UNSUNG OCTOBER: Is the tenth month of the year, the one that's typically depicted on calendars with bats and cats and glowing pumpkins and spooky trees, really the unsung sequel to summer family vacations? Consider that a growing sector of the travel industry, from hotels to parks, is breaking out the discounts and deals and free tickets and special packages after school has been back in session for a month or so. But this isn't to preclude families from enjoying the savings; very often just an afternoon or a single night, rather than a full week, is all that is required for a satisfying getaway. Look to the Hilton Garden Inn, which is just a hop from the sand in Carlsbad Beach, and look to their Kids Free LEGO Package, which is a fall (not summer) thing that's trucking all the way through Saturday, Oct. 31.
WONDERS (BRICKS AND BEASTIES): Yep, you get to stay at the inn and rest up for a full day of LEGO-ing, a day that'll be made more energetic via the breakfast for four people that's a part of the package's amenities and add-ons. As far as the ticket end of things go? You'll nab a pair of grown-up get-in passes, and two for kid attendees, too, to both LEGOLAND and Sea Life Aquarium. Could you take in Explorer Island, Castle Hill, and admire a giant octopus and an eel, all in a day? (You could, for sure, and, nope, the last two creatures are real, not LEGO'd, and are found at the aquarium.) Details and specifics are here, but the price for the package starts at $364.
KIDS FREE OCTOBER: There's a whole cityful of free deals going down around San Diego and its wider environs throughout the month, as museums and parks and zoos, numbering in the dozens, waive admission for children. If only every major metropolis started to go with the "summer's over, let's up the savings in October" plan, because a lot of people still long to travel and have adventure but not spend a bundle after the bundle spent over the summer. And we're not saying to not get your Halloween on, either; in fact, a stroll through LEGOLAND may jump-start some fanciful costume ideas. A LEGO person, perhaps?
