Indholdsfortegnelse for October/November 2022 i Country

FOR A NEW SPIN on fall, take a lovely pumpkin walk through Creekside Gardens in charming Tunkhannock, Pennsylvania. Spread across the property are more than 10,000 pumpkins and gourds swirled into eye-catching patterns. Look for dozens of pumpkins painted with silly faces or designed as a black cat or a butterfly. Throw in a scavenger hunt—quite a challenge—and you have a fun family event to enjoy throughout October. MORE TO EXPLORE BROWN HILL FARMS Visit this Tunkhannock farm to see more than 400,000 tulips in the spring, 30 acres of sunflowers in late summer, and a pumpkin patch and a corn maze in autumn. brownhillfarms.com RICKETTS GLEN In nearby Benton, this all-season state park has 26 miles of hiking trails and 22 waterfalls, the tallest of which is 94-foot Ganoga…

Here’s how to get the best of fall at Devil’s Lake, per Jim Carter, the park’s superintendent. CAMP Midweek is ideal for the most privacy in the park’s multiple campgrounds, including Northern Lights, which has 71 sites and the most varied terrain. LEAF PEEP Peak foliage varies yearly but is generally late September to early October when the sugar maples and oaks change their colors. Check out the easy Tumbled Rocks Trail, a flat, paved 1.3-mile out-and-back path for a roughly two-hour trip with gorgeous views. KAYAK See the park from the water, which is less busy than the trails in the fall. Rentals are available on-site, or bring your own. GO-TO SPOT: EAST BLUFF TRAIL Some say if you’ve only got time to hike one trail, consider this moderate one leading through…

1 BEST EATS My favorite is Mrs. Yoder’s Kitchen in Mount Hope, where you’ll find standard Amish fare on the buffet along with a revolving line of nontraditional items like chicken enchiladas and BBQ spareribs straight from the recipe file of Mrs. Yoder herself. mrsyoderskitchen.com 2 BASKET-MAKING Take a group basket-making lesson with Amish basket-maker Anna Petersheim at her shop in the countryside north of Mount Hope. You’ll put together a breadbasket to take home with you. Make arrangements with Anna or to get more information, send an email to atasteofthebackroads@gmail.com. 3 CULTURAL HERITAGE Visit the Amish-Mennonite Heritage Center, which contains Behalt, a vibrantly colored 265-foot-long mural-in-the-round depicting the history of the Amish and Mennonites from their beginnings in the 16th century. 4 BAKED GOODNESS Amish folks definitely have a…

WHAT BEGAN AS A VISION from the late Senator John Glenn is now our nation’s first and only memorial dedicated to telling the individual stories and experiences of veterans and their families throughout our history. This isn’t a war museum—the National Veterans Memorial and Museum in Columbus, Ohio, offers visitors an interactive experience with exhibits and multimedia presentations that highlight the intimate memories, personal belongings, letters and narrative journeys of those who served our country in all military branches. Internationally acclaimed for its innovative design, the museum houses 14 alcoves that depict key themes and moments in veterans’ journeys. The spiraling walkways culminate in a colorful Remembrance Gallery featuring a floor-to-ceiling stained glass installation inspired by military campaign ribbons. Outside, the Memorial Grove is a peaceful place to reflect on…

WAVE ORGAN SAN FRANCISCO, CA Listen closely at high tide for a liquid symphony of rumbles, gurgles and sloshings at the Wave Organ, a quirky acoustic sculpture conceived by artist Peter Richards and installed in collaboration with stonemason George Gonzalez in 1986. Rest on a bench while enjoying a view of the San Francisco skyline and the Golden Gate Bridge as pitched tones are created by the impact of waves moving in and out of the pipes. exploratorium.edu/visit/wave-organ…

PENNSYLVANIA This year’s 5-acre corn maze extravaganza at Cherry Crest Adventure Farm in Ronks is designed by a former Disney Broadway producer and celebrates the beauty of America’s national parks. Get a game board and navigate the interactive 2½ miles of pathways at your own pace to solve clues, with Maze Masters standing by to help. Color-coded Challenge Chooser levels—from easy to difficult—let you tailor the experience. Come back at night with a flashlight for the Flashlight Maze and explore in the dark. (They haven’t lost anyone yet!) cherrycrestfarm.com WISCONSIN The 15-acre corn maze at Treinen Farm Corn Maze and Pumpkin Patch in Lodi is the ultimate outdoor escape room. Get a map puzzle and navigate to seven mailboxes to find the missing pieces. For an even greater challenge, hunt…

QUARTZITE ROCKS CREATE STUNNING FORMATIONS. Formed by glacial activity during the Ice Age, the moraine-speckled and densely forested landscape of south central Wisconsin has some of the prettiest scenery in the Badger State. In this area lies Devil’s Lake State Park, the crown jewel of Wisconsin’s park system. Known as Sacred Lake by the region’s indigenous Ho-Chunk tribe, the pristine, spring-fed waters of Devil’s Lake make it a must-visit for nature lovers. With more than 29 miles of hiking trails, including a portion of the Ice Age National Scenic Trail, the state’s largest park welcomes visitors in spring, summer and fall (trails are not maintained in winter). Today, I focus on what is perhaps the most famous pathway in Wisconsin, one of just 11 National Scenic Trails in the United…

LET ME TELL YOU about the most magical small town I have ever known—New London. My parents retired to this community in central New Hampshire back in 1973. I met my wife here in 1980, and we were married a year later at the First Baptist Church. Main Street bustles with thriving shops and cafes all just a few miles from spectacular Little Sunapee Lake. You will not see many fast-food restaurants in town—the zoning is very strict. Life is simpler and down-to-earth here. There are no stoplights, and the local newspaper, The InterTown Record, may report that Mrs. Brown’s cows got loose. Every season is beautiful in New London, but fall is spectacular. Leaf peepers, there’s no better place to observe this seasonal phenomenon. People in New London are…

I GREW UP IN ONE OF the most breathtakingly beautiful parts of Ohio, a region filled with picture-perfect farms with windmills, red barns, and running horses in a hilly landscape polka-dotted with pastures and forests. In autumn, eye-popping fall foliage makes the scenery resplendent with vibrant colors, but no matter the season, beauty abounds here. There are also many horse-drawn buggies filled with bearded and bonneted passengers traversing this region. The reason for that? What I’m describing is the largest Amish community in the world. In east central Ohio, principally Holmes and Wayne counties, more than 30,000 Amish people reside in close proximity, living harmoniously with each other and their “English” neighbors (that’s the word they use to describe folks like us). As a child, I visited this area frequently,…

In the state of Hawaii on the island of Kauai, the Pihea trailhead is in Kokee State Park at the Puu O Kila Lookout. This lookout is literally the end of the highway. Everyone who arrives here must turn around and go back the way they came. Many non-hikers were admiring the amazing view of the famed Kalalau Valley. But our family of six had come there to hike the challenging Pihea Trail, a roughly 8-mile out-and-back journey. We had read trail reviews warning of narrow boardwalks through swamps, quick elevation changes, and treacherous footing in wet conditions. Before the hike we donned old shoes because this trail was also designated as “one of the muddiest trails on the island”—although we hadn’t seen many signs of wetness. But whether one…