Traveler's USA Notebook
(sidebar)
Go to the 125-year-old Hotel del Coronado (you can call it “Del”) and
you might bump into Kate Morgan when she goes bump in the night. She
checked in on 24 November, 1892; was stood up by the man she awaited;
and took the operatic way out. Perhaps she’ll attend the fifth annual,
“Hallo-wine and Spirits” Party. It takes place on 25 October at 7:00
p.m. Wear a costume at this special adults-only shindig, enjoy the
spooky decor, the music, food, dancing and giant pumpkin carving
demonstration. These are all valuable life lessons. Halloween at San
Diego’s famous haunted hotel on Saturday, October 25. Don your best
costume and join The Del for the 5th annual, adults-only, “Hallo-wine
and Spirits” Party full of spooky surroundings, great eats, delicious
wines and dancing! For more information, click
here. 
At five p.m., on designated October nights, Legoland and
Sea Life become the exclusive domain of Halloween celebrants. Its
Brick-or-Treats Party Night on two Fridays (10 and 17 October) and
every Saturday night in the month. You can feel the enthusiasm building
with music, light show, interactive characters, the “Mail Order
Monsters” show, trick or treating and fireworks. The fun runs until
9:00 p.m. For more information, click
here
Surf City shows us a thing or two about how to have Halloween fun. On 31
October, downtown becomes one of the areas more popular haunts. The
Downtown Business Improvement District presents its annual "Halloween on
Main Street" celebration. You'll find a moon bounce, petting zoo,
pumpkin carving, costume contests and more. And if you have a dog that
complains you never take it anywhere, be of good cheer. The event
sponsors encourage you to dress up your dogs and bring them along . For
more information, click
here
Universal Studios Hollywood could call its Halloween touches
“Phantom at the Theme Park.” Instead, the joint is going with "Halloween Horror Nights." Talented Hollywood scenic and FX
artists and a cast of thousands work their magic to scare you. The
"Terror Tram" excursion offers an "Invaded by The Walking Dead" stopover.
Five new
scare zones are based on "The Purge: Anarchy," "The Walking Dead,"
"Mask-A-Raid," "Dark Christmas," and "Skullz" Puzzle your way through
seven new mazes: "The Walking Dead," "Alien vs. Predator," "From
Dusk Till Dawn," "An American Werewolf in London," SyFy's "Face Off,"
"Dracula Untold" and "Clowns 3D."Dates for this TerrorTainment are Fri and Sat 19,20, 26, 27 September; Fri-Sun weekends 3-5, 10-12, Thur-Sun 16-19, 23-26 October; and 30 October-2 November.
And on 19 September The Eye-Gore awards go to "influential entertainment professionals for bringing the horror genre to life within the movie, Recipients include are Greg Nicotero, Robert Rodriguez, John Landis, and SLASH. For more information, click here.
Photo
by Marianne Hale
When it comes to a Boo at the Zoo, why should the San Francisco Zoo be left out? And from 11 am-3 p.m. on 25 October, it isn’t! Gorillas, chimpanzees, lions, tigers, bears and other animals will chow down on pumpkin treats during the "Pumpkin Stomp and Chomp." Live animals will occupy the Haunted Nature Trail. New to the festivities this year is the "Nature Connects" Lego exhibit in the Pachyderm Building. And let's not forget the Creepy Crawly Critter Adventures at the Insect Zoo.
There’ll be trick-or-treating and interactive games. Costumes encouraged. For more information, call 415-753-7071 or click here .
'Tis the season for "Flashlight Tours" at the 160-room Winchester Mystery House in San Jose through 3 November. It’s called “Mystery House” because strange features were built in. staircases lead to nowhere. Doors open onto blank walls It seems Sarah Winchester (of the gun manufacturer family fortune) maintained construction 24 hours a day for 38 years. On Halloween, there's also special entertainment. For more information, call 408-247-2000 or click here.
California's Great America in Santa Clara on weekends
(Fri.-Sun.), starting 26 September and running through 1 November.
Thrill to scare zones, mazes and thrill rides. Who can resist the new
Roadhouse Roadkill maze or the returning Madame Marie’s Massacre Manor
maze. And let’s give it up for Ironworx, a world of flesh-eating
machines (As long as they floss). Also enjoy live entertainment. (Live?
Really?) For more information, call 408-988-1775 or click
here
.
The Monster's Ball takes place on the USS Hornet Museum in Alameda on 25 October between 7:30 p.m. and 1:00 a.m.
The Cocktail Monkeys provides live dance music. and a special guest band will be on hand. Add deejays from 107.7, a "Haunted Sick Bay" tour, Paranormal Investigations of the Fo’c’sl, and, of course, prizes for best costumes. For more information, call 510-521-8448, ext. 282 or click here.
Putnam describes itself as “a quaint yet progressive
New England town nestled on the banks of the Quinebaug River,” you can
experience the Great Pumpkin Festival and
Foliage Train Ride. It all takes place on 25 October from 10
a.m. to 4 p.m. The festival itself is a bouquet of giant pumpkins,
crafts music and food. The train excursion, for which there is a charge,
is charming 90-minute cruise through Connecticut’s lovely autumnal
beauty. For more information, click
here. 
Mystic Seaport, the 85-year-old maritime museum, is a welcoming
port for the 10-and-under set. The young marauders will find games,
prizes, treats, face painting, and a balloon twister. The event takes
place on 31 October from 4:00-5:30 p.m. More info? Please bring your own
trick-or-treat bags. Click
here
.On Halloween, Wilton Manors (a Greater Fort Lauderdale community) becomes “Wicked Wilton” and HQ for a great holiday party. Proceeds from the program will support good works by The Pride Center. More than 10,000 celebrants are expected. This year’s theme is “Freak Show.” Expect a plentiful supply of party-goers in eclectic and eccentric costumes. (Of course, there are costume contest.) Main stage MC is Miss Misty Eyez. Female impersonators, contests, food vendors, and bars provide some of the flavor. It runs from 6:00-11:00. For more information. click here
Hey Divers, get your ya-yas out by taking part in the 2014 Underwater
Pumpkin Carving Contest. Sponsor is Amy Slate's Amoray Dive Resort.
Two-person teams are taken to the 30-foot-deep spot by the Amoray Diver
dive boat. carving pumpkins underwater. The resort supplies
participants with knife, hollowed-out pumpkin, tanks, weights and
snorkel equipment. The boat’s crew members double as judges. Let the
slashing begin. For more information, click
here. Coral Gables residents will enjoy “Halloween On The Mile” which starts at 4:00 p.m. on 31 October and takes place on Miracle Mile. The action includes trick or treat, separate kiddie and doggie costume contests, story time at Books and Books. and the Musical Miracles performing at the Miracle Theatre. For more Halloween On The Mile information, call 305.569.0311 or click here.
Safari away to Jungle Island for your choice of
scary treats. The zoo is offering its annual Spooktacular for
young ’uns. It also is adding its first “Terror in the Jungle.”
The latter, created by Brian Kittendorf, will confront thrill seekers
with zombies, mutated animals, HAZMAT, strange sounds and lots of other
surprises.
“We’re creating a gory Halloween attraction,” says Kittendorf, “using
nature’s natural darkness, fog, costumes and special effects, screams,
animals and visual stimulation to play on peoples phobias and fears.”
Starting on 2 October, “Terror in the Jungle” will be in boo-ziness Thursday to Sunday 7:30 p.m. to midnight, and will be running until 1 November. For details, click here .And then there’s the 25 and 26 October Spooktacular. The park will exhibit Halloween decorator touches and there will be a Halloween Costume contest, trick or treats and spectacular animal shows. There will be face painting, arts and crafts and games And always the live critters. Is it all fun? We hear it’s the real McCaw. Children's (age 3-10) admission is $5 with a full-paying adult. For more information call 305.400.7000 or click here.
SeaWorld has a Halloween Spooktacular of its own every Friday and Saturday from 4 through 26 October. We're not sure if Shamu will be wearing a shark costume; but there will be an underwater "fantasea" with spooky show, strolling entertainers (including Gummy Worm Wanda, Salt Water Taffy, and Swedish Fish Suzy), trick or treat, Penelope's Party Zone, and plenty of Halloweenoid activities and entertainment. Enhance the day by opting for a “dine with Shamu” brunch at a poolside table. Mementoes include a complimentary family photo complete with special Spooktacular photo frame, cookie decorating kit for the 1 and under set and a trick-or-treat bag with goodies For more information, call 407-363-2259 or click here.
For a young child-friendly Halloween experience, there is Mickey's Not-So-Scary Halloween Party at Disney World. Wear costumes and trick or treat throughout the Magic Kingdom. Disney characters— heroes and lovable villains will be wearing special Halloween costumes. And, yes, there will be Mickey's Boo-to-You Halloween Parade and the Happy HalloWishes Fireworks Spectacular. It takes place on selected nights through 31 October. For more information, click here.
It’s
“Fish, Fun and Fright” night on 17 October at Mote
Aquarium (ranked by travelers as one of
America’s Top 10 aquariums, according to TripAdvisor, whatever
that is). It all happens 6:30 p.m. to 9 p.m. Wear a costume. Gape at
deep sea critters in the trick-or-treating zone. Kids (eight and older)
can step into Dr. Frankin-Fish's Lab of Horrors." There’s also “Coffin
Creek” and its trove of shark teeth, underwater pumpkin carving in our
spooktacular shark exhibit, and an education program for to
two-to-five-year-olds. 2-5. For more information, click
here.
Stone Mountain’s Pumpkin Festival concludes 26 October. Play Pumpkinpalooza, compete in the Pumpkin Pie Eating Contests and scavenger hunts, enjoy fall arts & crafts, enjoy the storytelling, Children's Costume contest and much more. Coinciding with the Festival is the Annual Tour of Southern Ghosts (21-26 October). This features professional storytellers telling stories about famous Southern Ghosts along the Park’s lantern-lit Plantation grounds For more information, click here.
The 18th annual Halloween Parade on Halsted Street (31 October, 8:00 p.m.) starts in Chicago nightclub district N. Halsted St. The parade's theme is "The Freakshow,"and it's presented by Northalsted Business Alliance. It features floats, a costume contest and a stage show. For more information, click here
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This Terrebonne Parish town combines can’t miss ingredients of Cajun culture — scary stuff and a great party — with its Rougarou Fest. It takes place on 25 October (10 a.m.-10 p.m.). It’s a fundraiser for the South Louisiana Wetlands Discovery Center (SLWDC). Rougarou (a/k/a loup garou) is a legendary werewolf, said to inhabit the swamps. But at this party, it is a kindly werewolf that only gets mad when someone disses the wetlands. At the fest, there are games, mask-making, face painting, storytelling, a costume contests (for pets and people), a parade; and even a run that puts zombies and swamp monsters in the way of participants trying to reach the finish line. There also is entertainment. Featured performers are Sheauxdown, Chaos of the Cosmos, Dirty Bourbon River Show. For more information, click here.
There’s scary, and then there’s real scary. People dressed in zombie duds and full gory makeup are scary. Real live polar bears foraging for eats are real scary. It seems that around Halloween time Churchill is right in the path of the annual polar bear migration. People do visit the town from all over, in hopes of spying a bear or two or three. But we can’t really have the migration intersect the paths of meandering trick or treaters. So, on Halloween night, the townsfolk take their vehicles — ambulance, fire trucks, Range Rovers, whatever and form a perimeter around town. The mission is to gently but firmly deter Polar Bears from, shall we say, interfering with kids who are trick or treating. It works. Tourists get the multi-critter experience —Halloweeners and polar bears, For more information, click here
The annual Portsmouth Halloween Parade starts. at sundown. It’s a grass-roots kinda deal. Organizers and participants include musicians, local business owners, directors of after-school programs and artists. The parade organizers explain that "While all manner of jack-out-of-the-box thinking is encouraged, there are a few guidelines, dictated sometimes by the city, occasionally by the insurers, and mostly by common sense:" Post-parade activities include performances of Lady Luck Burlesque and Jumbo Circus Peanuts. There is a special 9:00 p.m. Concert by Bling Cherry. For more information, click here.
The Waterville Valley Resort offers a basket full of family goodies
to celebrate Halloween on the 24-25 October pre-Halloween weekend. It
starts on Friday with a kiddie matinee (2:45 p.m. to 5:00 p.m.) The
“Haunted Halloween Movie” (plus popcorn) is for kindergarten through
eighth grade children. (Tickets:$10 per child.) Friday evening (6:00
p.m.-7:30 p.m.) is pumpkin makeover time. Bring your own gourd to the
Resort Recreation Department or buy one on the spot from the limited
supply. Materials for the shaping and shifting of those innocent
pumpkins will be on hand. They include carving tools, paint, pom poms,
and a candle (the better to see Jack with). Dinner (pizza, veggies and
drinks. $5 per person) is available. Which brings us to Saturday and
trick or treating around Waterville Valley resort by bus; a walk through
the haunted house at The Rey Center (former summer home of Margret and
H.A. Rey, authors of the Curious George stories), a costume contest, and
a Haunted Hunt. It all starts at 4:00 p.m. (registration at 3:30). Oh
yes, snacks and treats will be served. Resort packages start at $150 a
night. For more information, call 800.GO.VALLEY or click here 
For the last trip of its season the good ship
M/S Mount Washington
plays with its regular sightseeing cruise along Lake Winnipesaukee. On
25 October the ship becomes a floating Masquerade Ball. Passengers are
encouraged to costume it up and spend a glorious evening (6:00 p.m.-9:00
p.m.) of dining (vegetarian options may not be available), dancing, live entertainment, moonlight viewing and
costume contests. This cruise is for 21 and over. For more information,
call 603.366.5531 or click here.
PHOTO BY LARRY TETAMORE
Can you celebrate Halloween in the Finger Lakes Region. Let us count the ways (or some of them. On 23-26 October (6:00 p.m.-8:30 p.m.), Beaver Lake Nature Center becomes Enchanted Beaver Lake. Helping this transformation are 500 amazingly carved lit jack-o-lanterns that dot two winding forest trails. Add to this face painting, fortune telling, magic shows, and storytelling. Seasonal snacks are for sale. More information? Click here
The Owego Parkview Restaurant hosts the
Owego Zombie Fest . on 25 October. The restaurant, which is said to have
ghosts of its own, urges you to zombiefie yourself with appropriate
makeup and gear. This takes place from 3:00 to 4:30 p.m. . :During the
4:45-5:15 p.m. slot, students reenact Michael Jackson’s "Thriller”
video, augmented by a nearby Flash Mob, doing the Zombie Walk. Rounding
out the celebration is a 6:30 to 9 p.m. performance by Binghamton metal
band Recycled Zombies. For more information, click
here.
credit ©AMNH/R. Mickens
There are guided tours, and then there is The Ride, a
guided tour-de-force. It uses performers and a bus that is really a
state-of-the-art theater. The result is a theatrical taste of New York.
Yes, you’ll drive past the Chrysler Building, , Empire State Building,
Shubert Alley, Carnegie Hall, and Columbus Circle. But you’ll be
seated sideways, arena style , and immersed in the sound and
spectacle of city streets and interactive performers, one of whom Anna
Counter is pictured here. Here comes the Halloween part. The Ride will
be in Halloween spirit with its “Masquerade “ themed show, running (or
maybe rolling) from 13 October through 1 Novembe. The cast will be
wearing medieval style lace and bejeweled masks. For more information
about the approximately 75-minute ride, click
here.
PHOTO:JOHN HIRCHAK,
COURTESY OF GHOST WALK OF OLD WILMINGTON
For the Halloween season, you can be privy to
Terror Town Halloween
Festival (19, 20, 21 October). The, we assume, normally sedate Poplar
Grove Plantation sows the seeds of scary stuff with a Haunted Barn,
Haunted Hayride, tarot card reader, and other shocks to the system.
Terror Town is recommended for older children, teens and adults. .
For more information, call 910-686-9518, or click
here.
PHOTO, COURTESY WILMINGTON
AND BEACHES CVB
Although a year-round attraction, Sandusky’s Ghostly Manor
Thrill Center has a little extra zip around this lovely
witching season. . It looks like a haunted mansion. Actors, scenery, and
special effects add to the experience. Its premises include an XD 4D
theater, k roller skating rink, 3D black light mini golf, bounce houses,
three story jungle gym, and an arcade. Come October, it adds the Lake
Eerie Fearfest. Four more haunts are added. This year they are
Darkmare, Caged, Quarantine, and Eerie Chateau. Or more information,
click here.
Myrtle Beach’s Ocean Lakes Family Campground does
Halloween on three successive weekends — 17-18, 24-25, 31 October-1
November. According to reliable sources, the Friday magic show is
spooktacular. Saturday celebrations include costume contests (separate
categories for humans and pets), trick or treating, decorated camp
sites, pumpkin carving and decorating contests, and a Monster Mash
Ball. For more information, click
here
PHOTO
COURTESY OCEAN LAKES FAMILY CAMPGROUND. Join the Halloween Ghostly Gathering on 25, 31 October and get a fun look at the town’s history with candlelight and lantern tours, storytelling by the fire, and that great Halloween traditional fare, a chili and cornbread dinner. For more information, call 423-628-2441, or click here.
History buffs, railroad buffs -- and let's not forget historic railroad buffs -- can take circa 1907 ride on the East Troy Electric Railroad: Halloween Express. The 10 mile, 20 minute journey will run between the East Troy Electric Railroad Museum and the Elegant Farmer, Wisconsin's largest farmers market. There are layovers on each side. This means you don't have to go back with the one what brung you. This gives ample time to browse shops on the museum side and meander through various food items on display at the Elegant Farmer. Don’t overlook the popular “Apple Pie Baked in a Paper Bag,” rated, by some to be the best pie in America. Medical claims demand intensive investigation. For more information, call (920.863.377 or click here.