A spooky tour for Halloween

It was a misty, moonless night when fourteen of us set sail up the Providence River. Passing darkened houseboats and crumbling docks, slowly made our way toward The Downcity skyline. The near-glassy water had just enough ripple to create a funhouse effect.

No one spoke.

Finally, a woman's voice cut through the darkness. She had stories to tell. Ghosts were afoot.

Ghosts belong to historic places. Once we passed under the safety of the new pedestrian bridge, our guide pointed out the red lights of the (former) Biltmore. Dark doings happened there. Sometimes, the building itself remembers and cries out with slamming doors and dancing feet.

Haunted hotels and restaurants line the river. Each tells a story of what was, and - in the dark of night - still is.

At the Basin, we see where the penitentiary "used to be." That favorite Rhode Island phrase is appropriate for this tour, and yet ironic. Though the penitentiary is gone, some people who "used to be" are still there.

The activity extends to the former bank and current RISD Fleet Library and student housing. What mysterious force drove a student and her boyfriend from the dorm?

Fourteen of us left the dock outside Whiskey Republic and sailed past the confluence of the Woonasquatucket and Moshassuck....



...fourteen returned.

Thanks to Providence Ghost Tours and Providence River Boat Co. for partnering up as Haunted Boat Tours. It was spooky, historic fun.