HALLOWEEN FOR GROWN-UPS
It’s almost COVID-19- Hoween, a time of tricks and treats, hobgoblins, hucksters, fright-wigged flimflammers, spooks and stormtroopers. Fear not — in a blink they’ll be gone. Or at least the mailbox will no longer be filled with their campaign material.
One of the best nights of the year to get out for a few adult beverages, Halloween is on a Saturday this year and will unravel under a full Blue Moon (alas, Moonfest in West Palm Beach is not happening). So here are some places that will welcome you and your costume on Oct. 31, each with COVID rules in place.
It should be a night when our differences may not be so apparent— we’re all pro-mask on Halloween.
Fort Lauderdale
Park& Ocean, the bar-restaurant oasis inside Fort Lauderdale’ s ocean front Hugh Taylor Birch State Park, will host two 45-minute fullmoon kayak tours through Coastal Du ne Lake beginning on Halloween night. The tours are at 6:30 and 8 p.m., and each ends with s’mores by a bonfire at the Boathouse. Dress up for a chance to win prizes for best costume in Single, Couples, and Family (up to 4) categories. Tours begin with check-in 30 minutes before leaving and are limited to groups of 10. Visit ParkAndOcean.com.
The consistently cool Rhythm & Vine patio lounge and club invites us to“get shipwrecked” with the mon Halloween, which happens to coincide with the Fort Lauderdale International Boat Show. See what they did there? Opening at 2p.m., the party includes bottle specials ($150 K et el One) and deals on shots ($7 Tee ling or Don Jul io) and cocktails ($8 Bacardi, Ketel One, Don Julio). Visit Rhythm - Vine.com.
Come as youare, ornot, to the ‘ 90s Halloween Party at 8p.m. Oct. 31 at Backyard in Fort Lauderdale’ s Him ma rs hee District, featuring music from popular cover band Saved by the ‘90s, food, drink and costume contests. Sponsored by radio station Y100 and Ketel One, general admission is free while there is space available, first come, first served. Tables can be reserved for two ($100 minimum), four ($200), six ($250) and eight ($300). Reserve a table at Eventbrite.com. VisitBackyardFTL.com.
The Halloween celebration at American Social Las Olas in Fort Lauderdale runs four nights, Oct. 29-Nov. 1, with costumes encouraged and drink specials throughout. The highlight is Saturday’s $1,000 costume contest. Visit Facebook.com/AmericanSocial.
Haunting of Dusk field Springs is the name of the zombie-filled experience inside the Evolution Escape Rooms at Xtreme Action Park in Fort Lauderdale each Thursday-Sunday through Oct. 31. Cost: $20, with a maximum of six guests entering at one time. VisitXtremeActionPark.com.
Hollywood
Ghost Ship on the Haunted Seas is the theme of the Halloween boat party aboard the Star of New York paddlewheeler leaving fromthe dock at 1318N. Ocean Drive in Hollywood at 8:30 p.m. Oct. 31 (boarding at 8 p.m.) and returning at midnight. Tickets cost $59.99 and include a light buffet. Costumes mandatory. Visit GhostShip2020. eventbrite.com.
Mirarmar
Anidea that is pretty great, even without COVID, the Horror land is a drivethru haunted experience — your and your crew are protagonists of a horror movie unraveling around you in real-time— at Miramar Regional Park through Oct. 31. Hours are 7-11 p.m. Cost varies by day, but on Halloween night is $69.99 per vehicle. Visit TheHorrorland.com.
Boca Raton
Crazy Uncle Mike’s restaurant-brewery in Boca Raton on Oct. 31 will have a costume contest and music from Son sofa Trades man, a local quartet of true grit. The showis 7-11p.m., with a$10 cover and food and drink minimum inside. Visit CrazyUncleMikes.com.
Delray Beach
The Oct. 31 party at Johnnie Brown’s in Delray Beach is called Witches Be Krazy, which is funny even without the knowledge that Krazy Train performs live at 9 p.m. The 8 p.m. costume contest has $1,000 in prizes on the tables. Visit JohnnieBrowns.com.
Wine House Social in Delray Beach’s colorful Pineapple Grove hosts a 5 p.m.-midnight party with three themed cocktails, Black Magic sangria, Scary Spice beer cocktail and Bloody Bubbles. Post a picture of yourself there in costume to their Inst rag ram (@ Wine House Social) to win win $25, $50 and $100 gift cards. VisitWineHouseDelray.com.
Wear a costume and get 10% off your tab during the Spooky Salt water Halloween celebration at Saltwater Brewery in Del ray Beach on Oct. 31. The bartenders will vote on the costume contest, with the winner of a $25 Saltwater gift card announced at 8 p.m. Visit SaltwaterBrewery.com.
Putt’n Around in Delray Beach continues Haunted Mini Golf through Oct. 31, with two cobwebbed courses scarier than your golf game. The 19th Hole has an excellent beer list and, due to COVID, they deliver it to you. Cost is $11 for 18 holes, $16 for 36. Visit PuttNAround.net.
Boynton Beach
C OVID canceled what would have been the 12th annual Cruiser Palooza fundraiser for local artist Cruise Bogle in April, but his many friends are giving it another go with Cruiser Boo! Looza! Halloween! at 3p.m. Oct. 31 at the Fish Depot Bar & Grille in Boynton Beach. Theday will include food and drink specials, costume contests and a strong lineup of local music including the Resolvers, the Holidazed, Prosthetic Minds, One Track Mind and more. Tickets cost$20. Bogle is a 30-yearold Delray Beach resident who describes himself as a “wheelchair-bound but mentally free, mouth-painting quadriplegic artist, professional smiler and positive thinker.” VisitFacebook.com/TheFishDepotBarandGrille.
As if you needed incentive to get thee to a brewery: Halloween will be Day 2 of the Trench or Treat weekend celebration of new beers and defy expectations at Due South Brewing in Boynton Beach. They include Silky Mariana Trench (the brewery’s fan-favorite imperial stout laden with chocolate and peanuts) and Skittles Weekender (kettle sour Berliner weisse). Taste the rainbow. Visit Facebook. com/DueSouthBrewing.
West Palm Beach
The Lab, the serious cocktail hideout above Sourbon Kitchen + Bar on West Palm Beach’s Clematis Street, will host the two-day Subsonic Zombie Gathering Oct. 30-31. Theweekend will feature cocktails, DJs and more cocktails, beginning at 7 p.m. each night. Your hosts provide two tips: Wear a mask. And if the front door is locked, enter from back alley door. Visit Facebook. com/thelabwpb.
The Raymond F. Kravis Center for the Performing Arts in West Palm Beach will host two Halloween-night shows by local tribute band KISS Alive, whichis about as awesome as it gets. Shows are at 6:30 p.m. and 9:30p.m. (doors open one hour before each shows). Socially distanced seats are sold in tables of four for$120 per table, with foodand drink service available. VisitKravis.org.
The 8 p.m. Oct. 31 party aboard the 50-foot Hakuna Matata catamaran is a two-hour, 21-and-older cruise, with drink specials, dance music and a variety of costume contests with more than $2,000 in prizes at stake. Cost is $50. Space, of course, is limited. Visit VisitPalmBeach.com or call 561-881-9757.