We’re nearing peak “Spooky Season” here in New England, and I’ve been enjoying pretty much every waking minute of it when I’m not working or sleeping. This evening, for example, my boyfriend and I were thinking of heading out to Stockbridge to check out the famous Naumkeag Jack-O-Lantern display in the Berkshires before we grab dinner and/or some cider and go crunching through a few leaves together, and I’ve been having a blast with my friends in recent days checking out some seasonal haunts and attractions.
On Saturday, for example, my girlfriends and I headed over to Old Sturbridge Village to see their new Halloween-themed event, inspired by Mary Shelley’s ‘Frankenstein’. The walk-through included a number of games, performances, and “Make Your Own Monster” stations (which we all unapologetically participated in despite being full-grown adults!) and as always, the grounds were decorated beautifully.
My only critique is that if you had wanted to follow along with the actors for the retelling of the actual ‘Frankenstein’ story around the village – there was really no way to do so effectively. The crowds were massive, and it was impossible to see anything given that people were swarming the performance areas as they tried to follow along. The girls and I had made an effort, but it was ultimately unsuccessful because we just couldn’t get around the hundreds of people and ended up having to stand so far back and away where we were unable to see or hear any of what was going on.
We collectively decided to cut our losses and opted to leave before the final act so we wouldn’t get stuck in traffic getting home.
It’s OSV’s first year with this theme, so I’m sure they’ll figure our what works and what doesn’t work with some more time, practice, and feedback – but I really think timed entries into the event throughout the night might make it a lot easier and efficient for people to see more and in the correct order!
Since I had Monday off, I headed down to Wickford Village in Rhode Island to do some shopping and check out some of the community’s Autumnal decorations along both their Main Street area and in some of the surrounding neighborhoods that consist of a number of historic homes. The weather was perfect for a long stroll – and the leaves hadn’t all fallen off of the trees just yet – which made for a really beautiful backdrop.
I had such a nice time snapping photos, popping into different shops and boutiques, and meeting some of the neighborhood pups along the way while they were going for walks.
Later on this week, I’m going to be sharing a new installment of “Local Loves” that was inspired by a recent trip to New Hampshire Troy and I went on together. I’m still going through all the beautiful foliage photos I took during that day, first!
See you all again on Friday!
xo
