The Great Jack O'Lantern Blaze 2017

 

As I'm sure you can tell from this blog, this is my favorite time of year. I love everything from the falling leaves, lots of coffee, scarves, and pumpkins....I really love pumpkins. Over the years, I've visited the Historic Hudson Valley Blaze many times. Every year is somehow more magical, and this year will go down as one of my favorites as we got to be part of the jack o'lantern lighting team this past weekend. It was an honor to be a part of the lighting team and I am so grateful for the experience.

 

As expected, I took a lot of photos, so I will let them show you the story of our evening with the pumpkins.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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Another visit to the Cornish Estate

You may remember my previous visit to the Cornish Estate from my previous posts. It has been a year since we visited, and this is one of those places that calls me back. So we decided it was time for a road trip and a hike to a favorite forgotten spot.

We hiked up to the house, and it was just as I remembered….amazing. 

The stack of fireplaces balancing in the center of the structure still capture my immediate attention, however it is the giant arched window that is my most favorite spot here. Imagine how beautiful that giant window must have been. Imagine the light coming through it, watching the sun set or snowflakes gently falling. 

I love seeing the tiles that remain on the fireplaces. While time has not been kind to this building those last few tiles remain…a reminder of the beautiful details this house once possessed.

It's impossible to stand in the middle of the remains of this house and not try to picture what it must have looked like…so many fireplaces, so many fabulous windows, and so much space. 

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Halloween Tradition...visiting The Blaze

For months, I wait for this night....to wander through this magical world of beautifully carved pumpkins....The Great Jack O'Lantern Blaze. There are more carved pumpkins than you could ever imagine with carvings so detailed and elaborate it's like escaping into a fairy tale world. I wait for this night, count down the days, and hold my breath as I cross under that amazing lit arch above, into the world of The Blaze.

If you haven't been yet, get tickets now! Trust me, just go.

If you have tickets to go soon, don't worry, this is just a small glimpse into The Blaze. There is so much to see, this blog post would be 100's of photos if I included everything. There are many returning favorite carvings from past years, and many new amazing carvings.

A cake make out of pumpkins...the most perfect way to celebrate 10 years of The Blaze! I have visited several times over the past ten years, and will visit many more times over the next ten.

The scarecrows and the skeleton hands are among my favorite carvings (although I think I have referred to every carving as my favorite, but  really, they are all my favorites). 

The headless horseman...pure awesomeness. The Legend of Sleepy Hollow has always been among my favorites. Growing up in the Historic Hudson Valley, we visited Washing Irving's home, spent time at the Old Dutch Church and knew Sleepy Hollow is one of the coolest Halloween towns (what other town has a legend like this?). I love this carving and think it is the perfect addition. 

In a few weeks, after the last night of this year's Blaze, I will post even more photos. 

Check back soon!

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More favorites from the Cornish Estate

I keep looking through the photos from our visit to the Cornish Estate remains and it seems like each photo is shouting "don't forget me," so I need to show you a bit more of this magical place. You can find my previous posts here and here and my article on Hamlet Hub.

The pool. Yes, this estate really had it all....a greenhouse, about a million fireplaces (ok, I exaggerate just a little), the longest windy driveway up the side of a mountain and even a pool. 

The remains of an iron fence against a tree.

The more we wandered, the more we interesting things we found. 

The photo above is one of my favorites from our visit. It was our first view of the tower of chimneys and I was in awe. Four chimneys stacked on top of each other. The photo below shows the other side of the tower of chimneys.

We stood in the center of the remains and felt so tiny in this giant structure. We looked up at the giant windows, the towers of chimneys and tried to imagine how beautiful this place must have been. 

To me, this place felt magical.

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