History, Mystery, Murder & Mayhem Tour in St. Augustine, FL

My family and I have been coming to St. Augustine for many years. Ghost tours have always been a highlight.... and after doing as many as we have, we chose this tour hoping for some new stories. This tour had numerous problems: 1. Tour guide did not speak loud enough for entire group to hear. She also lost her train of thought multiple times during the stories she was telling. 2. Stories were too long for a tour. This led to is standing in one place for 30 minutes.... twice. The last stop for about 20 minutes. 3. The stops did not go with the stories (except for first which was at statue of Pedro Menedez). We just stopped on a very busy street corner and she talked. Then we stopped in a parking lot and she talked. 4. There was a time she was telling a story while we walked. I guess the people beside her could hear, but not us. 5. We really didn't walk. We like a walking tours because we walk after dinner and learn interesting things about the city.... not this time. We were extremely disappointed and definitely petty bored during tour.

We were surprised how many facts given were misleading as we have been here many times. We stopped a few times and she just started rambling on instead of walking to more areas. Two of the people left the tour in the middle they were so unimpressed.

The check in office was smoldering hot! Perhaps the A/C was broken? I do not know how those dressed in all the garb are able to stand it! The tour itself was not terrible, our tour guide was funny, we learned a couple new facts, but other than that it was kind of boring and long. It is difficult to hear unless you are in the very front. I love history, and was waiting to hear some really great 'unusual' things, but most of what I heard we had heard before, or heard later.

I finally found this tour so I could review it (see my review of the Lightner Museum which was inspired by this tour). We have never done a walking tour anywhere, but visit St. Augustine every year. This year we decided to do the History, Mystery, Mayhem & MURDER tour, inspired by a Groupon, no less. Wow, were we happy we did. I was wanting a "ghost tour" and T just wanted something fun. We signed on for this tour and luckily, Nicolette was our guide. She is an absolutely engaging, funny, smart, and entertaining guide (not to mention extremely cute, even bundled up on probably the coldest night of the winter) who has apparently lived in the area all of her life and takes its history seriously and personally. This is apparently a side-job of hers that she does because she is passionate about it. Nicolette filled us in on the history of Flagler college, including its construction and the construction of nearby Casa Monica as well as the Hotel Alcazar (which now houses other things, including the Lightner Museum); some of the mysteries of old St. Augustine, including findings of charred bones and human remains in some of the streets that are still there after hundreds of years; the mayhem and murder of a young socialite; and the bittersweet stories of freed slaves in the area. Nicolette knows her history, and she knows her hometown, and she knows how to make an hour or two disappear into the night just like the identity of Athalia's murderer. Go spend an evening with her if you want real history of the mainland's oldest city!

We went on a chilly Friday night. Im kind of a local, next town, and have spent a lot of time in St Augustine and I learned some things on this tour. Kathleen was our guide and she was outstanding except she was hard to hear. I would return for this tour and bring guests.