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Remember Linus, Charles Schultz’s trusting, blanket loving disciple of The Great Pumpkin?
I wish he could have experienced the Halloween extravaganza drawing over 100,000 visitors each year at Hudson Valley’s Van Cortland Manor in Croton-on-the-Hudson, New York.
Called The Great Jack O’Lantern Blaze, it features more than 5,000 individually hand-carved, illuminated jack o’lanterns displayed as circus characters, dragons, spider webs and tumbling acrobats…pumpkin acrobats which actually tumble.
All are set to synchronized lighting, animation and incredible sound effects. All, yes all, are constructed of hand-carved pumpkins.
Staff, volunteers and local artists, under the supervision of Creative Director, Michael Natiello, begin carving in June. Real pumpkins are carved throughout the show and immediately prior to the event, which lasts for 28 days in October into early November.
Over 10,000 real pumpkins weighing between 5 to 50 pounds are ordered to replace withering pumpkins throughout the show. Hot Indian summer days, the biggest problem.
Marvel at the collection of shrunken Little Monsters, shiver as the slithering ground snakes creep your way, gaze in wonderment at the working doomsday grandfather clock.
Free parking, a Halloween-themed gift shop and a café offering soup, veggie chili, muffins, pumpkin cookies and cider are on site.
This has to be the most exciting Halloween event in the country and that means, you get your tickets early. I can’t stress this enough.
Only a certain number of visitors are allowed to walk through the approximately 45-minute Halloween wonderland at a given time, and the time slots sell out months in advance. Click here for tickets.
This is a classic fall festival in the breathtakingly beautiful Hudson Valley with leaves turning golden yellows and deep reds and purples.
Within a 20 minute drive of the Van Cortland Manor and the blazing pumpkins are three lovely places to stay.
If you’re in the mood for castle living, you can’t beat Castle Hotel & Spa in Tarrytown for ambiance and delicious dining at Equus Restaurant; the Ritz-Carlton, Westchester in White Plains for contemporary ritz; and the charming Kittle House in Chappaqua, right down the street from Hillary and Bill, for farm to table dining and 12 comfortable suites in the lovely neighborhood of Lawrence Farms.
Suggested restaurants: The Mint Premium Foods and Restaurant and The Sweet Grass Grill in Tarrytown; Anton, Giovanni’s Italian American Deli and Ocean House in Croton-on-the-Hudson.
For those who simply have to be scared out of their pants to enjoy Halloween, try the haunted attraction, Horseman’s Hollow, at Phillipsburg Manor in the heart of the real Sleepy Hollow…definitely not for children.
Tour Sleepy Hollow Cemetery. Listen to the retelling of the Legend of Sleepy Hollow in the candlelit setting of the Old Dutch Church across from Phillipsburg Manor.
For the kiddies, there’s a daytime shadow puppet performance at Washington Irving’s charming home, Sunnyside, recounting the story of the Headless Horseman.
Don’t miss this fall spectacle. It’s the perfect family adventure….or to paraphrase Linus, “It’s The Greatest Pumpkins, Charlie Brown!”
— Judy Crowell is a Noozhawk contributing writer, author, freelance travel writer and Santa Barbara resident. She can be reached at news@noozhawk.com. The opinions expressed are her own.