We needed a pumpkin and, despite the distance, decided to drive out to Michigan. This was Saturday.
We ended up at Dinges, a family-run farm outside of Three Oaks, which, as far as pumpkins are concerned, is the place to go.
Besides pumpkins, there were wheelbarrows to push, gourds to shake, ponies to ride, kiddie-trains to board, goats to pet, a corn maze to wander, go-carts to drive, Concord grapes to pick. The Dinges family is famous for mounting a wholesome, homemade, autumn extravaganza–a rural celebration of harvest and Halloween. The amusements were many, and every kid looked happy.
Arrayed around the central display of Dinges’ beautiful pumpkins were barns selling such wares as various preserves, Indian corn, and painted gourds, and beyond the barns were the paid amusements such as the racetrack and the maze, and beyond the amusements were the fading Michigan fields themselves, their beauty needing no further decoration.
Thank goodness my husband was along, because the clues in the corn maze had a dinosaur theme. Without him I would have been lost in ‘Jurassic Park,’ quite literally. As it was, we tracked down all the secrets of the maze and found an invisible lookout at its heart where we could gaze down and admire our surroundings. Emerging from the maze just as a storm cloud approached, we picked out a pumpkin that spoke to us, and headed home happy.
On the breakfast table sits the pumpkin, waiting to be carved.
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- Dinges at Halloween
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- Caravan
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- Wheelbarrows
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- Abundance
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- Pony ring
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- Seductive spider
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- ‘The Spooky Semi’
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- She won’t hurt. . .
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- Racing
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- Spent field
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- Two goats
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- Confab
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- The prospect
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- Dads
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- One is ours
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- The haul
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- Sweet grapes
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- Outside Three Oaks
harley says
I’m jealous ! That sounds like a totally happy experience !! I have not had much fun on Halloween for many a year……….Your pictures are great !
Celia says
Thank you, Harley. It was all the more sweet for being unexpected. The Dinges family must take a lot of pride in this–what I liked most about it was that there was nothing TOO scary for little kids, yet everything was gently amusing and even aesthetically pleasing to me.
Years ago I went to a one-day charity event at Ravinia, where visitors were asked to bring a food donation as their entrance fee. Inside the park, there were stands for buying cider and cookies, there was a horse-drawn hay-ride, the grounds were decorated, and inside the pavilions were local celebrities like Bill Kurtis reading scary stories. It was so memorable! Yet the classy autumnal festival does seem a rarity. I believe the one at Ravinia was one-time-only.