Hawthorne Ghost Tour

06/02/2020

Hi Everyone, this is Marina the Best Operating Officer of the Hawthorne Ghost Tour and I wanted to say something to our friends and family members in Portland and around the world, something that must be stated by every human being of conscience: Black lives matter. Our Black siblings are in danger today and if we have any ability to help, it's important that we do that.

The Portland Police and the mayor have used the recent protests over the deaths of George Floyd, Breonna Taylor, Ahmaud Arbery, and the people murdered by police here in Portland: among them, 17 year old Quanice Hayes, as a reason to increase police presence and even to call in the National Guard.

They say that the vandalism of local businesses is why they are bringing an increasingly militarized force against largely peaceful protesters. But I find that hard to believe. We've been in business on Hawthorne for the last 6 years, many times, someone who is suffering in some way has smashed the windows of my business neighbors, or vandalized a store front, and the Portland Police are not concerned at all.

The vandalism downtown is getting a lot of press coverage, but I'm here to tell you, as a business owner and advocate for many years, vandalism is a part of doing business in this city and any other day, it would be treated as low priority. Because it is, when we put this in perspective. People's lives, their safety and their civil rights matter more than windows and they always will.

This police force can not justify their actions. It is not okay to use small businesses like mine as a distraction from the real issue. Across this country, and here in Portland, the police aren't meant to protect us. If they were, they would care when our windows get smashed and it doesn't coincide with a convenient excuse to shoot people with tear gas and rubber bullets and play at being Rambo while threatening civilian lives.

These crocodile tears Mayor Wheeler and the Portland Police are shedding for small businesses are nothing but a red herring. When the smoke clears, they'll go back to ignoring us, harassing our customers and staff, and treating our safety like it's not their problem.

Please don't be fooled. This increase in police violence is not for my benefit, or for yours. It's here to discourage us from standing up for each other. We're so grateful to be your neighborhood ghost tour and we want all our neighbors to be able to live in a safe, healthy, happy community. That means holding our peace force to a higher standard. A much much higher standard.

Stay safe everyone 🙏

05/05/2020

Hey Everyone, due to the Governor extending the stay at home order until July 6, we've cancelled all tours before July 18.

We're so grateful to see that people are staying home to flatten the curve and save lives. It is a small price to pay to ensure that our community is safe.

We can't wait to see you healthy and happy when this is over. We will continue to follow the advice of doctors and scientists and do everything we can to show up for Hawthorne Blvd.

The Hawthorne Ghost Tour is a fun, exciting, and family friendly adventure through the heart of East Portland’s most haunted street. This is a walking tour that takes one and a half hours, during which we will walk approximately a mile and a half. We have frequent stops to tell spooky stories and ...

03/23/2020

Hey everyone! This is a strange time to be alive, isn't it? While we're all staying inside to help flatten the curve, slow the spread of this virus and save some lives during the pandemic, our business neighbors sure could use some support while the doors are closed.

Check out this list of places you can buy gift cards from online. If you're like us here at the ghost tour and can do all your work at home without significant financial loss, get a few cards and tuck them away for a rainy day. It could mean the difference between closing or staying open for our local small business community.

Click the link and you can get gift cards for Hawthorne Blvd staples like Metro Boutique, Presents of Mind, Altar PDX, The Toffee Club, Portland Cider Co. as well as many other amazing Portland small businesses.

Everyone here at the tour is safe and well; listening to the advice of our medical community and working from home at our day jobs. We hope to see everyone HEALTHY and HAPPY and back outside this summer for walking tour season so stay safe until then!

HEY PORTLAND! LET’S SUPPORT OUR SMALL BUSINESSES Help us support each other and keep Portland’s soul strong Portland’s small business community is what makes it inspiring and amazing. It is also the economic engine for the city. Portland’s Small Businesses Need Our Support Now. Many are offe...

03/12/2020

Our head guide ran into our business neighbors, at the SBLC mixer today! Head over to Hawthorne Asylum Food Carts and check them out, the green tea salad is zesty and perfect for Spring!

02/24/2020

Did you know Head Guide and Best Operating Officer Marina was on a podcast last week?

We'll post more about that show when it comes out, but in the meantime if you're looking for some sweet podcast content, check out the time we were on the That’s Pretty Cool Podcast!

https://open.spotify.com/episode/3YTS6dHj00WaFdLe22OmnK

01/22/2020

Morrison Bridge will be closed Sunday, January 26 for maintenance!

Here's some more details from our friends at Multnomah County, Oregon:

The Morrison Bridge will be closed to motor vehicle traffic on Sunday, January 26 from 7 a.m. until as late as 7 p.m. during maintenance work. The bridge will remain open to bicyclists and pedestrians except between 7 a.m. and 1 p.m. when the drawbridge will be raised. Several drawbridge openings will also be required in the afternoon. The work will not impact river users requiring a drawbridge opening.



Ramps between the bridge and Interstate 5 and Interstate 84 will be closed on Sunday. The only exception is the ramp from the Morrison Bridge westbound to I-5 north which will only be closed from 7 a.m. until about 9 a.m. While the I-5 southbound City Center/Morrison Bridge off-ramp (exit 300) will be closed, the I-5 southbound ramp to Highway 99E/U.S. 26 will remain open. Motorists can access I-84 eastbound at NE Grand Avenue and NE Everett Street.



To access downtown Portland from the freeways during the closure, I-5 southbound drivers can exit at the Rose Quarter/Broadway Bridge and I-84 westbound drivers can exit at Rose Quarter/Weidler exits.



During the closure, TriMet’s 15 Belmont/NW 23rd bus line will be detoured to the Hawthorne Bridge.



The bridge closure will allow a county crew to inspect sign bridges above the bridge, clean gutters, replace stormwater filters, and repair areas of the road deck and sidewalks.



Multnomah County maintains the Morrison Bridge and five other Willamette River bridges. For more information, visit www.multco.us/bridges or follow us on Twitter .

The Multnomah County Bridge Section manages and maintains six Willamette River Bridges and over 20 smaller bridges elsewhere in the County.

12/15/2019

It's a good day for a bread bowl.

12/05/2019

We have a new game store on Hawthorne, and they're having an opening day party this coming Monday at 5. Featuring DJ Yousef, who I heard is a great dude and an even greater DJ!

Mon Dec 9 - Hawthorne Game Exchange - Portland

10/06/2019

Great tour last night!!

10/01/2019

Is there anything better on a Monday night than a peanut butter bar from Common Grounds Coffeehouse?

09/28/2019

UPDATE 9/28/19: The boycott is over, the workers reached a tentative agreement this morning.

Our friends at Rockstar Fred Meyer aka Fred Meyer are asking us not to shop there right now while they negotiate for better wages, and for the Kroger-owned grocery chain to put a stop to their practice of paying women less than men.

We call them Rock Star Fred Meyer because everyone that works there is a total rock star. So we were shocked to learn that some of our fave Fred Meyer workers have caps on their income and aren't allowed to make more than $13 or $14 an hour, even after years of skilled work and loyal service.

Kroger owns stores all over the US so they probably don't know that in Portland, we value our fellow workers and want them to be healthy, happy and properly compensated for their work.

H Mart is a short walk to the West, please join Ghost Tour staff in making a decision to shop there or one of the other stores in our awesome, vibrant neighborhood.

08/23/2019

Your friendly neighborhood tour guide is waiting! Every Saturday through October, she'll keep you safe through a spooky tour of Hawthorne Blvd's haunted history. Book your tickets now!