Rachelle in the City: Trick or Treaters are Scarce but The Haunted Trail is HAUNTY. (Is that even a word? Whatever, I still like it.)

Rachelle in the City: Trick or Treaters are Scarce but The Haunted Trail is HAUNTY. (Is that even a word? Whatever, I still like it.)

I talked Geoff into making the looooong drive from Vista to San Diego to check out Balboa Park's Haunted Trail. (Which reminds me that it's a total bummer Avery and her boyfriend just moved down to Pacific Beach, making it less convenient for evening barbeques and games of Scrabble.)

We called it "date night" in order to keep the marriage spicy. We started our evening by having dinner in downtown San Diego at someplace random just to try something new and ended up at the "Elephant Pub and Restaurant." Critique: nothing special, the bangers and mash could have been better...basically you go there if the other places are crowded and/or you are looking for something relatively cheap. It's right across from Anthony's Fish Grotto (one of my favorite restaurants).

I like that area because of the random stuff you can find to do there, like watch the original version of Godzilla on that one ship that supposedly was used in the making of, "Master and Commander." Too cute. I made a mental note that it would be great to come back with a nice cozy blanket and watch a movie "before the mast" sometime soon.

Mind you it was Saturday night, but I still didn't expect the line to be as long as it was in order to do the Haunted Trail. We seriously stood for two hours surrounded by obnoxious teenagers while I kept a weary eye on the dude dressed up as a zombie with dreads whose sole purpose was to go up and down the line and scare people. I would definitely keep my eye on him. We finally got to the area where we could watch "Dawn of the Dead," and suddenly standing in line wasn't so bad. This zombie guy was good. I think he passed by like 8 times while we stood in line and he always managed to scare someone. I swear he was waiting for his chance to get me and he finally did, really good.

Of course it happened while I was watching the movie. The line moved and I started walking forward while keeping my eyes on the movie screen and when I finally turned to watch where I was going, "BOO," he said quietly and he was right there in my face. I freaked out and was so scared I couldn't even scream. Geoff just stood there laughing at me. I ducked and ran away and starting laughing because that was one good scare.

The Haunted Trail took us about half an hour to go through and it was pretty darn good. Definitely worth the wait. It brings you back to being a kid and just letting go of inhibitions and just plain having fun. Yup, I really enjoyed myself and so did Geoff, though he said it was mostly because he enjoyed watching me "get into it."

So, I was impressed with my first Halloween here in San Diego. Though, there must be some hidden rule that you don't trick-or-treat in apartments complexes because we only had one kid drop by all evening...and here I decorated my apartment so cute for Halloween.

Movies Before the Mast: Still looks like a go as of now but you might want to call to be sure

Friday night date night Movies Before the Mast (or ON the Mast rather) will be showing The Fog. Date night is for Adults Only, 21 years and over. Saturday will be "Godzilla vs. The Sea Monster." Saturday is "Family Night" for all ages, no alcohol served. Gates open at 7:00m and movies start at 8:00pm. Get tickets early, a very limited amount MAY be available at the box office the day of. Chairs are provided but bring your blankets to cozy up for the show. Snacks available on board.

Movies Before the Mast is held on The Star of India. Spend the night exploring the museum and then cozy up on the deck for a movie on the mast, outdoors, on the ship, a night to remember.

*PS. There are two ways to watch the movie. No matter what side of the screen you sit on you'll spend the first or second half watching the movie opposite of the way it was meant to be viewed. Chalk it up to character, after a moment you won't even notice. They will switch it 1/2 way through during intermission. Last year they had a costume contest, so come dressed to impress.*

*Yes that's a kid dressed up as a wookie. I thought it was cute, so there.*