Was it just us or did Halloween seem extra long this year? The LGBT community was sprawling with creativity up and down Hillcrest at the weekend. One guy hanging at Bourbon St. made a jacket out of stuffed animals. On our way to Hillcrest we saw three schoolgirls, a frog, Snooki and a Hello Kitty sitting at a bus stop. The night felt like one of those dreams that changes every second, “… and then I was with Snooki and Hello Kitty walked in, and then I was back in high school in my underwear …”
Life and death
During the day, we visited our friend, Sonia, at the Día de los Muertos celebration in Sherman Heights. There were vendors, bands, traditional face painting and altars. Altars are made to honor the deceased with their favorite music, food, toys, photographs and other symbolic offerings. A great reminder of how precious and fragile life is; and that people that we love may pass away but they’re always with us in spirit.
Scary Maze
What would Halloween be without going to some spine-tingling attractions and adding some fear factor into our fright nights? We drove to East County for the new Scary Maze located at the Cottonwood Golf Club. Each person was given a glow stick before going into the maze. There are several entrances but only one leads to the exit. There were zombies, evil spirits, headless horsemen and monsters at every turn. As we ran past the monsters, we had to quickly decide which way to turn because making the wrong decision would lead us to being cornered by the scary characters. Aside from the maze, they also had a beer garden, dance floor and an outdoor movie screen. They were playing Freddy vs. Jason Sunday night. It’s definitely worth checking out again next year. They also have a daytime option, which allows parents to bring the younger kids who wouldn’t be able to handle the nighttime screams.
Playing dress up
We overheard some people saying they were over Halloween on Tuesday but Halloween hadn’t even occurred yet. Would people come out in the middle of the week? Were they over dressing up? Of course not, and boy were we glad. We got nostalgic when we saw characters from our childhood such as Red Fraggle, the Looney Toons, and Big Bird. Our favorite outfit of the weeklong festivities was Ursula. It took dedication and commitment to walk around in that elaborate costume. People quickly got out of the way to avoid her tentacles.
