This is to provide a "heads-up" for what to expect from the Telegraph Berkeley Historical Walking…read moreTour. This is also to supplement the Walking Tour, in case some of the more interesting points were missed. I doubt if this Walking Tour includes any of the really important things about Berkeley, such as Melvin Calvin's discovery of the Calvin Cycle, or the discoveries relating to vitamin B12 by Horace Barker, or the discovery by Gilbert Lewis of the covalent bond and his concept of electron pairs. Instead, the Walking Tour is more likely to disclose: (1) Anti-war demonstrations and riots; (2) Free Speech Movement; and (3) Curiosities, such as People's Park, Holy Hubert (evangelist), Pink Cloud (Berkeley Barb salesman), Pravda, the Hate Man, Stoney Burke (performs political comedy), and the successful and famous poet, Julia "Bubble Lady" Vinograd. And so, to prepare yourself for the Walking Tour, I suggest buying a copy of BLESS YOUR DIRTY HEART by Hubert Lindsey, a.k.a., Holy Hubert, and by buying two or three poetry books by Julia Vinograd. I suggest, CANNIBAL CASSEROLE to start out with. MY PHOTOGRAPHS. I took these photographs in the years 1969 to 1971. During the time I was taking freshman chemistry in Latimer Hall, us students were faced with a tough decision. Should we open the windows and let the stinky smell of our chemicals go out the window, or should we keep the windows shut to keep out the stinky smell of the tear gas that the Berkeley police were shooting at the rioters. The day after the riots, I would go out and collect spent tear gas bombs. I have a tear gas bomb that was a rubber ball with a valve on top, and another tear gas bomb that was a blue-painted can made of thick metal, with holes in the can to let the gas come out. I washed the residual tear gas out of the bombs by flushing water over the spent tear gas bombs in the bathroom sink in PRIESTLY HALL dormitory. My photographs show: (1) Bluegrass trio in Sproul Plaza with a mandolin case where you donate money, and where the mandolin case has a sign reading, "KITTY." The term "Kitty" is sometimes used to refer to a place for putting spare change. (2) Also on Sproul Plaza, people playing trombone and clarinet. (3) Holy Hubert on Sproul Plaza. One of the signs reads, "Jesus Christ is coming again to judge this world, follow Christ here on earth. Be persecuted and go to heaven not hell. Another sign reads, "REPENT-REPENT-REPENT Communist Party USSR Communist Party Red China Communist Party U.S.A. Marx-Lenin-Maotsetung ALL 3 ATHEISTS. Bible says Atheist=Fools. I won't follow fools. (4) Riot police on Telegraph Ave. escorting boy to paddy wagon. (5) Sandwich board on Telegraph Avenue. Sign reads, LEOPOLD'S RECORDS New Stones Album $5.99. (6) Boy gets put into paddy wagon, on Telegraph Avenue. (7) Four rioters on Telegraph. One of them flips bird at me. (8) Protest against Nixon and bombs. I took this photo at entrance to U.C. Berkeley campus. (9) Hippie is glad that LBJ died. See headlines from Berkeley Daily Gazette that reads, "Washington Funeral For LBJ." The sign attached to the wooden post reads, "ASLEEP AT THE WHEEL . . . ALICE STEWART & SNAKE . . . June 23." Please note that Alice Stewart & Snake also performed with Big Brother and the Holding Company, at Bimbo's in 1972. (10) Happy gathering on Telegraph. (11) People's Park with Pravda in the nude, as usual. (12) People's Park with row of four friends. (13) Happy gathering on Telegraph, near La Fiesta Mexican Restaurant. You can see GARDEN SPOT MARKET next to La Fiesta. But me and my roommates called this place the GARBAGE SPOT.

I checked out this tour on a recent rainy Sunday and as a Berkeley native learned so much I never…read moreknew about our local history, specific to Telegraph Avenue, Cal as well as Berkeley in general! It's a great tour and I'd recommend it to residents and visitors alike. It's a free app to download and my friend and I each but an earbud in our ear and walked the tour together. Totally recommend!

My husband and I enjoyed today's Original San Francisco Walking Tour with Britt as our guide. We…read morehave been to San Francisco many times over the years but still learned much about its interesting history thanks to Britt's enthusiastic and knowledgable presentation during our tour. Tidbits, such as the existence of a watering hole in the 19th century called the Fierce Grizzly (so named because it had a grizzly chained next to the door) and how today's Chinatown architecture came about after the 1906 earthquake, made our walk memorable and our time with Britt go by fast. The only (slight) disappointment came when we stopped by Caffe Trieste but didn't have time to enjoy their delicious espresso even though a coffee stop was mentioned in the tour description. We highly recommend this walking tour.

I had a free afternoon one Tuesday so I booked the Secrets, Scandals & Scoundrels Tour…read more Britt was fantastic! He was engaging and related the stories to us vividly so we could see and almost hear and smell the times. This tour started in front of the Ghirardelli chocolate store, so that was easy to find and very tantalizing. We got a sample of chocolate too. We walked about a mile and a half or so in and out of buildings and around courtyards. You get a great view of the Transamerica building and even learn about POPOS (privately owned public open spaces) which was the best insider tip for the tour IMO. (Note, you don't end up where you started. You're just a few blocks from where you started but ask Britt for directions and he'll set you in the right direction... or call Lyft/Uber.) San Francisco is filled with so much history that this tour is just the tip of the iceberg. But it gives you an interesting perspective of the Gold Rush times and how San Francisco and its people evolved through that time.

Lisi was a fun and engaging tour guide. We are SF locals, but often go on ghost tours in other…read morecities. We decided we should do one in our own town for the hell of it. We enjoyed the history tales around the gold rush, earthquake, and Chinatown, mixed in with fun horror stories. Also a fun evening out for our two pups, who got to join along. Well done.

Really entertaining evening with great guides who kept it engaging and just the right balance of…read morespookiness. We learned a lot of SF history too.

Elliot (tour guide) was very knowledgeable, interesting, and attentive to our questions and…read moreinterests.

From the owner: Discover Marin County's most picturesque and historic town--Its history and the people who created…read moreit. Enjoy the fabulous views, the charming shops and the great restaurants. Make a day of it!

The Emperor's tour is informative, fun, funny, and memorable…read more He is a delightful, knowledgeable gentleman.

All hail Emperor Norton and his Fantastic Time Machine! One of the best things I've ever done in…read moreSan Francisco -- and the way I came across this tour was by total chance! I happened to be walking through Union Square one weekend morning and saw a gentleman dressed as Emperor Norton. I thought he was a street performer, but boy was I surprised to find out he was about to lead a walking tour! Being a history nerd and someone who was already familiar with the Emperor, I bought a ticket for the downtown tour on the spot, and had such a good experience the next day I bought a ticket for the waterfront tour. It's an enjoyable, leisurely stroll through San Francisco -- full of fun facts and trivia about the city, and Joseph is a delightful host and guide. I feel he lives up to the ideals and sentiments of both Emperor Norton and the city of San Francisco itself, and this is my #1 recommendation whenever a friend tells me they're going to visit SF (although, of course, I'm always sure to NEVER refer to it as "Frisco").

Lots of details about this interesting corner of the Bay Area provided by our guide Dan G. He was a…read morewealth of information, pretty funny and as a local was able to share a lot of perspective on the islands changes. Great day trip and I wish we had more time to poke around.

Wonderful tour led by Jim. History + nature! A great morning spent on the island…read more For people who are looking to visit the Naval Museum on the island, it is no longer open, but this tour is operative and you get to see the naval chapel and walk around the area. I was originally looking for information about the museum and arrived at this page: https://www.mihpf.org/tours. I hope this will help you find their tour options and dates! All digitalized, no fuss. And it turns out I was the only who signed up for today's tour, and they did not cancel on me because of that. I really really appreciated it. One last thing, the money you spend on the tour goes into helping this foundation : ) Yay!

What a lovely way to learn more about San Jose history. We…read moreenjoyed the "Little Italy" guided walk & talk. Dave our guide was personable, knowledgeable, patient and never tired of our seemingly endless questions.

I enjoyed a walking tour in San Jose with my two co-workers. I had lived in San Jose for 4 years,…read moreand my co-workers were new to the area-- we all learned SO much and loved exploring the city. Greg was a great host, very engaging & answered all of our questions. Definitely recommend for friends, family, fun, or work event!

My husband and I took Rick's walking tour on Oct. 12 and it was even better than expected! We both…read morelearned so much about buildings we'd passed by often and not realized were symbolic to the architecture of the era. We also loved how Rick pointed out the privately owned public spaces (POPOs) nearby that we never knew about. He also provides lots of information about how to find these in every city. I highly recommend this tour to SF locals and tourists alike- you won't be disappointed.

This was so interesting!! We took my in-laws when they were in town visiting, but us locals learned…read morejust as much. You tell Rick is very passionate about what he does. We were shown buildings we walk by regularly in a whole new light and loved being shown all the privately owned public parks hidden throughout the city!!! He even sends a map of all the parks after the class. Highly recommend for tourists and locals alike!

What a fun and informative evening! Highly recommend if you are interested in learning about the…read morehistory of Petaluma.

sooo fun! love a good ghost/historical tour, and these two put on a great one! you can tell they…read morespent a lot of time researching and that a lot of care went into this. i would love to go on it again, as it's a beautiful walk and a great time.

Jay, the founder of Victoria Home Walk, has the perfect personality to be a tour guide. He clearly…read moreloves his adopted city of San Francisco and we learned so much about the architecture and history of the neighborhoods. We lived in Silicon Valley for five years and used to come into the city for events, dining, and live music. This tour gave us an appreciation of the flair and vibe of one of our great American cities. Highly recommend this tour. Jay is generous and knowledgeable and you won't be disappointed.

This is exactly what I was hoping for in a Victorian home tour and even more. Jay was friendly,…read morepersonable, and very knowledgeable about his community. I highly recommend his tour. It was absolutely amazing.