Come October in Rhode Island everyone and their mother’s cousin starts posting from the Jack-O-Lantern Spectacular at Roger Williams Park. Judging from my Insta feed and explore tab this month, the drive thru version has been as popular as the walk-about one was during past Halloween seasons.

Now that’s great and all, but if you’re looking for another fun-tastic open air thing (not to be a broken record or anything but yours truly is all about outdoor activities ty) to do this Halloween season, might I suggest the Illuminated Swan Boats at Polo Lake at RWP?

They premiered way back in 2010 and I honestly feel they don’t get enough attention, both online and irl.

The lighted and gi-normous swan boats remind me of something whimsical yet quaint you might stumble across while traveling overseas in Europe. (Side bar, I’ll never forget the time we happened upon a stunning but seemingly random merry-go-around right in the middle of a shopping district in Florence, Italy.)

With temps forecasted to be in the 40’s and 50’s this week, though, you’ll want to bundle up in a winter coat (wore a “transitional” which translates to NOT at all warm one yesterday in Providence and froze) along with a hat and scarf too. To keep things even cozier, you can grab some hot chocolate or cider that they have for sale before you board.

Also as far as posting to your fave social media app, Halloween or not, we’ve all learned the hard way that taking phone photos at night can be tricky. Factor in the hundreds and hundreds of lights that decorate everything and snapping images gets all the more challenging. I mean, hellooooo, blurry. (The 2 photos above were the best ones out of the 40 or more that I took.)

With that in mind, I’d suggest stashing your phone for the duration of the ride and living in the moment. Besides, can you imagine dropping your smart phone in that man-made lake? I, for one, would be flipping out.

*The Illuminated Swan Boats will be open, weather permitting, until November 1st. For more info and to get tix, check out RWPConservancy.org.