Halloween Day in Cedarburg! 2018

This year, my mom and I did something we've always wanted to do, which is visit Cedarburg on actual Halloween day and night. Anyone who has been reading my blog for a while knows how much I enjoy going to Cedarburg and taking pictures each Halloween season. For a while I've heard that on actual Halloween, the businesses on Cedarburg's main street area put out lots of jack-o-lanterns. I always imagined how cool it would be to walk through this old town I like so much and see it lit up for Halloween.

So this year we actually made it there on that day! I took so many photos that I'm going to split this blog post into two parts. This first one is going to be about Halloween day and the next one will be about Halloween night.

I'll start us off with a favorite store of mine. You might remember seeing all these metal yard decorations that are displayed outside the store. This year there were some new ones. Of course there's a Minion! I'm starting to think I can't go anywhere without seeing one of those. And I'm guessing that's Jigsaw from the Saw movies?

How cool is this! I think I'm seeing a wrench coming out of the side of his head.

This looks like an actual Pumpkin Spider.

I included this pic mainly so you can see that rusty little guy in the back. He looks ready to move.

Garden Zombies!

And you'll remember these skeletons that hang around the gazebo each year.

Bigfoot

This is a view out the door of a shed that stands in the back of this shop.  As you can see, it's not exactly lit in there. I love peeking around this shed for whatever reason.

Here are a few of the goodies that were inside:

Enough said!

Directly behind the shed is a creek. I love peeking around this area too. Maybe because it's always so still and quiet back here? Or because it's a surprise piece of nature?

Mom in an alleyway type area between shops:

How fun is this? Looks like he's not going anywhere fast with those sheep in the way. 😄

We saw a few amazing dragons that day. This one looks like he's wearing a suit of armor. I think this could sell at Ren Faire!

I have to get relatively the same shot every year of the grapevines climbing the side of the old mill.

There were already a few characters out in the daytime. I was very surprised to see this large crow who approached me while saying "CAW! CAW!"

This was my first time seeing a giant inflatable of just Jack Skellington's head.

This reminds me of another character from Nightmare Before Christmas! A very, very side character. Remember the mummy? Although, I just googled some pics of that character and he had only one eye. Anyway, I thought this was actually pretty creepy. Even now, I think it's looking at me.

A dinosaur bursting from its egg! I like that they left the seeds in there.

Classic:

I'm pretty sure these were meant to be teeth but they make good, spiky punk hair too.

This was one of the most impressive pumpkins for me!

😆

This is my favorite house on the block, so it was very cool that it ended up figuring into the best part of the night. You'll see it in a very different light in the next blog post!

This next shop has rooms and rooms of holiday decorations. It's almost overwhelming!

Out front was this super tall pumpkin man who ended up looking spectacular at night.

This year I took a pic of one of those crowded holiday rooms to give you an idea of how the store looks. Imagine probably about 10 of these rooms.

Back outside...

This place always puts on an impressive display. Wait until you see it at night! This display provided some of my favorite photos of the night.

Another comparison you can make between day and night is with these caramel apples. You'll notice a whole lot less of them on the shelf by nightfall!

I thought this was a simple way to imply something like a ghost or figure. If you look closely at the head, you'll see a green lantern with a flying witch on it.

These next pictures are part of what is probably my favorite display. By night, you'll see that the pumpkin with the eye will be the head of a snake.

Check out all these miniature carved pumpkins! This must have taken someone a lot of time. And again, wait till you see this lit up!

I just really appreciate this cheery little display and I like the way it looks on that kind of greenish, wood bench.

Haha! OK, I think there's actually something to this deflated cat. He looks like this melted, pool of cat that's slithering down the street. This is the first deflated inflatable I've seen that I think is kind of working in its deflated state.

Exposed brains:

Check out these pumpkin arms and legs! These are some of the best pumpkin additions I've seen lately.

An octopus:

Pumpkins in urns are classic and I love an orange pumpkin against a purple wall!

Another (light) purple wall with a pumpkin.

I like these next two because of the subtle colors. It's the texture that mostly shows.

I bet these next pumpkins are vintage. Do you think this is one of The Three Stooges?

This is another display that implies something. Just the leaves and window-type frame make me think of looking in the window of an old church from outside.

That metal window shape and leaves were outside a shop where we bought these next two souvenirs. I held up this fairy garden stake to get some contrast, and ended up liking how it looks like she's actually flying in the sky.

This is another garden accessory that might become an indoor accessory:

You couldn't see it in the last pic, but it's actually this bubblegum pink.

This is the shadow it casts:

So, in the next blog post you'll be seeing what's advertised here:

I'm looking forward to sharing the night pics! I felt warmer while looking at these photos and that's something I really needed today. Our weather is at about freezing, so it was the perfect time to look back at a warmer autumn day!