Hallowe'en Nights (Greenfield Village)

We've been to the Christmas event at Greenfield Village, but not to Hallowe'en Nights, and never to the special dinner before one of their period events. What a fantastic night! Dinner was delicious, and shared with many in the warm, inviting setting of the town tavern. It was served by reenactors who really seem to enjoy what they are doing, which held true not just for the period people in the tavern, but for everyone staging the event outside as well.

After dinner we walked along a jack-o-lantern lined path on a magical evening that thankfully held it's rain and wind until the night was over. We were stopped here and there at treat stations, but more exciting were the various story-telling spots and staged scenes: Hansel and Gretel, The Tell-Tale Heart, and, of course, The Legend of Sleepy Hollow. The story tellers were so powerful it would be hard to express their talent in my own words, and the staged scenes (the headless horseman chasing Ichabod Crane, the mob hunting down Frankenstein's monster, the pirate ghost ship) were just just the right balance of humorous and spooky.

Costumes were highly encouraged, and we brought the train out of retirement for this one because he could easily slip it off for dinner. With Calvin chugging around dressed in the era of steam travel, Jon went as a conductor and I as a Victorian traveler. Very appropriate for Greenfield's own target time period, and I like to think that the costumes got us into just the right mood for the event.

We were spooked, but not scared out of our wits, by the spectre in the carousel, the man hiding among the trees, the suddenly living scarecrow, and the portal of the covered bridge. There was a barber shop quartet of jack-o-lanterns, death standing out in a field (watch out, he'll point at you!), and ghostly brides and witches, all followed by hot cider. We ended our evening with a telling of The Tell-Tale Heart just as the wind was picking up, and Calvin fell asleep on the way home as the rain drops just started to spatter down. Timing was our friend this night.