Yesterday the family and I trekked into the hills and farmlands of New York's Southern Tier to visit a place called
Pumpkinville, an annual event for us. Pumpkinville is pretty much just what it sounds like: a small roadside tourist attraction devoted to, well, pumpkins. Lots and lots and lots of pumpkins. Not only do they have thousands of them nicely lined up by size in one spot, but if the pre-chosen ones aren't to your liking, you can actually wander out into the pumpkin patch itself to grab one. And there are farm animals to pet and feed, pony rides, crafts, apples by the bushel, a shed in which maple products are sold (New York being the country's largest producer of maple syrup), pumpkin-flavored ice cream, and the obligatory hay rides (although the hay ride now involves no hay, the bales in the wagon behind the tractor having been replaced by wooden benches). A good time was had by all, especially since the autumnal turning of the leaves seems to be at peak in the Southern Tier.
Then we proceeded to the town of
Ellicottville, which hosted its Fall Festival this weekend. This is your basic street festival, with food and crafts and all manner of other stuff going on. Ellicottville is Western New York's largest skiing town; it's home to several of the area's largest ski resorts and has a real upscale, Aspen-like air about it. Thousands of people converge on this little town each year -- on the way out, we sped past traffic literally backed up seven miles on US 219 -- for this Festival. Ellicottville itself caters to a very wide area; wealthy people from Canada even travel there during the winter weekends.
Here is what the hills and ski slopes in that part of New York look like:
This photo is a couple of years old; there was no snow yesterday. Here's an even better view, from up on one the ski slopes themselves:
Is it any wonder that October is my favorite month?
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