One of Those Perfect Fall Weekends

This past weekend, a few of us piled into my small car and ventured to the great town of Hobart, Indiana, the Paris of America. (Any Leslie Knope fans out there?) Therein lies County Line Orchard, complete with apple picking, pumpkin patches, two corn mazes, live bluegrass music, fresh donuts, jams, mustard, candy apples, and spices, as far as the eye can see. Sure the corn maze was a bit... lame. Not much of a maze at all, really. Perhaps had we gone a month ago when the stalks were fuller and taller, it would have been a bit more of a challenge. Instead we found ourselves dodging the marshy wet patches of mud rather than trying to find our way out. And yes, the pumpkin patch kind of looked like someone just dumped a bunch of pumpkins on the field... which is probably exactly what happened. But it was charming, beautiful, and we all left agreeing it was a fun time! The live bluegrass band that played while we had lunch was probably my favorite part. I'd encourage anyone in the Chicago area to take the trip one of these weekends before it's too cold. It's only an hour outside the city, and pumpkins are a fraction of the price they are at your local market. My 23-pounder was only $8! I kinda sorta found the biggest one I could... it was awesome.