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| - So Casandra beat me to the actual review, even though I beat her to the tour (we did the 7pm, she apparently did the 8:30) - I've been slacking on writing this week, give me a break!
Anyway, since we had checked out Vida for an early dinner on Saturday, we figured the 7pm tour would fit in well with our plans, and it worked out just right. After a stroll around uptown, we ended up in front of the Hearst Tower just as Dan and Bridgette came up. Dan was decked out in - seemingly authentic - period garb, while Bridgette was there more for PR. Both were very friendly, and happy to fill the group in on themselves and their offerings (they also do tours in other cities, but this is their first in Charlotte).
There is at least one other company offering walking tours in Charlotte, as we saw the sandwich board at Trade & Tryon, but we didn't actually see them walking, and Dan seemed surprised, as he wasn't aware of there being another group. I haven't been on their tour, so I can't say much about them.
The tour itself was good - Dan is a solid storyteller and seems to know his stuff, though he does slip in and out of his character. That's not a bad thing, it's just something to be aware of, if you are worried about it.
Probably the more important tidbit is that Charlotte isn't terribly ghostly. For one, there are a bunch of lights, a decent amount of people (I am not making this up, we even saw a guy on a Segway) and a ton of buses. It just doesn't make for a creepy feeling on the tour when a gigantic city bus rolls by, you know? Another reason we didn't really worry about taking the later tour, when it was darker. More than once we had inebriated bar patrons telling us how there were no ghosts in Charlotte.
There was, however, a good amount of history on the tour, so it's worth taking for that reason - so put the stress on the "history" portion of the title and you'll be less disappointed. The "haunts", not so much. If you want that, you're probably better off in Charleston, New Orleans or Savannah. Still, it's a decent attraction, especially if you can get it at a discounted rate.
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