DH wants to plan an anniversary trip for NEXT Oct for 12-14 days. I know that Halloween can get pretty crowded, but how are the crowds the second and third weeks.
Given that you are flexible in your dates, I would avoid the week of the Columbus Day holiday, starting the Friday before the holiday and ending the Sat. afterward.
Apparently it is very crowded there now because of this.
We went for a week from the end of Sept to the beginning of Oct. The later in Oct it got - the more crowded everything became. Fall breaks very widely all over the US, but some do start off rather early in the month. ALso - F & W Festival really gets going. The earlier you go in Oct the better!