(Feature photo is of the Old Medical College of Georgia building. It’s a highlight of the Gravely Mistaken Tour)
It’s a phrase Michael Wolff hates to hear.
“There’s nothing to do in Augusta.”
The reason he hates to hear it is that it’s not true, said Wolff who encourages people to become tourists in their own hometown and gives them the opportunity to do that every weekend with his tours in downtown Augusta.
Wolff offers tours year-round through his Augusta Adventures Tours and Events. Tours have two different themes — the Gravely Mistaken Tour which is based on Janis Parks’ book of a similar name which highlights the Medical College of Georgia’s graverobbing-in-the-name-of-science past, and the Broadway Ghosts and Graveyard Tours.
On Friday, Oct. 13, he will add a new twist with the Desserts with a Ghost Tour, an adults-only tour that will include specially made and named cocktails at Second City Distillery and desserts at Boll Weevil. Having tours on Friday is new. Until this month, he’s been doing them on Saturdays only.
While there’s a spooky nuance to the tours, they aren’t just for Halloween. Besides learning about possible haunts, the tours include snippets on historical figures as well as the architecture and history of Augusta’s buildings. He also highlights some of the city’s newer features such as its public art.
“Some of the greatest treasures are at your feet or above,” said Wolff on a recent Gravely Mistaken Tour as he pointed out small details that people walk over every day.
The nighttime tours provide a different vantage point from a daily walking tour.
Stops on the Gravely Mistaken Tour included the Delaigle home on the corner of Monument and Greene Streets where one of the men in the city’s last duel died.
People can also learn about the Great Fire of 1916 and about an unusual grave that’s hidden in plain sight on one of the city’s streets.
And during the tour, Wolff tells how Augusta’s influence extends beyond the Peach state and that doesn’t have anything to do with an annual golf tournament.
Think of Augusta as a wheel, he said, with many spokes that reach various parts of the globe.
Tickets are $25. For more information, call (706) 993-9263.
Charmain Z. Brackett, the publisher of Augusta Good News, has covered Augusta’s news for 35 years. Reach her at charmain@augustagoodnews.com. Sign up for the newsletter here.
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