When Gina asked if we'd be interested in going to a corn maze at Cherry Crest Farm in Lancaster, I envisioned a trip to Amish Country.
While we did see some horse-drawn buggies, we saw far more cars with Maryland and New Jersey license plates. Green fields have been converted to parking lots for thousands of visiting families from Pennsylvania and nearby states.
On this particular Saturday, there were more cars than we would have found at Knott's Berry Farm on Wednesday afternoons when I used to take our daughter Gina to feed popcorn to the ducks at the pond across the street from the gates, near to the Knotts replica of Independence Hall.
Gina and I had our own theme song for those special afternoons at Knott's in Buena Park, California.
"Popcorn, popcorn for the ducks. Duck duck duck will bring me luck. All the ducks come say 'hello,' cuz we bring popcorn,not Jell-O." Not exactly Lennon and McCartney, I guess.
Of course, that was when Gina was younger than her daughter Emma is now, so it must have been a few years back, even if it feels like yesterday.
Cherry Crest and its surrounding land certainly has more farms and pasturelands than California's more famous Berry Farm, but I well remember Knott's before it contained as many attractions as Cherry Crest Farm currently has.
Cherry Crest Farm includes a 5 acre pumpkin patch and flower garden within the park where guests can pick fresh reminders of the season.
Attractions at Cherry Crest Farm so far remain more rural than rollercoasters, but the lines for "rides" would rival those at Knott's. Disney Parks still hold the unchallenged title for longest, most annoying queues for five minutes of fun, but kids still cherish the Magic Kingdom, similar to how families enjoy Cherry Crest.
One of the first events that caught our attention was the pig race. We headed there right after Emma picked up a large cup of caramel corn, which came with her "Hog Wild" ticket along with a few activities for which there would normally be additional charges.
So many children were crowded around the fence that borders the race track that we could only see the start and finish from the wooden stands, but there was fun energy and humor similar to Knott's animal shows.
Laszlo, who had been tutoring SAT students earlier in the day, joined us right after the race, so we headed over to the primary attraction, the Corn Maze.
It's an extensive maze, with choices of beginner, intermediate or advanced. We chose intermediate, and with the motivation of an impending rain warning from the maze's watchtower finished the course estimated to take 45 minutes to an hour in under 40 minutes, despite stopping at a snack bar inside the maze. Laszlo had arrived hungry from work, but the lines at the Chuck Wagon we passed on the way to the maze were discouraging.
I think getting to the snackbar in the maze was faster than waiting in line would have been,but the menu wasn't as estensive. Laszlo, who usually eats low carb, opted for caramel corn.
I ordered coffees for Gina, Julie and Me, plus an apple donut that we shared with Emma, but after pouring two cups coffee, they=urn ran out, so I asked for hot chocolate instead. That proved lucky. It was much better than the coffee or even the donut, to me.
One of the highlights Gina fondly remembered from her family's visit three years ago was holding baby chicks. Unfortunately, the line to get into the barn with the chicks proved so long that Emma lost interest before entering.
The simple act of holding baby chickens proved to be a calming and pleasant few minutes that Julie, Gina and I each thoroughly enjoyed.
Emma and Laszlo instead went off to shoot apple blasters at targets. From what I could tell, this event is shooting apples from modern-style cannons, but I could only hear the booms and then clangs when targets were hit, as we never got close enough to watch.
Following what proved to be a very sweet experience for us city folks, Gina, Julie and I wandered to where live music was playing. The young band did unenthusiastic covers of CCR's "Bad Moon Rising" and another song appropriate for a country audience.
When we meandered over to the pumpkin patch, however, the band started playing "Staying Alive" from "Saturday Night Fever," leading Julie to do her best John Travolta finger-pointing move from the disco era.
Perhaps inspired by her dance, or more likely because that was more their preferred genre, they began playing much more inspiring versions of 1970's dance music, including Stevie Wonder's "Superstitious." The young female singer started shaking her own booty, and I like to think Julie helped her find her groove. In any case, we left a better band than we found upon arrival.
Gina and I played a rather unsuccessful game of cornhole, concluding that we must have been throwing from too far away.
We were ajacent to the beer and wine area, but again the lines seemed long.
It had taken so much time to see the chicks plus our other dallying that we assumed the younger daddy and daughter combo must have finished several other adventures, but when Gina called Laszlo, it turned out they only had time to do the apple blasters.
Emma was ready to head home. Of course, keep in mind what Emma once said about Disneyland: "They're only after my money."
I think as more commonly happens at an amusement park, the adults were feeling a bit run down after three hours of fun on the "Advemture Farm" that followed an hour plus drive out to Lancaster.
I know Gina, however, like her siblings Jay and Amy, would have been up for trying more activities and having drinks and dinner out there.
As her Daddy, I should have been more in tune with that, but I guess I'm finally becoming a boring adult myself...at least when slow lines are involved.
Sugar's Beach Trail
The day before Cherry Hill Farm, Julie and I had driven out to the lovey exurbs of West Chester to buy some dining room chairs she found online. They were as advertised, so we paid the lady and loaded the chairs in the back of our Escape.
While in the area, we hiked at woodsy Sugar's Bridge Trail, which had many offshoots.
The offshoots, sometimes with alternative names like Brandywine, led away from the more civilized paved trail and sounds of nearby traffic. We took a couple of those and found the whole experience quite enjoyable.
There's not too much to say about our hike, but here are some photos we took.
More Photos from Cherry Crest Farm
No comments:
Post a Comment