil War hospital. But Joni was able to fill in some gaps in what I knew and she also shared some photos I've never seen.

For the rest of the tour, we visited and heard stories about haunted pubs and bars, a man who shares both his home and his office with a ghost, a lady who has lived with her ghost for over twenty years, and other stories from haunted historic homes just off Marietta's haunted square. Because of the distance, we did not actually visit any of the cemetaries, but we did hear tales of the cemetery spirits. I don't want to give you too much detail, because if you're in the Marietta area, I want you to go hear Joni or one of her other tour guides tell it!

The combination of Joni's excellent storytelling skills, Marietta's marvelous square, and the photographic evidence she graciously shared, made for a fascinating and thoroughly enjoyable tour.

None of Marietta's ghosts mentioned on this tour are frightening, but all are interesting. You will learn a lot about the normal and the paranormal history of the town.

Even though the walk is a little over a mile, it is an easy walk with no hills and several spots to stop and sit and listen. It was muggy and hot, but I did not hear one person in our 10-person group complain. That is a real testament to Marietta, its ghosts, and the Ghosts of Marietta tour.

The tour is $15 a person for adults, and takes place Saturday nights beginning at 8 PM. It lasts about 90 minutes.

In addition, Ghosts of Marietta has teamed up with the new Marietta Trolley Company to offer a new tour the first Friday of each month, Scarietta. For those of you who prefer to ride rather than walk, this will be an excellent tour opportunity. We have been invited to take a Trolley tour soon, so expect to hear about that one in the upcoming days.