Halloween Happenings in NYC

The most famous Halloween event in New York City is, of course, the parade in Greenwich Village that takes place every Halloween evening. But there are lots of other ghostly goings-on to keep you busy until then. This Saturday, 10/24, why not check out the Central Park Pumpkin Festival, where you can pick a pumpkin, go on a hayride, get spooked at a Haunted House, enjoy live performances and watch the lighting of a 20-foot tall Jack O'Lantern Tower. On Sunday, bring your carved jack o'lantern back to the Park for the Halloween Pumpkin Sail at the Harlem Meer. Want more ideas? Check out this list of great Halloween events happening in the city from now until All Hallow's Eve!

Salem Witches

Salem, Massachusetts, just a hop, skip and a jump from the city of Boston, is site of the infamous Witch Trials of 1692. Although you can visit and learn about the events that took place here at any time of the year, interest in these historic happenings really picks up in the month of October. The Salem Witch Museum , the Witch Dungeon Museum and The Witch History Museum all explore the events of 1692; the Salem Witch Village goes a step further in discussing the hysteria to explore witchcraft's history, beliefs and practices, both ancient and modern. While you are there, we recommend that you stop in at Salem Beer Works, one of our favorite North Shore hangouts.

Free Admission to NYC's Guggenheim Museum

There will be free admission to the Guggenheim Museum in New York City tomorrow, Wednesday, October 21, 2009, from 10 am to 5:45 pm, to celebrate the 50th Anniversary of the exact day the Guggenheim Museum's Frank Lloyd Wright–designed building opened to the public. View the fabulous Kandinsky exhibition and enjoy special film screenings, tours in several languages, and a roster of activities, including many family–friendly programs, throughout the day.

Fall Events in Hawaii

Don't miss the Kona Coffee Cultural Festival, which runs from November 6 to November 15 this year. It's two weeks of food, parades, crafts, contests and the world's best coffee. Another great November event is the World Invitational Hula Festival -- a celebration of Hawaiian culture, language, art and history -- which takes place at the Waikiki Shell from November 12 to November 14.

Apple Orchards in NYC

Every now and then a little something reminds us that Manhattan has distinctively rural roots. Before Wall Street became synonymous with high finance, it referred to a bulwark meant to keep the citizens of New York safe. And before Orchard Street meant bargain shopping on the Lower East Side, it was the site of an apple orchard.


On Sunday, October 18th, the Lower East Side Business Improvement District reminds us all of the apples that once grew on Orchard Street via its second annual apple festival. Watch apple cider being made. Sample apples from local farms. Taste the variety of treats that can be made from apples, including apple sausage, apple pies, apple tarts and apple turnovers. There will be apple-themed arts and crafts, plus musical celebrations of this favorite fruit, too. And even if it rains, the fun will go on under big tents erected just for the festival.

A Weekend of NY Wine

While we love all that NYC offers, every now and then, we think it is worth it to jump in the car and enjoy the area outside the city. Invariably, when we are plotting one of these escapes, we think of Long Island, and of the great wineries concentrated on the North Fork. Here is an alphabetical list of places we've visited on these tours. We recommend that you pick a few and make a weekend of it!

New York City's Irish Hunger Memorial

My first visit to the Irish Hunger Memorial, located in Battery Park City at Vesey Street and North End Avenue, was something of a shock. This memorial to the Irish potato famine includes a rural Irish landscape (with flora indigenous to the north Connacht wetlands), a stone cottage and fallow potato fields, all within the shadows of the towers that make up the World Financial Center. The contrast between these bastions of wealth and the poverty that led to the Irish exodus was startling at the time (although in light of the recent Great Recession, the contrast isn't so severe).

Boston Halloween Haunts

At this time of year, when ghosts, ghouls and other scary creatures so often come to mind, it's fun to think about (and visit!) haunted houses. And while the carnival-type of haunted house abounds, we are more partial to the real thing. Real Haunted Houses lists hundreds of these, state-by-state. So if you plan to be in Boston for the weekend, why not venture out to nearby Georges Island, where a Civil War-era women dressed in black still screams (don't miss the readers' comments for truly spine-tingling tales about their encounters with her!).

Book an Activity in Hawaii

Make the most of your time in the Hawaiian islands by booking your vacation activities now! Click here to get tickets to tours, attractions and hundreds of other Hawaii activities.

Philadelphia Insider Book-of-the-Month

Benjamin Franklin had a huge impact on the city of Philadelphia. So before you go for a visit, consider learning more about this historic figure. We like the biography Franklin: The Essential Founding Father by James Srodes.

Check It Out

As a traveler, you are probably almost always in a huge hurry to leave your hotel in the morning. And whether you are giving the hotel bill a quick glance in your room or hurriedly examining it after a wait at the front desk, you are probably not examining your hotel bills as closely as you should before you check out. We recommend that you settle your bill the night before, when you have time to examine it thoroughly. Hotels sometimes make mistakes and often add fees for extra services, both of which they will remove (see our article on Escaping Hotel Surcharges) if you take the time to dispute them.

Lots of Laughter

From the days of vaudeville to the era of Seinfeld, New York City has been widely recognized as one of the world's comedy capitals. During the New York City Underground Comedy Festival (in progress through October 11, 2009), aficionados will enjoy an unprecedented opportunity to laugh along with both fledgling and famous comedians. For the seventh consecutive year, this sprawling festival will take place in venues all over New York City. Whether you prefer improv, sketch, film, or one-person shows, you're sure to find something to tickle your funny bone.

Boston's Head of the Charles Regatta

On October 17th and 18th, Boston will play host to the annual Head of the Charles regatta. More than 7,500 athletes from colleges, universities, and boatclubs around the world compete in 55 different race events, with up to 300,000 spectators on hand to cheer them on. All told, it has become the largest 2-day rowing event in the world (and a spectacular party, to boot!).

Inspired to paddle a bit yourself? Try renting a kayak from Charles River Canoe & Kayak and head out onto the Charles River, along with crew teams from Harvard and other nearby schools. Or escape from all the crowds and kayak on the picturesque Assabet River - we've had great success with rentals from the South Bridge Boat House in Concord.

Cruising Along the Coast in Hawaii

We invite you to enjoy a scenic Hawaiian Lunch Cruise along Oahu's coastline. Listen to live Hawaiian musical entertainment, or sun bathe and take photos from the Observation Deck. Then, learn how to dance the hula, take ukulele lessons, make a flower lei or learn about coconut frond weaving and how Hawaiians used them. And if you go in the winter months, you are guaranteed to see a whale or you cruise again for free!

Free Concerts in San Francisco

The San Francisco Conservatory of Music presents hundreds of recitals and concerts by students, faculty and guest artists each year. Best of all, most of these performances are free! Visit their web site or call (415) 759-3475 to learn more.

Philadelphia's Massive Haunted House

Now that it's October, our thoughts naturally turn toward falling leaves, chilly evenings, and all the ghostly fun that comes with Halloween.

For us, the season wouldn't be complete without a visit to most dramatic haunted houses in the Philadelphia area. Do you really want to be scared this Halloween? Then don't miss Terror Behind the Walls, the series of haunted happenings within the former prison at the Eastern State Penitentiary

First, a little history: this prison, which was conceived shortly after the American Revolution and opened in 1829, was meant not to simply punish criminals, but encourage them to engage in spiritual reflection so that they would become genuinely penitent (thus the new word, penitentiary). Through the years this notion that all criminals are capable of redemption was gradually abandoned and more standard prison practices were added, including Cell Block 15 (Death Row) for prisoners awaiting their final punishment. As early as the 1940s, officers and inmates began to report mysterious visions and eerie experiences in the prison. And the ghost sightings have only increased in recent years (and have been well documented in countless TV shows, books, and magazines). It makes perfect sense then, that the prison (which closed in the 1970s and is now deemed a "ruin") has now become the setting for one of the most frighteningly real haunted houses in the area. The huge, formidable building, with its long, crumbling corridors and dark, menacing cells makes you fearful enough. But add plenty of reminders about ghost sightings and all the prisoners driven insane by sadistic guards (plus actors and special effects!) and we guarantee that you'll be plenty scared!