Halloween in the Spooky Historic District of Punta Gorda

From the time we were kids I remember looking forward to Halloween: deciding who we were going to be, waiting anxiously for the day, and ultimately dressing up and parading out with the goal of getting as much candy as we possibly could. It was easy then. We lived in a neighborhood with block after block of homes knitted fairly close together. We could run from one to the other, knocking on doors hoping that the homeowners wouldn't keep us too long and would just drop some "good" candy ( chocolate bars of some kind, preferably), not some homemade stuff, into our bags.

I still love Halloween -- seeing a new generation of kids delight at being able to take on another identity for an evening and collect goodies for doing it. And one of the best places to experience Halloween is in the historic district of Punta Gorda. The houses just look spooky naturally at night in their Victorian gloom. But the owners even do one better. Dangling gauzy materials from the rafters of houses, creating spider webs, cauldrons, ghostly figures and other ghoulish delights to adorn their properties. Eery music and effects including graveyards, lighted pumpkins and lots of treats attract hundreds of costumed halloweeners to our town.

Last year in one of the large Victorians on Retta Esplanade, the Adams Family took up residence for the evening with Gomez, Moticia, Fester, and Lurch. Even the Thing reached his ghostly fingers out to visiting Trick or Treaters. We anxiously await this year's array of ghosts, goblins, ghouls and other characters.