Every so often, I want to spend time outside without gardening. Especially given all the mulch and bricks we’ve been hauling around. The temperature just started dropping a couple weeks ago, so the fabulous fall colors aren’t quite here yet, but pumpkins are ripe and Six Flags Great America is set up for Fright Fest, their annual Halloween celebration.
Let’s start with pumpkins… there are many pumpkin farms to choose from in the Chicagoland area, most with a corn maze of varying degrees of difficulty. Last year, we visited Abbey Farms‘ Pumpkin Daze event, which has everything from a petting zoo to a zipline to weekend movies in the dark, along with an elaborate corn maze. And, of course, pumpkins – you can select picked ones, or cut your own, with wagons strewn about to haul them. This year’s pumpkin excursion (which didn’t actually involve bringing pumpkins home… that’ll probably be in a week or two) was to Windy Acres Farm. The corn maze is smaller than at Abbey Farms (you only find your way through it, not search for specific objects within), the pumpkins are pre-picked… but there are turkeys walking around the farm, barnyard animals, assorted seasonal displays and things for kids to climb in or on, and educational information scattered throughout. Smaller children can ride the train on weekends; unfortunately, I’m too tall for it.
I’m not too tall for the rides I like at Six Flags. I do have to balance my love of rollercoasters with Cassandra’s, well, disinclination to ride any of the really big ones. That limits me to the big ones with somewhat short lines or single rider lines. Alas, The Joker was closed the day we went, but the single rider line for Goliath was only about 20 minutes… compared to the 120 minutes for the normal line. We did ride Demon together, and likely will again in the future. But my next visit to Six Flags must include Maxx Force, a new coaster that I haven’t tried… yet. As we waited in line for the Demon, we could see Maxx Force running, but we ran out of time for the day.
But I mentioned Halloween, so let’s not forget the elaborate efforts that Six Flags puts into their decorations. The fountain by the entrance is tinted red, so dark that it looks black until you walk right up to it, and has skeletons scattered throughout, coming towards you. There are headstones lining the sides, which are worth reading as you walk past. And they have several haunted attractions and shows… none of which I’ve seen, because honestly, I’m there for the rollercoasters. There are seasonal displays throughout the park, including coffins that you can lie in for photographs, and boxes interspersed in the walkways where creepy things lurk at night to spook park visitors.
As of last year, they’ve added a Holiday in the Park event through December, so I’m looking forward to seeing how they decorate for the winter holidays.