Fall Things To Do As We Countdown To Halloween Day 213

Halloween Fun, Pumpkin Patch, Festivals, and Oktoberfest

As promised here is some information about a wonderful pumpkin patch located in Atkins, Iowa.  It has 15 acres of pick-your-own pumpkins.  As we countdown to Halloween day 213 fall things to do I hope you plan your September and October fun.  Check out the Bloomsbury Farm video below.

Fun At Bloomsbury Farm
Karen and Dave Petersen, owners, have created a fun experience for family entertainment at Bloomsbury Farm.  The farm operates two corn mazes, a 15 acre pumpkin patch, farm  entertainment, and a 3,000 acre working farm of soybeans and corn.  They are open for visitors every day in September and October.  Enjoy the mazes, paintball course, zip line, hayrack rides, pumpkin patch, pumpkin cannons, and a learning barn.  At Halloween they even run a Screaming Acres nighttime haunted corn maze.  This is a great farm for group events including weddings, birthday parties, church and school outings, bonfires, and corporate events.  Seems like there is always something going on.  If you are anywhere near Atkins, Iowa this fall be sure to stop in.

Okinawan Festival in Hawaii
The best time to visit Hawaii may be during the Okinawan Festival which runs Labor Day weekend.  More than 50,000 visitors partake in the annual celebration.  September is a great time to visit the islands as tourist traffic is usually lighter.  Every weekend in September there is some type of Aloha Festival or Aloha Floral parade going on.

Popular Oktoberfest Hall in Maryland Closes
The Bavarian beer and dance hall, Blob’s Park, has permanently closed after 81 years.  A family tradition in Jessup, Maryland the hall was well know for wedding events, birthday parties, and events.  Each fall it hosted many an Oktoberfest celebration.  It will be missed.

OnezumiVerse.com announces 2013 Haunt Award
Oni Hartstein, a popular blogger, artist and cartoonist has posted her 2013 OniHaunts Haunted Attraction (and Dark Rides) Awards.  OnezumiVerse is one of the leading haunted house review and theme park review sites on the web.  The National Treasure Award went to Trimper’s Haunted House.  Other haunts such as Headless Horseman, Hotel of Horrors, Dorney Park’s Haunt’s Mansion, and Pennhurst Asylum also received category awards.  She inducted Don Johns of the Haunted Schoolhouse and Lab in Akron, Ohio into the Hall of Fame.  Mr. Johns passed away this year.  A link to OnezumiVerse can be found on the Funtober Favorite web page.

World’s Largest Corn Maze Run
Richardson Adventure Farm in Spring Grove, Illinois will host the World’s Largest Corn Maze Run.  A timed 5k run or walk through an amazing corn maze.  The run is scheduled for October 19, 2014 and begins at 8:30 a.m. for adults and 8:25 for kids.

Fall Prison Tours Gain in Popularity
While researching our countdown to Halloween I ran across the blog Moms Need to Know.  Surprising, Mindi Cherry posted Visiting America’s Most Notorious Historical Prisons – Travel Idea.  I had noticed earlier a report that the Missouri State Penitentiary was reopening their guided tours.  So Mindi’s post peaked my interest.  Appears that Sing Sing in New York, Eastern State in Pennsylvania, Alcatraz in San Francisco Bay, and Ohio State Reformatory in Mansfield are all closed prisons with active tours.  Alcatraz gets more than a million visitors a year.  You can add the Old Idaho Penitentiary and West Virginia Penitentiary to this list.  I have toured Eastern State and found it amazing.  All have housed famous criminals and most have been part of movie films such as Shawshank Redemption and The Rock.