Good morning. A little rain today, then it clears out for the weekend: mid-70s on Saturday, low 80s on Sunday. Pumpkin-patch weather, right on time. ☕

This week in OC: In 1923, Anaheim merchants were so tired of Halloween pranks (soaped windows, uprooted fences) that they invented a festival to give kids something better to do. They added a parade the next year, and it grew into one of the biggest Halloween celebrations in the country. The tradition is still marching: this year's festival and parade land on Saturday, Oct 24. anaheimfallfestival.org

In today's Buzz:

— Kevin

The Anaheim Fall Festival and Halloween Parade is back. Downtown Anaheim goes full hometown-Halloween on Saturday, Oct 24: a free festival at Center Greens with local artists, live entertainment, kids' crafts, costume contests and a scavenger hunt, a classic car show on Center Street, and then the main event, the Halloween Parade at 7pm, community-built floats and all. It started in 1923 as a prank-prevention scheme and never really stopped. If you only do one big Halloween thing with the whole family this year, this one has the most heart per dollar. (It is free. The math is easy.)

Here's what to know:

Sources: anaheimfallfestival.org, enjoyorangecounty.com.

Worth leaving the house for (Thu Oct 22 to Sun Oct 25).

🎬 Newport Beach Film Festival closing night (Thu Oct 22, Newport Beach). The 27th NBFF wraps its eight-day run at Big Newport with Behemoth!, starring Pedro Pascal as a cellist who returns home to LA, directed by Tony Gilroy. Before the premiere, Gilroy sits for a live taping of the LA Times "In Conversation" podcast. 8pm. (Tickets) → newportbeachfilmfest.com

🐠 Spooky Seas (Sat Oct 24, Dana Point). The Ocean Institute's after-dark Halloween: bioluminescence laser tag, a mad scientist lab, haunted tall-ship tours and a costume contest. 5:30 to 9pm. Adults $20, kids $17, little ones free. ($) → oceaninstitute.org

🏃 Monster Dash and Creepy Crawl (Sat Oct 24, San Clemente). A costumed 5K at 7:30am, then a one-mile Creepy Crawl fun run, starting at the Community Center, 100 N Calle Seville. Costumes encouraged. → sanclemente.gov

👻 Haunted Trails (Thu Oct 22 to Sun Oct 25, Laguna Niguel). Crown Valley Park turns properly spooky after dark: elaborate scenes, live actors, jump scares. Best for 10 and up. 6:30 to 9pm Thursday and Sunday, 9:30 Friday and Saturday. Tickets listed at $13 to $15. ($) → cityoflagunaniguel.org

🎢 Knott's Scary Farm (select nights through Oct 31, Buena Park). Final two weekends for the longest-running haunt in SoCal: mazes, shows, and 1,000-plus creatures in the fog. Not recommended under 13. Tickets from $65 online. ($) (Tickets) → knotts.com

(Double-check times before you go. Events move.)

Boo at the Bay (Sat Oct 24, Newport Beach). A free family Halloween party at the Upper Newport Bay interpretive center, 2301 University Drive, 11am to 3pm. Costumes encouraged, and the wildlife booths (birds of prey, critters you can actually meet) are the draw. Event and parking are free. Rain cancels, and the rain should be long gone by Saturday. → parks.oc.gov

Dana Point Halloween Spooktacular and Trunk or Treat (Sat Oct 24, Dana Point). Giant slide, inflatable sports zone, crafts, a costume contest, a haunted maze in the gym and the police trunk-or-treat display, 1:30 to 5pm at the Community Center on Del Obispo. Free. Park at RH Dana and ride the trolley over, which is half the fun. → danapoint.org

Fall-O-Ween at Heritage Hill (final weekend, Oct 23 to 25, Lake Forest). Last chance for the decorated historic grounds, straw maze and scavenger hunt, 4:30 to 8:30pm. Admission and parking free. → enjoyorangecounty.com

Here's what I'm doing with my three: Boo at the Bay Saturday morning while it's free and easy, home for a nap, then Dana Point's Spooktacular so the kids can ride the trolley in costume. Total cost: whatever the snack situation runs me.

New digs, same baklava. Zov's Tustin flagship is moving next door after 38 years, into the former El Torito space at Enderle Center (being reimagined as Campo on 17th). The move lands in summer 2027, the restaurant stays open throughout, and the new bistro gets what they say will be the tallest back bar in Orange County. → zovs.com

Sorry, not sorry, Anaheim. Sorry, Not Sorry Creamery is planning an Anaheim location, per WhatNow. No opening date yet. → whatnow.com

Creekside Restaurant and Bar, Rancho Mission Viejo. Russ Bendel's eighth restaurant opened Monday, Oct 12 in Sendero Marketplace: relaxed neighborhood American, dinner only, 120 seats across the dining room, bar and a covered patio. This is the group behind Vine, Ironwood and Bloom, so the floor is high. Open 4 to 9pm Sunday to Thursday, till 9:30 Friday and Saturday. 30865 Gateway Place, Suite E6. The move: patio table, sunset, no rush. → creeksidermv.com

Source: Greer's OC.

The harbor town with the best origin story in OC. A few things worth knowing:

Next issue: where should we go next? Reply and vote.

The market: The latest weekly OC Housing Report from Orange County Real Estate, Inc. (dated Oct 19) shows pending sales down a fourth straight week, to 1,573, the softest October reading in at least five years. Rates near 7.5% are pulling the fall slowdown forward, though median days on market barely moved, to 47. One more headline: 100 Rockledge Road in Laguna Beach sold for $82.6 million, a county record the report excludes from its stats. Translation: quiet market, but the very top still sets records. ocrealestateinc.com

The listing: 31062 Casa Grande, San Juan Capistrano. $85 million for 42.75 acres on a hilltop with 360-degree views of the ocean, the hills and the Mission. On it sits a 21,500-square-foot Spanish Mission Revival building with three residences, a working avocado-citrus-agave farm, and approved plans for a nearly 39,000-square-foot main house. A ranch the size of a small town, five miles from Dana Point Harbor. Photos and details are on the listing page → theknightgroupla.com

Then and Now: Killer Dana. Then: a shallow cove under the cliffs, where sailors anchored and surfers rode a break so mean they called it Killer Dana. Richard Henry Dana picked up cowhides there in 1835-36 and made the cove famous in "Two Years Before the Mast." In 1966 the Army Corps started dropping rock, about a million tons of it, pumped the cove dry, and built a marina. Dana Point Harbor was dedicated on July 31, 1971. Now: the harbor is 55, and the original Wharf, the restaurants and shops that grew up with it, serves its last customers on Halloween as the waterfront rebuild enters its final phase. Whale watching and the Catalina Express aren't going anywhere; they're moving to temporary trailers. If the old Wharf means something to you, you have two weekends left. Hit reply with your favorite OC memory, harbor breakfast stories especially welcome.

That's the week. Watch a parade born in 1923, take the kids somewhere free, and say your goodbyes to the Wharf.

Three tiny favors:

See you next week.

— Kevin

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