Nothing says fall has officially arrived like a trip through a corn field, a ride on a hay wagon and picking a big orange pumpkin right from the patch.
I have been waiting for a chance to get over to Cave Springs to explore the Ozark Corn Maze with its variety of such activities since my youngest grandson celebrated his birthday with a group of friends there a few weeks ago. The place sounded like fun for kids of all ages and, being a country girl at heart, I couldn’t wait to check itout for myself. So, just as soon as the time was right I headed that direction.
By “right” I mean that the weather needed to cool off - and thankfully it has - and most importantly, I also had to find a time when someone could go with me.
Let’s face it. Some people have built-in GPS capabilities and others of us have “directional dyslexia,” Over the years it has become very evident that I belong in the second category. We Category 2 people encounter “mazes” just about every day. Whether in a large building with many hallways or in a city with many streets, it only takes about three turns to make me lose all sense of which way I should be heading. Then, getting back to where I started is sometimes accomplished by the process of elimination and sheer determination. I just don’t give up until I get where I am going.
I don’t know if a sense of direction is something people are born with or without, but in my case I like to blame it on “birth order.” When you are the fifth child out of a family of six, as I am, your early years are spent, not developing the ability to find your own way around, but simply following the person in front of you wherever you go.
So, I think you can see why I didn’t want go to the maze by myself. I am just a little leery of wandering around alone in a place that is all about making it easy to get lost. It would be rather embarrassing to have to ask a 6-year-old to help me find my way out.
So, my husband (conveniently a built-in-GPS kind of guy) agreed to tag along. We picked a nice cool evening and headed out. Cave Springs is a short, easy drive and the attraction is right on Highway 112 near the golf course.
The map that comes with admission - helpful for folks like me - shows that the corn maze is actually a large razorback hog design measuring over 630 feet from nose to tail. The well-worn paths throughout indicate that many visitors have already enjoyed the thrill of sorting out the 10,000 feet of twists and turns among the high corn stalks while searching for the right path leading to the exit. In addition to the maze, there are enough other fun, farm and family oriented activities to keep visitors busy for a while.
We watched parents and grandparents as they posed their little ones on an old tractor sitting near the corn patch, and some were so cute I couldn’t resist snapping a few pictures myself.
For kids - and “kids at heart,” as we observed - a cow train offers rides around the field, and there is a petting zoo with a few baby farm animals. A corn cannon and a snack shack (in addition to the hay ride and pumpkin patch previously mentioned) are also part of the on-site activities.
The folks running the place were very friendly and seem to be doing their best to see that everyone has a good time. It all made for a nice, entertaining outing in the Ozark autumn air.
And, “a-MAZE-ingly” enough, although it took me a while, I found my way out of the corn field with only minimal assistance.
For hours of operation, admission prices and other information, read more at www.ozarkcornmaze.com.
Annette Rowe is a freelance writer and a speech-language pathologist at Siloam Springs High School. She may be reached by email at awalkinthepark50 @ yahoo.com.
Opinion, Pages 6 on 10/06/2010