An Amelia Island Halloween
|
Many folks around the Amelia Island area host Halloween parties and will be dancing to the "Monster Mash," (as well as "Thriller," this year). Plenty of adults get in on the fun, too, dressing in costumes. Homes decorated with cobwebs, skeletons, head stones, and glowing pumpkins are already surfacing here. Halloween parties will feature cake walks, bobbing for apples, and group trick-or-treating.
REGIONAL HALLOWEEN TRADITIONS
Different places in the US have their own regional Halloween traditions. Having grown up in the northeast, the Halloween trickery I was used to in my youth involved ducking eggs and shaving cream and stepping over smashed pumpkins. (If you didn't want your pumpkin to end up as "road kill," then you certainly didn't leave it outside on the stoop Halloween night.) The mom's escorted the little ones door to door for goodies in the afternoon hours starting around 2 pm. Their aim was to be back in the house by dark to avoid the older kids' shenanigans.
A "KINDER, GENTLER" HALLOWEEN ON AMELIA ISLAND
Quite to the contrary, it's a "kinder, gentler" Halloween here on Amelia Island. Perhaps this is how it is around the entire South, I don't know. But throwing eggs, smashing pumpkins, and making mischief are not the norm here for the tweens and teenagers. The trick-or-treaters seem to start knocking closer to 6 pm, the little ones included.
Halloween is a wonderful evening in Fernandina Beach to get out for a stroll with the kids trick-or-treating, and enjoy the decorated homes of those in the spirit. It can, however, be a sweaty night. Evening temps can still be a bit warm, especially for the kids who find their costumes "hot" to wear. Shedding parts of costumes along the route, by the little ones with lower thresholds for discomfort, indeed occurs here in this climate.
SOME HALLOWEEN HAPPENINGS AROUND THE AMELIA ISLAND AREA
Fernandina Beach's Annual Halloween Carnival at the Atlantic Recreation Center, Saturday, October 17, 2009 from 4:30 to 7:30. Wear costumes and go to the Rec Center on Atlantic Avenue in Fernandina to play games, win prizes (tickets are 25 cents each). Concessions will also be available. Event is most appropriate for kids aged 10 and under.
Sheffield's Halloween Party: "Nightmare BEFORE Halloween," Saturday, October 24, 2009. Halloween comes early. Sheffield's at the Palace Saloon (117 Centre Street, Fernandina Beach) is hosting a Halloween party that includes a $600 cash costume contest awarded to the sexiest and scariest costumes. Ladies in costumes drink free champagne until midnight and everyone enjoys $5 Smirnoff cocktails and $5 Harlem bombs & cocktails all night. Tickets $5 in advance or $10 at the door the night of the event (if still available). The party starts at 9PM and goes until 2AM. For more information contact bill@thepalacesaloon.com or call 904-491-3332.
Halloween Carnival at Amelia Island Plantation, Friday, October 30th, 2009 4-8pm. Enjoy Hayrides, Haunted Obstacle Course, Football, Bean Bag & Can Toss, Creepy Crawly Guessing Game, Halloween Crafts & Tattoos, Bobbing for Apples, Cotton Candy, Popcorn & S'mores. There will be a 6:00 pm dance performance by Kinderstudios. TICKETS: $20 for everything or $2 per ticket. (One ticket for each station & two tickets for hayride & obstacle course.)
HAUNTED HOUSE, HAYRIDE, FOREST OCTOBER 30 AND 31ST, 2009. The Florida State College (Yulee campus), Nassau Outdoor Education Center (i.e. Betty Cooke), 76346 William Burgess Blvd., Yulee, off A1A will host their annual "Holler for a Dollar" Haunted House, Haunted Hayride, and Haunted Forest Oct. 30-31 from 7:30-11 p.m. each night. Admission is $2 per event or $5 for all three. Refreshments will be available to purchase. All proceeds benefit charities. These events are appropriate for ages "9 to 99." Call 904- 548-4490 for more information.
Saturday, October 31, 2009, 3 to 6 pm. Trick or Treat at Amelia Island Plantation's Spa and Shops. The kids can follow the sidewalks from store to store to collect candy, the goodies for adults include beer and food specials in gourmet grocer, Marche Burette. Dress up in costumes!
Fernandina Farmer's Market Trick or Treat: Saturday, October 31st, 9 am until 1 pm . Visit the local market (historic Centre Street and 7th Street in Fernandina Beach) for pumpkins and so much more. Bring the kids to trick or treat. Be a judge for "Best Decorated Booth," "Most Scariest Costume," and "Most Original Costume."
JACKSONVILLE ZOO'S SPOOKTACULAR 2009. October 22-25, 29-31, 6:30 p.m. – 9:00 p.m. Tickets: $8 – members; $9 – non-Zoo members. Pumpkinville comes alive with hundreds of pumpkins, fun, candy and excitement -- it's a nice time to be had (especially for kids under 10). The Zoo features an immense display of glowing, carved pumpkins -- probably the largest display in northeast Florida. Enjoy trick-or-treating, music, dancing, food, giant slides and bounce houses and see some of your favorite zoo animals. Take a picture with Jazoo or one of his friends, and visit with the Pumpkinville People, scarecrows, frog prince, and many more! New in 2009 is the exciting Pharaoh’s Tomb and Abandoned Mine Shaft. Don’t forget to check out Pirates’ Cove where seafaring men and women will entertain you and fend off the alligators. Avoid long lines at the zoo entrance by purchasing tickets online in advance for $1 off admission, by visiting the Zoo's website at: http://www.jacksonvillezoo.orgWhat better time to take a Ghost Tour in historic Fernandina Beach?
WALKING GHOST TOURS, HISTORIC FERNANDINA BEACH, FLORIDA
Amelia Island Museum of History Ghost Tours (904)261-7378. A museum docent leads a ghost tour through the streets of Fernandina every Friday evening at 6 pm (tour duration one hour). This walking tour departs from St. Peters Episcopal Church cemetery (behind the church) at 801 Atlantic Avenue (at corner of 8th where Atlantic turns into historic Centre Street). Ticket prices are $10 adults, $5 students. Call for ghost tour reservations. Or visit web site http://www.ameliamuseum.org.
Amelia Island Ghost Tours (904)548-0996. Ghost Tours held regularly every Friday and Saturday night at 8 pm in Fernandina Beach. This walking tour covers 1.5 miles and takes around 2 hours. Ticket prices are $20 per adults and $15 for kids under 15 years old. Private tours can be arranged for any day of the week by calling Amelia Island Ghost Tours. This tour, led by Diane Blanton, seeks paranormal activity energy orbs with a EMF meter. (This is an instrument for measuring electromagnetic fields, often found a ghost hunter's tool box.) Call for reservations or visit http://www.ameliaislandghosttours.com.
RIDING GHOST TOURS ABOARD TROLLEY, FERNANDINA BEACH, FLORIDA
Polly the Trolley Ghost Tours (904)753-4486 . For those who prefer to ride, step aboard Polly the Trolley (pictured above) and ride along the streets of Fernandina, into the historic Spanish “Old Town” section of Amelia Island while hearing narration of ghost tales about “pirates, phantoms, and local lore.” The ghost trolley tours depart every Thursday, Friday, and Saturday evening at two departure times: 7:30 pm or 8:30 pm for a one hour ride. Ticket prices are $15 adults, $5 kids under 12, free for 3 and under. Tours depart from the Fernandina Beach Harbor Marina at the foot of Centre Street (near Brett's restaurant). You may like to sit in a rocking chair on the waterfront porch of Brett's (you'll be able to watch a fall sunset on the west side of the island), and sip a drink before departing on the ghost tour.) http://www.pollythetrolley.com
AN AMERICAN HALLOWEEN LEGEND, SLEEPY HOLLOWPerhaps the most famous American legend associated with Halloween, is Washington Irving's "The Legend of Sleepy Hollow." Sleepy Hollow is a real town in Westchester, NY, near Tarrytown, in the Hudson Valley area, close to where I plodded the streets trick-or-treating as a child. (My high school's sports teams played the "Sleepy Hollow Horsemen.")
The tale, originating back in 1820, is about schoolmaster Ichabod Crane's encounter with an apparition of a headless horseman -- the ghost of a revolutionary war soldier who lost his head in battle. This story is a "classic" you may like to revisit this time of year, with older children who like to be spooked. (If you ever have the opportunity to visit Sleepy Hollow, you can actually go to the church cemetery where the apparition appeared, according to the legend.)
HAPPY HALLOWEEN FROM AMELIA ISLAND LIVING eMAGAZINE!
____________________
About the author: W.B. Lawson, Florida Fine Living Media, Inc., writes lifestyle, tourism, real estate and community articles and also blogs on the social network AmeliaIslandLiving.NET, “Life in an island town…”. SUBSCRIBE TO AMELIA ISLAND RSS FEEDS.