This past weekend I went on one of the coolest tours I’ve ever been part of.

For my birthday in late September, my fiancée surprised me with tickets for Phantoms of the River, a haunted river cruise on the Delaware River in Philadelphia. The nighttime cruise featured a dark ride along the Delaware; a friendly, but frightening, pirate; and spooky stories perfect for the season.

Patriot Harbor Lines, home to lots of different themed cruises, offers this tour. This particular cruise focused on regaling passengers with spooky maritime stories from pirate history as well as local tales, like Graffiti Pier, the Jersey Devil and the Philadelphia Experiment.

The cruise lasted an hour and a half and allowed passengers to see Graffiti Pier in the dark, the USS New Jersey and great views of Philadelphia from the river. Before the cruise departed, we took a detour to Northern Liberties to grab dinner at Blackbird, a vegan pizzeria.

The cruise, which featured a full bar, was an exciting and seasonal look into some local scary stories. The added setting of a dark Delaware River upped the ante and fun of the experience. The stories were spooky, the pirate telling the stories was engaging and fun to talk with, and the crew was friendly.

While the next cruise I take won’t be haunted, I plan to visit Patriot Harbor Lines again for a cruise along the Delaware.

— Erich Martin, assistant editor