If you’re still wondering how to fill up your fall calendar this year, take a look no further than the local events happening all around you! A lot of our lifelong memories are born out of this time of the year. From decorating your lawn and house to hayrides, pumpkin picking or even haunted houses—you name it, this is the season where it all begins.
To kick off the event-filled season, I participated in a local corn maze in Hagerstown, Maryland twice over the weekend, both in the afternoon and at night. Spread out on an 8-acre property at the Celebration Farm, groups—or individuals, depending on how brave you are—get lost in one of three mazes with different levels of difficulty.
When you first arrive, you receive a paper map detailing the expansive area of coverage you’re about to walk and get lost in. Within each maze, participants seek out checkpoints in which they are able to hole punch a marker of accomplishment onto their map, getting a better sense of where they are and how they can try to get out.
For my first round, along with a group, I traveled through the easiest of the mazes to get my feet wet during my afternoon trial. Though the weather was starting to cool, I quickly began to feel hot as the exhilarating yet scary pressure of adrenaline filled me and we found ourselves deeper and deeper in the maze.
Naturally, we found ourselves a bit lost, appearing much like the cliched comedy of people turning around and bumping into each other as we tried to figure a way out without leaving out the way we came.
When you go with a group of people, you start to notice the manner in which your personalities begin to shift when placed in actual problem-solving situations. Long gone are hypotheticals and guessing games as to how things are going to play out; this was fierce and live.
One friend took the role of the leader, taking the map into their hands and becoming the self-proclaimed guide to getting everyone out. Others like myself, hung out towards the back, intent on getting an overarching feel of the maze while also secretly enthralling themselves in the idea of not-so accidentally becoming lost.
Either way, group events like corn mazes are a great way to get involved and have a ton of fun during the fall season. Be it something simple like a costume party or theme-related activity such as pumpkin bowling (it’s actually a thing!), enjoying this holiday season is a great opportunity to connect with those you care about and have a blast while doing it.