Fall is my favorite season. But not being consumed in nature has made me miss that fall feeling. Yes, we can walk through Central Park and experience the fall foliage. But it’s just not the same when you’re living in the ‘burbs. So, I fill my life with PSLs, apple pie, pumpkin bread, and apple cider donuts.
This year, I wanted to plan out a day where Fatima and I could: 1. escape the city, 2. visit a farm with a pumpkin patch (field) and apple cider donuts, and 3. immerse ourselves in the Halloween spirit. That led me to finding this event called The Great Jack O’Lantern Blaze.
By the time I found this event, it was SOLD OUT. However, with a little digging on Facebook, I found a guy wanting to get rid of his two tickets. Now, I could plan out my day…
I wanted to start the trip with a snack. Starting at Stew Leonard’s was a no-brainer. They have THE best apple cider donuts. Baked fresh in their bakery, they were unloading hot donuts into the display. Slowly, that fall feeling started to creep back.
The next stop was Wilken’s Fruit and Fir Farm. I saw it was a Hudson Valley favorite and close to everything else I wanted to check out. We headed straight for the pumpkin patch (err–field of pumpkins). Everyone and their mother was at this farm. It was as if everyone from the city decided they’d go pumpkin picking on Saturday. Fatima was not going to let me bring back a few pumpkins I picked out, so we turned this trip into an instagrammable moment. If it’s not on Instagram, it didn’t happen.
We left the patch and made our way to the on site bakery for apple cider donuts. Oh-my-gosh. The line was insane. It stretched out of the bakery and down to the road. We waited about 45 minutes just to get some apple cider donuts.
The next part of my plan included heading down to Sleepy Hollow and Tarry Town for a late lunch. When we got to downtown Tarry Town, it was packed. Not a parking space in sight. We drove around for a good 20 minutes before giving up. I should have known that it would be a hotspot in late October. Next time, we’ll plan better! Fatima searched around for food places near the event and we headed back towards Van Courtland Manor.
We found a diner just down the road from the Great Jack O’Lantern Blaze. This was much more convenient. We left about 30 minutes before our start time if we ran into any issues on the ride over. There was about a 15 minute back up in traffic just getting into the parking area, and another 10 minute wait to park your car. So if you get to go to the Great Jack O’Lantern Blaze, make sure you get there about 30 minutes beforehand!
It was so cool to see all of those pumpkins lit up and in formation. There was the Pumpkin Zee Bridge, Statue of Liberty, Jurassic Park, an awesome Planetarium, and of course the Headless Horseman!
For an audible experience, check out our podcast!
