Last week we featured Things to do around Greater St. Louis for the Halloween season, this week we’ve got some road trips, courtesy of Suzanne Corbett.
By – Suzanne Corbett, STLSportsPage.com Travel / Food Editor
October getaways offer more than great leaf peeping. The best getaways capture the essence of Halloween. Offering scary good times, thrilling experiences and ghostly encounters. Add in mountains of jack-o’-lanterns to complement with spooky attractions and you’ll have the perfect scare-cation – a destination that blends colorful fall scenery with thrilling Halloween attractions.
Fall festivals are a great place to begin any October getaway. Festivals often include a balance of frightful displays with family friendly not-so-scary fun, capturing the spirit of the season. Whether you’re looking for a night of fright or simply a howling good time consider one of the following destinations. Each is less than a tank of gas away and promises plenty of tricks and treats for visitors to enjoy.
St. Joseph, Missouri
St Joseph, Missouri’s frontier past and Gilded Age mansions serve as the backdrop for haunted encounters throughout October. Beginning at the “Prettiest Little City of the Dead” – Mount Mora Cemetery’s Voices of the Past. An eerie evening taking visitors from the Wyeth-Tootle Mansion with to Mount Mora for dramatic graveside performances reflecting the lives of its eternal residents. This year’s theme is departed entertainers, which includes dramatic readings at the mansion by the infamous late John Wilkes Booth.
Wyeth-Tootle is just one of the majestic homes lining the streets of St. Joseph’s Harris Kemper Historic District. A neighborhood recognized on the National Register of Historic Places, celebrated for its megafinance mansions resembling castles and Victorian weddings cakes. Each with its own unique story and spirits that reportingly still hang out in the neighborhood.
Spirit encounters are guaranteed the second weekend of October during the Haunted Harris Kemper Walking Tour. Stroll the streets and keep an eye out for ghosts of the mansions former ghostly owners perched on porches who retell tales of their lives and homes from beyond the grave. The walking tour includes the opportunity to visit psychics, enjoy entertainments and refreshments before and after the walk.
The not so scary side of St. Joe Halloween offerings is Pumpkinfest. A combination old-time fall carnival/craft fair with live entertainment, Halloween parades and costume contests. An event is free, located at the Pony Express National Museum, Pumpkinfest celebrates the orange orb with the construction of a glowing mountain of over 800 hand-carved jack-o lanterns.
When planning a St. Joe Halloween getaway consider sleeping at one of the city’s famous restored Gilded Age mansions such as the Shakespeare Chateau Inn. Famous for its hand craved dragon staircase. The Hallows, a Victorian era mansion on St. Joe’s Museum Hill, invites guests into rooms themed after the wizarding world of Harry Potter.
To satisfy one’s appetite for Halloween fun, dine with the spirits. Wantabe witches can reserve a place at the Albrecht-Kemper Museum of Art’s annual Witches’ Tea. Actually, it’s lunch or dinner and slotted for Monday, October 27, with two seatings available. Guests can look forward to psychic readings, a gourmet meal, specialty themed cocktails, and boo-tique shopping.
Gourmets searching for a ghoulish atmosphere with five-star chef crafted cuisine can pay a visit to the J.C. Wyatt House. Built in 1891, Wyatt House is transformed into a haunted mansion where dinner is served in high Victorian style. Complete with elegant silver, fine china, crisp linens set with supernatural embellishments and décor . Dinner is served Thursday, Friday and Saturday and is by reservations only.
When traveling to St. Joseph, MO stay at the Drury Hotel. For the STLSportsPage Drury Hotel Discount: CLICK HERE.
Springfield, Illinois
Spectacular foliage, farms and corn fields frames the greater Springfield, Illinois area, which offers a cauldron full of October scary and the not so scary events that wrap Halloween events in history.
Spectacular foliage, farms, and corn fields frame the greater Springfield, Illinois area, providing a picturesque backdrop of spooky and family-friendly events. Many are wrapped with history each immersed in the region’s rich history as Lincoln’s New Salem.
Located about 20 miles northwest of Springfield, Lincoln’s New Salem hosts candlelight walks through the reconstructed village where young Abe Lincoln lived before launching his career as a lawyer and politician. Village pathways are lined with candle lanterns and interiors of the cabins and shops are candle-lit. Volunteer interpreters dressed in 1830 period clothing share stories about what life was like when Abraham Lincoln lived in the village.
Don’t miss the opportunity to Treat or Treat at the Lincoln Home National Historical Site on October 24 when the National Park hosts its free annual Halloween event. The Visitor’s Center serves as your gateway into the historical neighborhood where Aberham Lincoln and his family lived before being elected to the presidency. Volunteers and living history actors portraying Abraham and Mary Lincoln meet and greet trick or treaters with candy.
Meanwhile, if you’re looking for Lincoln related ghost stories check out Lincoln’s Ghost Walk: Legends & Lore. A 90-minute lantern walk through a five-block lantern lit walking tour using the Lincoln sites as the backdrop for the strange and spooky stories surrounding Lincoln’s life and death. Explore Lincoln’s bizarre dreams of death, Spiritualism, Mary Lincoln’s seances in the White House, and skullduggery at Lincoln’s Tomb.
Pumpkin lovers craving to carve a masterpiece are invited to attend the Carve for the Carillon. An annual event at the Thomas Rees Memorial Carillon in Washington Park, Carvers come from Springfield and beyond come and carve more nearly 2,000 pumpkins on the second weekend each October. Just bring your own carving tools and the pumpkins are free while they last. Then, return the following weekend when pumpkins from Carve for the Carillon are displayed and illuminated for the Jack-o-Lantern Spectacular. A two-day event (Friday and Saturday) features carillon music, scarecrow Row, food vendors and Halloween fun. It’s an event that proves there is no such thing as too many pumpkins.
When traveling to Springfield, Illinois, stay at the Drury Hotel. For the STLSportsPage Drury Hotel Discount: CLICK HERE.
Branson, Missouri
The Ozark Mountains are full of “haints”– what mountain folks call ghosts– especially in Branson. Harold Bell Wright mentioned haints in his novel, Shepherd of The Hills, which is what visitors many encounter on the grounds of Old Matt’s homestead at The Shepherd of The Hills Adventure Park. During the day, enjoy the Shepherd’s Pumpkin Fest. An immersive experience that offers hayrides, pumpkin painting and scarecrow making. After dark Shepherd’s Pumpkin Aglow Enchanted Night Walk, Branson’s newest night attraction, opens for Keep your eyes peeled haints. You never know when they will appear.
Complementing the Ozark mountain scenery is Silver Dollar City’s Pumpkins in the City. A display of thousands of pumpkins perched on porches, hung from trees and stacked and overflowing along the streets. Each night SDC glows orange. A sight that inspired the City’s chefs to create a variety of pumpkin and pumpkin spice flavored treats. This year’s menu standout offered throughout the park, the Apple Dumpling with Pumpkin Caramel Sauce.
Finally, if you’re looking for a good scream head to The Branson Ghoster. Located west of downtown Branson on West 76 Country Blvd, The Ghoster, mergers elements of a haunted house with a coaster. Beware, it’s a chilling and thrilling experience. But not recommended for the faint of heart.
When traveling to Branson, stay at the Drury Hotel in Springfield, Missouri. It’s an easy drive with a pretty view this time of year., half an hour to 45 minutes. For the STLSportsPage Drury Hotel Discount: CLICK HERE.
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Photo Credits
Treat or treaters at the Lincoln House in Springfield, Illinois Photo courtesy Lincoln Home National Historic Site (Photo by Patrick Evanston)Featured photo at top: St Joseph’s wall of pumpkins, the centerpiece at its Pumpkinfest. Photo courtesy St. Joseph CVB
Photo 3: The haunted dining room at J.C. Wyatt House. Photo courtesy JC Wyatt House
Photo 4: Silver Dollar City Pumpkins in the City Photo by Suzanne Corbett
Photo 5 : Silver Dollar City in the City, night shot – Photo courtesy Silver Dollar City
