NJ Things to Do This Week, Oct. 19–25: Feltville Haunted Hayrides, Turtle Back Zoo Capybaras, Haunted Red Mill and More
Five Halloween-season picks across New Jersey this week, from a nighttime hayride in Feltville's deserted village to free costume fun at Cape May County's zoo. I didn't know one state could hold this much hay.
I didn't know one state could have this many hayrides. In late October, New Jersey hauls so many people around on wagons that the hay should be earning frequent-flier miles. By Halloween it's got elite status. It boards first, it gets the good blanket, and it looks down at the regular straw like, "Economy, huh?" Meanwhile, every town seems to have somebody in a mask standing very still in the dark, counting down to your arrival like a kitchen timer. Here are five picks for the week, top of the map to the bottom.
1. Haunted Hayrides, Feltville's Deserted Village, Watchung Reservation, Berkeley Heights (Union County)
Three nights. Wagons leave every 30 minutes from 6:30 to 9 p.m. on Fri., Oct. 23 and Sat., Oct. 24. Sunday is shorter: Sun., Oct. 25, runs 6:30 to 8:30 p.m. The rain date is Mon., Oct. 26. Union County residents pay $8; everybody else pays $16, and tickets are advance-only, never sold at the gate. Recommended for ages 6 and up, with no strollers. Plan on about an hour start to finish, a limit of eight tickets per buyer, and no refunds. As of Oct. 19 there were still tickets left, but the county says these sell out regularly, and online sales stop Sat., Oct. 24, at 3 p.m., Sunday's rides included.
Your guide on the wagon is David Felt, the man who built the village in 1845. Think about how long he's been at this. Most tour guides rehearse for a week. This man has been rehearsing since before the lightbulb. By now he could tell them backward, in the dark, on a bumpy wagon, which, conveniently, is the whole job.
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