Great Jack O' Lantern Blaze

Last night I went with a group of friends, some newly made, to Van Cortlandt Manor. Before heading to the spectacle, we had dinner at Umami Cafe in Croton-on-Hudson. The place was busy, the food was reasonable and excellent, and our host was a Civil War reenactor to boot! I got some fun tidbits about the local history from him while waiting for friends.

We headed two minutes down the road to the Blaze. It was quite a production, to say the least. I believe the site has over 6,000 carved pumpkins now. The turnout was impressive as well. It's definitely merchandise-heavy (cafe tent, gift shop with tons of plastic toys for the kids and pumpkin themed food items, postcards and mugs) but I really like the fact that the proceeds support Historic Hudson Valley. This is entertainment that won't rot your brain. Some of my favorite displays:


The Halve Maen


The Headless Horseman's road


Dinosaurs!


Kitties