Last weekend was our last free weekend for a while. October is going to be slammed with the big move from house to apartment, as well as a packed theatre schedule for both of us, but Ted especially. October is also prime pumpkin patching season, an experience we do not miss out on. The first year we were dating I was a recent Texas transplant aching to enjoy a real autumn with real autumn festivities, so Ted took me to a pumpkin patch to pick out my very own pumpkins. The next year we got engaged in that same pumpkin patch. The following year we were married in October, surrounded by pumpkins. So it follows that this year we had to find time to do a pumpkin patch so we could carry on the tradition with our first year pumpkin patching experience in Ohio as a married couple. I called around to several farms trying to find a pick-your-own patch that allowed pumpkin picking in mid-September, and our chances were looking slim, but I finally found one! An hour and 15 minutes away. Each direction. Near Beavercreek, Ohio which is practically Dayton. Yes, Beavercreek. I know.
It was a bit of a trek, but boy did we find a gem! This place is not only a pick-your-own pumpkin patch, but also a ginormous corn maze, and a petting farm with tractor rides, corn cannons and fire pits. Jackpot. It’s called Adventure Acres and it’s one of the top 10 corn mazes in the nation in addition to being the biggest corn maze in Ohio. We will be returning next year. Want to know why?
That right there is an aerial view of over 11.5 miles of this year’s corn maze. For real. Is that not the most amazing corn maze you have ever witnessed in your life? Enlarge this beast (seriously, do it) and you’ll see they’ve spelled out Adventure Acres, 1851-2011, 160 years, have a tractor, a horse head, a barn, a silo, and a windmill – all carved out of 8 ft. corn stalks. You could literally spend the entire day playing hide and seek in that maze. It’s more challenging than it looks! The best part is that on weekends they’re open until midnight so they gear you up with a map, flashlights, and a glow-in-the-dark necklace (so you don’t get run over by a tractor on the farm…I’m not kidding) and off you go to get lost in the corn maze beneath a full moon and starry, starry country sky. As if that weren’t awesome enough, they also have a Clue/Who Dunit?/ Farm Scene Investigation game in the maze. You’re given a booklet with 7 farm animals, 7 farm weapons, and 7 farm locations and based on clues you have to find hidden in the maze, you determine who kidnapped the missing Farmer Joe. The more little clue stations you find hidden in the maze, the more coupons you can win for free stuff at the stores in town. Amazing, right? It was fun.
Right when we got there it was already sunset, so we piled on a tractor and headed out to the pumpkin patch where we dug around in the leafy greens for a while until we selected and picked our pumpkins for year…and what beautiful pumpkins they are! We ran amuck in the corn maze for a while and discovered whodunit, then we shot ears of corn out of a cannon at pumpkins, hay bales, and a gong (I think my backyard needs one of these), and then we hung out with the horse, duck, goats and barn cats for a while. There was also a nice little fire blazing in the fire pit. I don’t have great pictures because it was night-time, so please excuse the lack thereof, but it was loads of fun and we’d love to go back again…pronto! Bringing a group of pals here in October is just about one of the most fabulous outings I can think of! Wanna come?
The next day we finally made time to check out the Cincinnati Zoo & Botanical Gardens. I love me some animals and I’ve been craving zoo since we moved here, so it was about time we got around to it! We’d heard from multiple people that it was a wonderful zoo, so we were excited. We saw a lot of neat creatures and had a great time exploring. While we were in the Night Hunters exhibit (which featured a lot of wild cats) one of the zookeepers had a large snake out that we could pet. She was standing in front of the bobcat’s home and the bobcat was going positively nuts with desire to get his paws on that snake. He was pawing at and licking the glass, desperate to take a bite, but drat! that glass wall!! It was really cute. We also caught the cat show where the animal trainers show off the porcupine and a few of their most talented felines. They have a fishing cat that loves to dive right into the water to pull out meals, a jumping cat that can launch itself high into the sky without a running start, and of course, the cheetahs. They have a little fluffy toy attached to a string that gets pulled across a long expanse of land. What’s really cool is that using this system they can show you a cheetah run so you can actually see their cheetah, Sarah, go from 0-60 mph is mere seconds. It’s really awesome to experience!
After the zoo we headed over to Buffalo Wild Wings for the Packer game. It was an excellent final weekend of freedom!
