Because of the potential for horrid weather coming our way from Hurricane Sandy on the scheduled Trick or Treat date of Tuesday, October 30, 2012, it was postponed until Saturday, November 3 – effectively moving Halloween – or at least everything I associate with it – to November. In addition, as you’ll read, I attended a reunion of the film franchise Halloween, also oddly placed into November. In any case, it was a nice way to spend the weeks that fell between the real Halloween and the next of the ‘Big Three’ holidays, Thanksgiving.
Besides the little fun events and distractions that I’ll chronicle, I also spend much of the time watching the TV series Get a Life on DVD, and starting to work my way through the Cheers DVDs. On the turntable, or rather iPad, was music from Scott Walker, Jens Lekman, and Ariel Pink’s Haunted Graffiti.
After returning from my strenuous weekend in Knoxville and Parsippany, I was ready for some relaxing days, although I knew full well that there’d be one final autograph and celebrity encounter push for the year. But literally the only thing I did after that weekend was to have lunch with Mom at Chik-fil-a on October 31, thus ending the month on a high note of chicken.
The next event to come around was Trick or Treat itself, and of course if it wasn’t for Silas, this holiday would have come and gone with little fanfare whatsoever. But this would be the first time that my boy would participate in this little ritual. My Mom had held a Halloween party the weekend before (while I was gone), so Ashleigh had already dressed him up once in his Dracula outfit for that gathering.
Christi & Neil and Creed came over at about 5:30 that evening, with Ashleigh & Stephen and Silas trailing just behind. When they arrived, Ashleigh applied his war paint once again. For a vampire with a mouthful of fake blood and slicked backed hair, he was as cute as any human should be allowed.
Ashleigh and her skill as a makeup artist
Silas is starting to look like a white boy
Some blood provides the finishing touch
Ashleigh’s and her handiwork
Creed as the killer from Scream. Silas just laughed at his mask.
My little vampire boy
We went out about 15 minutes before the official kickoff, so that I could go with them for a bit before having to come back home and hand out candy. The weather was really cold, but fortunately it stopped raining just before we headed outside. Silas was a hoot, carefully following our instructions to take the candy and put it in his basket.
Silas’ first Trick or Treat house ever
Depositing his first chunk of candy loot
Little boy wandering the streets, in search of candy
He was methodical and he advanced from house to house with a purpose: put down his basket, take candy from a stranger, drop it in his basket, repeat once, then walk away… usually without the basket and in the wrong direction. He also seemed to head back in the direction of our house after each successful candy-grabbing mission. “You’re doing it, buddy! You’re doing it!” was my encouragement for him. I went back and handed out candy for about 45 minutes until the weekend Trick or Treat expedition tapered off.
The posse presses on
Silas is skeptical of a neighbor clown
A toast to candy… my favorite picture of the the evening
He’s getting the knack
An unmanned bowl of candy could have set Silas into an endless loop of basket depositing if gone unchecked
Silas demands shorter hours and a periodic candy break
After a brief pit stop at home, I escort Silas back to the pavement
No, Ashleigh is not in costume
On Tuesday, November 6, I was proud to cast my vote for Barack Obama once again in the Presidential election. It was unbelievable that it had been four years and we were doing this once again. Thankfully this also signaled the end of the near constant phone calls, messages, and campaign mail. I celebrated with Chik-fil-a with Mom again.
On Friday, Ashleigh brought Silas over again. He was looking cute with his Beatlesque haircut that reminded me of my own at that age. He demonstrated how he could now smile for the camera.
The head of hair
Silas has learned to smile on cue for the camera
Saturday, November 10, kicked off a quiet weekend that was highlighted that evening by meeting Dean at Chik-fil-a in Beavercreek, and then by a visit from an old classmate named Leslie on Sunday morning. We drank Bloody Marys and watched a movie called Silent Scream, an old favorite of hers from her childhood. Sadly, she remembered little of it, but it was still quite fun to hang out.
She returned to my house on Thursday the 15th, despite being sick, and we tuned into some Seinfeld DVD’s. On Friday the 16th, I met up with Ashleigh and Silas at McDonald’s in Bellbrook, where I got one more look at Silas’ long hair before Ashleigh took him for his first haircut.
Saturday the 17th saw the first of two autograph shows of the weekend, which would be the last ones of the year. The first one was a relatively easy on in Indianapolis. Somehow the folks of Horrorhound had wrangled a visit from Jamie Lee Curtis, but she could only attend at this time of year. Consequently, despite having just been to an Indy Horrorhound Show in September, I was back on the road to another bonus one just two months later. Because Jamie Lee Curtis was in attendance, Horrorhound managed to gather up a good portion of her co-stars of Halloween, Halloween 2, and several other horror films in which she starred.
Both this show and the Days of the Dead in Chicago were going on for the entire weekend, so I had to make the decision on which show to visit on which day. Reasoning that the Chicago show would have bigger celebs overall, and that I could easily drive to Indy for the show first thing on Saturday morning (thus saving the cost of a Friday night motel), I opted to hit Indy first. Mostly this worked out well, although there was a little bit of a price to pay.
I also knew that this would enable me to hit the final restaurant in Indy that had been featured on Diners, Drive-Ins, and Dives (since they are closed on Sundays). I made this my first stop once I arrived into Indianapolis at 11am – right when they opened. This one was called The Barking Dog and had been featured on the episode Signature Twists. Although one of the things they are famous for is the fact that they allow and cater to dogs in the dining room, I was glad that there were none there during my visit. I had the French Onion soup and their speciality, the Bark Lard BLT. This sandwich was certainly well worth the hype, consisting of some ultra-thick house-cured bacon, some incredible tomato jam, and basil mayo. It was a great meal and the waiter was more than interested in my DD&D quest.
The waiter suggested this pose, which I hated
The fabulous Bark Lard BLT
DD&D #55: The Barking Dog in Indianapolis, Indiana
Then it was on to the Horrorhound Show that was located not far away at the Marriott East, the same location where it was last held in September. I ended up being at the show from noon until closing at 7pm, several hours longer than I had anticipated. The main reason for this was that it took almost two and a half hours to wait among the masses to get my photo op with Jamie Lee Curtis (seen here). There were also two other inexplicably long lines that ate up another two hours-plus. But for the most part I sped right through the other celebrity encounters. There were only two stars at this show whom I had met before: Adrienne Barbeau and Dick Warlock. You can follow the trail of these celebrity encounters here.
After a long day at HorrorHound
After I left, it took me about two and a half hours of driving, during which I struggled to keep my eyelids unglued, to get to the Econo Lodge in Merrillville – which has become my favorite place to say during trips to Chicago. Upon arrival, I made my first of three visits to the McDonald’s located nearby, and was able to crash early enough to get an decent start the next day.
After breakfast at the same McDonald’s, I headed into Chicago, and more specifically, to the Chicago Marriott in the outskirt city of Schaumburg. The show began at 11am and I got there about 30 minute early, primarily so that I could line up for Peter Criss. Since the celebrity caliber was a bit higher at this Days of the Dead event, I had chosen to attend this one on Sunday to avoid the crowds. The only price I paid was that Roddy Piper, who was originally scheduled for the whole weekend, had changed his schedule to Sunday. Wrestler Mick Foley was also Saturday-only, but I knew this in advance.
Despite missing Piper, this was one of the smoothest and most enjoyable shows I have ever attended. I got in and out of there by 1pm, getting everyone on my list, except of course for Piper. Among the celebs present whom I had already gotten in the past: Sid Haig, Heather Langenkamp, Amanda Wyss, Leslie Easterbrook, P.J. Soles, Michael Berryman, Derek Mears, and of course Peter Criss. Lita Ford had been scheduled to attend, but cancelled. You can follow the trail of these celebrity encounters here.
I was going to try and hit another DD&D restuarant on my way home, but my dysfunctional GPS couldn’t find the address, so I just skipped it. It was about a five and half hour drive back home. I stopped back at that old familiar McDonalds in Merrillville to get my lunch. I kept myself occupied by listening to music and chatting on the phone with Leslie, Jamie, Peter, David, and Bob. Obviously these were separate conversations.
As we entered Thanksgiving week, I was all too happy to be done traveling for the rest of the year. I did go out for sushi with Leslie on Monday the 19th to a restaurant called Sima in Kettering. It had been a while since I had had sushi and this one proved to be about the best one I’ve had in the area. It left my stomach all prepared for the big holiday meal that would be coming.
2012 will continue with Thanksgiving…
Follow the trail of celebrity encounters form the Indianapolis HorrorHound Weekend here…
Follow the trail of celebrity encounters from the Chicago Days of the Dead here…
I love the picture of Vampire Silas looking up at you. He’s so cute.
Chris
December 12th, 2012