There’s no place quite like Aspen on Halloween, which is still one of my all-time favorite holidays. I prefer to celebrate on Halloween proper, so I saved up my energy and instead of hitting the town on Saturday night, I got into the spirit on Tuesday, Nov. 31.
Decked out in a long, silver wig, green face and body paint, a pointy witch’s hat and a glittery dress, I first made my way to Jing to say hi to friends – each of whom had no clue it was me whirling through the restaurant. I always appreciate a good disguise on Halloween night.
Next up was the Elks Lodge where the band Bo Hale Treatment churned out classic rock in the corner of the main room, and the décor was impressive throughout the third floor with inflatables shaped like spiders and goblins and cobwebs strewn around the window frames, jack-o-lanterns on display, cardboard skeletons taped to the bar and more.
When the clock struck 10, we headed over to the Caribou Club for the one night of the year it’s open to one and all with one caveat – you’ve got to have a costume. Owner and doorman Billy Stolz, dressed in neon as Ken in his Venice Beach rollerblading get-up from the movie “Barbie,” strictly enforced the rules whenever someone wandered down the stairs in street clothes. DJ Raw leaned hard into ’90s hip-hop hits, drawing a crowd to the dance floor all night long. On the way out, we wandered through the Caribou Cemetery in the enclosed Caribou Alley where headstones read names of notables lost this year: Tina Turner, Jimmy Buffett, Suzanne Somers, Paul Reubens, Robbie Robertson and Matthew Perry among them.
We had one last stop on the school night, walking around the corner to Mi Chola, where a “Helloween” DJ set was underway with Golbus, Berkel Beats and Kid Kamillion. The trio played an up-tempo set for hours on end amid extravagant décor that was still up when we passed by the next morning.
I love how everyone truly goes all in with clever costumes in Aspen. This year’s current-news-worthy faves included Taylor Swift and Travis Kelcie, Coach Prime, every version of Barbie (Beach Barbie, Original Barbie, Roller Barber, Weird Barbie, Senior Barbie) and plenty of Kens.
