Carpinito Brothers
Many of the courses on my website are either golf or disc golf. That’s not all there is in the world of courses, though. The fun part of writing this blog is finding the niche activities. Here is one that most people have probably done, but few would think to include. It’s the good, old-fashioned corn maze.
The one in particular that I chose is Carpinito’s in Kent. Carpinito Brothers is a family-owned farm in Washington, growing mostly vegetables. They also have an open-air market where they sell produce from around the state, including their own. Furthermore, in Autumn they host a big corn maze for the public.
The Carpinito Corn Maze is no mere corn maze. In the Springtime a GPS driven tractor plants seeds in a predetermined pattern, so that when the corn grows, a maze is embedded. The maze is sprawling and intricate. The year we went, the theme was aliens. If one flew a plane overhead, they would see one field in the shape of two aliens. Another field was designed as a flying saucer abducting a cow. Some say the corn maze itself is created by aliens, but I think even they couldn’t pull this off.
Corn and pumpkins
Going to the Carpinito Corn Maze isn’t a simple walk in the park. They hand out maps, and the goal is to find all the checkpoints. Once all these are discovered, it’s time to find the exit. Have no fear, this is not a haunted maze. No college students in ghost costumes will jump out and spook you.
We challenged ourselves for a bit by walking around without following the map. This didn’t end well, as we found ourselves going around in circles. So, we pulled the map out and systematically marched from checkpoint to checkpoint. We still missed a few turns but made it out in decent time.
Carpinito Brothers also runs a pumpkin patch. There’s no game aspect to pumpkin patches, but they do make good rambling zones. Like any pumpkin patch worth its salt, Carpinito Brothers shows off its biggest pumpkins. When we went, they had three giants on display. I think the aliens would be impressed by the pumpkins in addition to the corn maze.
