(Image source: Pixabay)
Halloween is all about scary costumes, outdoing the neighbors with yard decorating, handing out candy to trick-or-treaters, and attending (and overindulging) at holiday-themed parties. Yes, it is, but there’s still more to it.
Halloween is also the time for travel. The weather is pleasant, roads and lodgings haven’t filled up with Thanksgiving and Christmas travelers, and there is a ton of fun stuff to do.
Boo at the Zoo in St. Louis
St. Louis may not come to mind for most of us when we think of Halloween, but it should. The Gateway City offers Boo at the Zoo Spooky Saturday at the Saint Louis Zoo, including haystacks, pumpkins, and souvenir T-shirts. For those braver souls, there’s the Fabulous Fox Theater’s ghost tour, which includes tales of ghost sightings over its 88-year history.
New Orleans Macabre
Old, exotic, mysterious, and filled with the superstitious and supernatural – that’s New Orleans. From haunted hotels to macabre parades, this city has it all for Halloween. Consider, for example, the ghost tour in the historic French Quarter or the “Krewe of Boo” parade. There’s also family friendly Halloween fun at the Museum Mash, the Louisiana Children’s Museum, and the Halloween Spooktacular Family Concert.
Viva Las Vegas!
(Image source: Pixabay)
You can find a lot more in Las Vegas than slot machines, conventions, and nocturnal occupations, especially around Halloween. Nightclubs sponsor extravagant costume blowouts for every kind of . . . interest. And don’t overlook the acclaimed Haunted Vegas Tours where you can go on a hunt for the ghosts of Bugsy Siegel, Liberace, and Elvis. It your tastes run more to the musical, there’s the Vegoose music and arts festival, featuring top performers like Tom Petty and Rage Against the Machine and including a giant spinning jack-o-lantern and a costume contest.
Guns and Gore in Tombstone
Most of us don’t connect gunfights and outlaws with Halloween, but maybe we should. The infamous gunfight at the O.K. Corral in Tombstone took place in 1881 just a few days before Halloween – our favorite holiday that always includes lots of blood and gore. From the Boothill Cemetary to reputed many ghosts that haunt the town, Tombstone has much to offer Halloween lovers.
Ichabod’s New York
There’s almost nothing as American – and spooky and ghoulish – as Washington Irving’s “The Legend of Sleep Hollow” . . . with that headless horseman that haunted us all when we were young. This haunting tale is celebrated throughout New York, but especially in the Hudson Valley. From September through November, you can enjoy the Great Jack O’ Lantern Blaze that boasts an over-the-top holiday light display with plenty of pumpkins. There’s also the Horseman’s Hollow where Irving’s tale is celebrated and “The Legend Behind the Legend” at Irving’s Sunnyside home.
(Image source: Pixabay)
When it comes to Halloween, you may think you’ve seen and done it all, having exhausted all the possibilities. But with a little pleasant driving, you’ll find that’s not the case at all. Just consider some of these spooky, even raucous destinations and events.