The Amazing Maize Maze

The day before our Sleepy Hollow adventure, my friend Jim and I joined a larger group of friends at the Queens County Farm for the Amazing Maize Maze. I've been to two corn mazes before (in Ohio), but this one was surprisingly the best out of the three. I've always said that fall is the one thing that Ohio gets right, and I was nervous that I wouldn't be satisfied with any of the city's fall offerings. Luckily, I've managed to find some real quality fall delights within or in close proximity to the city this year, so I needn't have worried.

The Queens County Farm feels like a real farm, unlike the super sad Urban Farm on Randall's Island, but it's still accessible by public transportation (take the E/F to Kew Gardens and then the Q46 bus to the Little Neck Pkwy stop). They had a pumpkin "patch" — they don't actually grow them there, but there was a very large pile you could pick from — a petting zoo, a cow-milking station (yes this is a thing apparently), hayrides and a few food booths selling cider, hot dogs and roasted corn.

The main attraction, of course, is the Maize Maze and it was a little pricey ($9) but super fun. This was the first maze I'd been to that felt totally legit — each team even got a flag just incase they needed to signal for help. There were nine mailboxes scattered throughout the maze, each containing a unique piece of a map of the whole maze. Once you collected all nine you could find your way out and consider the maze "completed." There were plenty of map pieces in each mailbox that we came across, and even tape at each one to affix it to our map. I'm always appreciative of well-run events, and after we had completed it I definitely felt as if it had been worth the price of admission.

At the "finish line" you climb a few steps to an elevated bridge, where you an look out over the entire maze, which was a really cool touch. It was challenging enough to be fun, but not so hard that we got frustrated or annoyed. I could have done without the loudspeakers, where farm employees shouted out poll questions (What's your favorite Halloween candy?) that were pretty irrelevant and a tad distracting. I didn't mind when they used the speakers to play music, however, especially when parts of the Nightmare Before Christmas soundtrack started playing.

I was also annoyed they didn't have apple cider donuts, but the tiny jugs of cider were delicious, as was the roasted corn-on-the-cob I smothered in parmesan cheese and garlic salt (a revelation!) and devoured.

However, once Jim and I had the idea of donuts planted in our head, we couldn't really declare the day a success until we tracked some down. He had never been to Doughnut Plant before, and when a quick search brought up that they had apple cinnamon (and pumpkin!) donuts, we headed there after we left the farm. I wasn't incredibly impressed by my first Doughnut Plant experience earlier this year, but I have to say that the apple cinnamon yeast donut completely changed my mind. It was easily the best donut I've ever had — chewy and fluffy, with just the right amount of cinnamon and a delicious apple glaze with shreds of real apple in it. It was the perfect end to our day of fall delights, and although the Amazing Maize Maze has probably been turned into animal food by now, it's never too early to start planning a trip for next year.