The Native Experience, by Eric Curry Co.
In May 2021 I gave my first tour in my hometown, San Francisco.
What I vehemently insisted was a temporary job while I was running for office turned into a career that I am both passionate for and proud of: as of the time of this publication (April 2025) I have led just over 600 tours.
Shall we take a stroll down memory lane?
Tours I wrote
Tours I did not write
Fisherman’s Wharf & Pier 39, May 2021
This was your general San Francisco Gold Rush, Ghirardelli Square, and Italian fisherman walking tour. Many guests booked this tour for the optional Alcatraz upgrade since those tickets usually sell out a month or two in advance. While I learned a lot about San Francisco and gained a ton of experience running the Fisherman’s Wharf tour, I’d be lying if I said I enjoyed it. I think my talents and life experience are better showcased with more specialized tours like Castro and Billionaire’s Row.
Full Day Tour, May 2021
This tour was designed as an extension to the Fisherman’s Wharf tour, with the inclusion of Chinatown, North Beach, the Financial District and Union Square. Another way of describing this tour was San Francisco in a Day. Many guests booked this tour to figure out our public transit system or for the cable-car upgrade. I enjoyed getting to know my guests a little better over the five hour tour, and the hour lunch break was the perfect time to catch up on emails and other busy work.
3. Billionaire’s Row & Palace of Fine Arts, May 2021
This was the first tour I designed 100% myself- script, route, and research. I have been fascinated by the Palace of Fine Arts since I was a little boy and when I first moved back to San Francisco, I would look for any excuse to walk past the breath-taking structure. This tour holds a special place in my heart for the added fact that we finish not far from where the first three generations of the San Francisco side of my family lived!
4. Mission Food & Culture Tour, October 2021
This was the first food tour I designed. This was originally a collaboration between myself and my former supervisor for the corporate tour company we worked for. While I was designing the Mission District tour, I finally got my mom to tell me the story of her family’s immigration from El Salvador.
I exclusively led the Mission Food & Culture Tour for almost two years before training someone else on the route.
5. Walk With Spirits: Haunted Historic Pub Crawl, November 2021
Around Halloween of 2021 I attended a ghost tour in downtown San Francisco. I’ve always loved the paranormal and since I was still a newbie in the industry, I was excited for a chance to learn more about my incredible City. Little did I know I would absolutely fall in love with the Walk With Spirits and eventually partner with Michaela of Mick’s Bootique Tours!
6. Alamo Square, March 2022
Alamo Square was one of the first neighborhoods I had my eye on when I decided to go “all in” in tourism. I couldn’t believe the company I worked for at the time didn’t have a Painted Ladies or Postcard Row tour! My favorite part of writing this tour was discovering that Alamo Square Park is halfway on the horseback trail from the Presidio to Mission Dolores. Who knew?
7. Hippie Haight-Ashbury & True Crime, April 2022
Along with Castro and Alamo Square, a Haight Ashbury tour just seemed like a no-brainer. On my Haight tour, we begin and end at two of San Francisco’s most iconic parks. We explore some architecture, talk about the Summer of Love, and learn about Terror Terrace, where it is said one hundred and fifty homicides have taken place! And if that’s not enough, we’ll also visit the former residences of Janis Joplin, Jim Jones, the Grateful Dead, and Charles Manson!
8. Castro LGBTQ+ Tour, May 2022
I’ll never forget my excitement designing the Castro Ultimate LGBTQ+ Tour. I was not allowed to visit the Castro District growing up, and as someone who came out later in life, I was very eager to learn my history and share it. My Ultimate Castro LGBTQ+ tour quickly became one of the most popular tours I offer.
I am particularly proud of the fact that I am the only person of color who runs an LGBTQ+ history tour in the Castro.
9. Queer-Owned Pub Crawl (QPC), June 2023
This was the first tour I wrote for Mission Loteria. Luis, our campaign manager, had the idea for me to write a bar crawl that would bring people out into the Mission during the warmer summer months. After I designed the route, we noticed that each of the bars in the (original) experience were queer-owned, and voilà: QPC was born.
10. Cafecito Tour, August 2023
The Cafecito Tour I wrote for Mission Loteria holds a special place in my heart because my Abuelito was a coffee entrepreneur! We visit two Mission District coffee shops and a bakery while doing some coffee trivia, Mission history, murals, and more!
11. Dia de los Muertos Tour, October 2023
This tour was a collaboration with a pottery studio in the Mission. The first half is a walking tour along 24th Street, timed at the same time as the Dia de los Muertos procession. The second half of the tour is a ceramics workshop!
12. Mission District Haunted Bar Crawl, September 2024
This is the only tour I will never run again (well, except for Fisherman’s Wharf) but not for the reason you might think.
Watch what happened here.
Some spirits definitely don’t need to be disturbed.
13. Happy 175th Birthday San Francisco Scavenger Hunt, April 2025
This was a collaboration between my company The Native Experience, Mission Loteria, and KQED Live. I wrote the route while my team at Mission Loteria designed all the cool graphics and KQED threw their full weight behind the marketing and promotion of the hunt, even letting us use their headquarters for our kick-off event! The scavenger hunt was designed to be completed on-your-own and will be back next year!
Fun fact: San Francisco was incorporated as a city on April 15, 1870.
Where do you think our area code comes from?
14. Tenderloin LGBTQ+ Tour, coming in May 2025
I created this tour to take a deeper dive into the Tenderloin’s LGBTQ+ history, specifically the formation of the world’s first defined Transgender Cultural District, the significance of the 1966 riot at Compton’s Cafeteria, and what took place at the New Year’s Eve event that became known as San Francisco’s Stonewall.
15. South of Market (SoMa) Leather & LGBTQ+ History Tour, coming in May 2025
This tour was designed to explore South of Market (also known as SoMa) through the perspective of the unique leather LGBTQ+ subculture found in this neighborhood.
****
I wonder what tour I’ll design next? Don’t hesitate to reach out with your ideas: eric@ericcurryco.com
There aren’t many sixth generation San Franciscans left! Explore the City by the Water unlike ever before by taking one of my walking tours. You can find out more information here