Planning an Impromtu Jaunt to Haunted San Francisco

Well, it looks like we’re taking a jaunt westward to haunted San Francisco. Sort of came up spur of the moment. Having to scramble to plan what haunted places we want to take in.

Here’s the haunted San Francisco places that pop first to mind I’d like to see:

1. Alcatraz
2. The Golden Gate Bridge
3. Fisherman’s Wharf (not sure exactly what ghosts roam there, but I have a feeling some must)
4. Queen Anne Hotel

Here’s some places I’ve come across that have piqued my interest while doing some quick research on haunted San Francisco places. If we can, I’d like to check them out.

1. Hotel Union Square – Rumor has it the playwright Lillian Hellman is said to haunt room 207. Awesome. This will fit in nicely with a new Pinterest board and FB album I’m planning on starting about places where actors and writers haunt that I’ve jaunted to.
2. Atherton Mansion – Apparently this Victorian sits at the corner of Octavia and California streets in the Pacific Heights area. There’s a cat lady spirit said to haunt there as well as possibly the ghost of George Atherton, who died at sea and was preserved in a barrel of rum and shipped back home to this mansion. (Where a butler is said to have popped open the crate, not knowing of George’s demise –no one in the family did– or that he was in the barrel. Now if that isn’t a good story, I don’t know what is!)
3. Sutro Baths – Apparently this is just ruins now (which sounds intriguing in and of itself). However, it used to be an old bathhouse that first opened in 1896. It later became an ice rink (and perhaps some other things? Still trying to figure out it’s history) before burning down in 1966. People claim to hear screams coming from the tunnels below (and a nearby cave? Again, trying to work out the ghost stories around this place). It’s also rumored people were sacrificed in the tunnel. Creepy!
4. The Cliff House – This is my kind of jaunt. It’s an eerie eatery! (Love me my food!) It appears it’s been renovated. Not sure it’s the castle towering over the sea it once was, but it still does overlook the water, which is where people have claimed to spot souls who have lost their lives wandering for eternity on the treacherous cliffs.
5. Golden Gate Park – There seem to be several spirits who haunt this park, including a police officer who gives speeding tickets but when people go to court they find out he’s been dead for a while. There’s also a woman said to haunt Stow Lake. (Stow Lake seems to keep coming up in searches for San Francisco’s haunted places.) Love haunted parks. I have a feeling we’ll be jaunting there. (My hub’s a nature lover. This will be an easy one to sway him into seeing.)

Checking Into a Spooky Stay?

You know me, if I can stay in a haunted hotel, I will. However, because of the super impromptu nature of this trip, I don’t have the luxury of choosing a haunted San Francisco hotel. This time around I’ll be at the mercy of the Priceline Negotiator. We’ll have to go with whoever takes our bid.

Who knows though? Maybe we’ll luck out and get not only a fantastic rate, but one in a haunted San Francisco hotel to boot!

HAUNTED SAN FRANCISCO TOURS

The other thing I’ve scoped out are tours, in particular haunted ones. However, since this is my husband’s birthday weekend trip, he gets to choose what we do. He’s not the ghost seeker that I am. He won’t be purposely searching out haunted places to visit. (Lucky for me, he often picks ’em without realizing.)

But there are some neat tours, including a couple of ghostie-type ones offered by one of my affiliates, Viator. Here’s the ones that most captured my attention:

San Francisco Chinatown Ghost Walking Tour

Alcatraz and Fisherman’s Wharf Wax Museum with Optional Aquarium of the Bay Ticket

Alcatraz Tour plus Muir Woods, Giant Redwoods and Sausalito Day Trip

Winchester Mystery House, Muir Woods and Sausalito Day Trip

Winchester Mystery House Tour

San Francisco Hop-on Hop-off Ticket and Alcatraz Tour

Jail and Sail: Half-Day Tour of San Francisco Bay (Ha! Love the name of this tour. Cute and clever!)

San Francisco Hop-on Hop-off Tour

San Francisco Hop-on Hop-off Trolley Tour

You might’ve noticed a pattern. Specifically, my picks lean towards Muir Woods, Alcatraz, and the Hop On, Hop Off tours.

Muir Woods sounds so romantic to me. Like someplace out of a novel. Alcatraz is so storied it almost seems a shame to go that far and not see it. And Hop On Hop Off tours always seem to be such a great way to get around, see things, and learn facts. Adding a trolley aspect to that? Really enticing.

I also spotted some passes that look like good deals:

PIER 39 Attraction Pass

San Francisco CityPass

So…we don’t have much time to figure out what we’ll do, but we have plenty of options. I’ll be documenting some of our adventures on HJ’s Facebook page now that I have a slick new iPhone to be more socially connected with. (Thanks to my husband, who gave it to me for my early birthday present.)