This weekend was a pleasant surprise for Pat Miller, an Alexandria Living Legend and board member of the Del Ray Business Association. While trick or treating was discouraged due to the pandemic and Halloween expected to be relatively quiet this year, Miller said the neighborhood’s scavenger hunt saw surprisingly active participation.

“It went amazing,” said Miller. “We got over 60 scavenger hunt forms filled out. All these people were walking around, looking and looking in Del Ray.”

Miller said it was a larger response than the the scavenger hunt has ever gotten.

“Everybody has been in their home and secluded,” Miller said. “It was nice, even just as their family, to go out and do something where they could walk up and down the avenue. It was the right thing at the right time, that’s what we were hearing.”

Miller said without trick or treating, kids in the neighborhood had nothing to dress up for. A scavenger hunt around town offered an alternative.

“I believe there were 24 things they had to identify from the business windows,” Miller said. “It was something that may have been kind of hidden. A lot of them were related to decorations.”

Miller said there will likely be another scavenger hunt around Christmas, with details hidden in painted windows across Del Ray.

Visit Del Ray also hosted its annual decorations contests; including homes, pets, and group costumes. The home at 4 W. Custis Avenue took home first prize in home decorations with a spooky summoning display. A Tiger King family costume won first place in the group costumes and a squirrel in a witch hat took home first place in the pet costume category.

Photos via Visit Del Ray/Facebook