A Spook-tacular Weekend Getaway

Let me start out by saying, I hate scary things. Halloween encompasses two of my favorite things in the world - candy and playing dress-up - but I can't handle the holiday! With that being said, this is the second year in a row that I've gone to Busch Gardens theme park in Williamsburg, Virginia for their Howl-O-Scream weekend. AND I remembered to take a few pictures!

Welcome to Howl-O-Scream!

I put away the books and my laptop, said goodbye to Penn's campus and my cohort (who went to an exciting grad student gala this weekend!), and hit the road on a six hour trip from Philly to Williamsburg. I spent some time with my family and best friends and did no homework for three days - I only checked my email twice! The weekend was my perfect definition of "relaxing" - stuffing myself with delicious food and riding roller coasters repeatedly (though not always in that order!)
For those of you who don't know about Busch Gardens, I highly recommend it! It's a little far from Philly, but it's a great weekend trip. The park has been named the world's most beautiful theme park for the past 23 years in a row - that's impressive! It's European themed, with the separate sections of the park each named for and centered around a different country, Germany, Italy, England, Ireland, and France, for examples. The "countries" each have unique foods, performances, rides, and decorations to bring the culture of that nation to the park. A few of my personal favorites are Das Festhaus in Germany where they celebrate Oktoberfest all year round with delicious food and great entertainment, the Abbey Stone Theater in Ireland where they have an incredible Irish Dance show, and the Griffon in France - a floor-less dive coaster that provides a completely unique roller coaster experience from anything you've done before.

Griffon Roller Coaster

One of the other aspects I really like about Busch Gardens is their commitment to conservation and animals. They've partnered with Jack Hanna to open a wildlife reserve right in the middle of the amusement park! It's a great place to go and get away from the crowds and noise of the rest of the park. The reserve houses a huge Gray Wolf habitat where you can see them up close (they have huge teeth!) as well as Eagle Ridge, where Bush Gardens hosts and rehabilitates injured Bald Eagles. The park is also home to many different birds, herds of sheep, and several huge Clydesdale horses!

Grey wolf

The park is gorgeous during the day, but as soon as the sun sets, it turns into a fright fest with Jack the Ripper, evil pirates, vampires, and fiery demons running rampant in the park. I went through one of the six haunted houses and I was too scared to do any more! My friend Maura and I spent the rest of our Howl-o-Scream time trying to avoid the scary stuff in every way possible. It's a shame I was too scared to do a lot of the stuff - they really go all out with the decorations and events so the park looks amazing!

Maura and I "hiding" from the demons in a tree in Ireland!

An amazing weekend ended too soon, and Monday morning I was definitely not ready to come back to work and school! It's amazing how quickly I forgot my regular routine! But now it's time for a busy busy week. Hopefully some of you are joining us for the Prospective Student Web Chat this Thursday, September 26th at 7pm! Or the On-Campus Information Session on Saturday, October 12. Register for all of our upcoming events here!

Hope to see you soon! Have a fantastic week!