(June 6, 2014) Thrill-seekers of all ages meet every Wednesday night at the southern end of the Boardwalk to take part in Ocean City’s ghost tour.
The walking tour is one of 12 run by Chesapeake Ghost Tours, the brainchild of travel writer and author Mindie Burgoyne.
Of all the towns, she says Ocean City is home to her favorite spooky stories.
“It’s a very rich tour,” Burgoyne said. “Ocean City didn’t grow up like normal towns.
Everything about Ocean City and its history was about vacations. All of the stories were… centered around happy, romantic, summertime family vacations, and that translates into the tour.”
Ocean City’s ghost walk covers more than 10 historic spots from the inlet to Fourth Street. It starts at the Life-Saving Station Museum, which has several accounts of paranormal activity, and includes Trimpers menagerie carousel and the Shoreham Hotel, one of only two sites with the “haunted trifecta” — a murder, suicide and accidental death all in one spot — on Maryland’s Eastern Shore, Burgoyne said.
She originally led the tours herself, but as their popularity swelled, she trained tour guides to deliver the history-rich walks.
The local guides have weeks of training under their belts in everything from how to operate within the confines of local government to the art of telling stories and the deep-rooted history behind the hauntings.
“Part of why this is so successful is because they’re so passionate,” Burgoyne said.
Last year Chesapeake Ghost Tours’ walks in Ocean City were so popular that of dozens of tours, all but a handful sold out, she said.
Visitors can also get a taste of haunted Berlin through the tours, which operate every Thursday night in the town just a few miles outside the resort.
The tours start at the downtown Atlantic Hotel, taking walkers to a graveyard stop, the Maryland Wine Bar and other haunted spots around town. There are also three walking ghosts that have been sighted around town and a non-human spirit, Burgoyne said.
Though none of the tours go into buildings, many of the sites on the Ocean City and Berlin routes are open to the public if participants want to visit later, she said.
Each tour is about an hour and a half long and visitors must be able to make the 1.5-mile route on foot.
The haunted walks cost $15 for adults and $9 for children 12 years old or younger. Tours are capped around 20 walkers and can sell out early. All participants must purchase tickets in advance at www.chesapeakeghostwalks.com by clicking the “calendar” link and selecting the appropriate date.
Tours start every Wednesday at 8 p.m. at the Life-Saving Station Museum at the southern tip of Ocean City’s Boardwalk and every Thursday at the same time from Berlin’s Atlantic Hotel.
Visit www.chesapeakeghostwalks.com to learn more about the Ocean City and Berlin tours as well as other Eastern Shore ghost tours. Check out Burgoyne’s travel site at www.travelhag.com.
