PORT ANGELES — It was a literal zoo downtown Saturday afternoon, as the sidewalks filled with lions, bears, bumblebees and . . . mummies?
Of course!
The dead were among the hundreds of living who put on their Halloween best for the annual Downtown Port Angeles Trick or Treat.
Princesses paraded among Spider-man kids, pirates swaggered with skeletons, and many parents carried the youngest trick-or-treaters as they navigated the crowds.
“I think it’s a blast,” said Micah Ellis as his 9-month-old son, Bentley, snoozed in a stroller beneath his fuzzy lion hood.
Nearby, Ellis’ 3-year-old daughter, Alexus, posed in her hula girl grass skirt and coconut-shell top for a photo.
“It’s a good idea,” Ellis said. “It keeps kids safe.”
A few steps away, brothers Michael and Matthew Groves, both dressed in black, showed off their light-up skeleton masks.
Their favorite part of Halloween?
“Candy,” said 10-year-old Michael.
“Trick-or-treating,” said Matthew, 7.
Merchants’ goodies
The children got plenty of both as crowds of people in costume snaked in and out of downtown businesses where merchants passed out candy and goodies, including books at Port Book and News.
About 1,800 children hit downtown stores last year, estimated Bay Variety Store owner Michele Adolphsen, and probably the same number — if not more — hit downtown on Saturday.
“It gives kids a safe place to come,” Adolphsen said.
“And it’s good for downtown, I think, in the long run,” she added, as it gives more exposure to the businesses.
