I can go on and on about how much I love fall! With the pandemic, I thought that I would have to sit this year’s autumn out (or rather in — the house!). We have been sheltering in place since March 17. Mr Sweetie and I have been very diligent in not making any unnecessary, non-essential trips apart from work and grocery shopping. It was finally starting to take a toll on me. I started to feel that I need air like fish needs water. I needed to get out!
We finally made our first out of town trip in over 6 months. We took a drive to Half Moon Bay which is a charming city on the California coast, south of San Francisco. It is most known for its Pumpkin Festival in October. After Halloween, people travel to cut Christmas trees in its numerous Christmas tree farms. HMB has lots of beaches, cozy coastal towns and produce farms. This city is postcard perfect in the fall and definitely the destination for pumpkin patches.
People flock to the yearly Art and Pumpkin Festival every October to watch ginormous pumpkins weighing a ton tip the scales! ( Not surprisingly, the event this year is cancelled due to the pandemic.) However, it is live streamed according to the event’s website if you want to watch the live weigh-off of giant gourds!
It is not even the day of the festival but what would have normally been a 42 minute drive from our house took us 2 hours! As things are starting to open up in the Bay Area, people had the same idea as us to do an out of town trip to HMB Iast Saturday. It was worth the excrutiating drive as we drove along the breathtaking coast and by the shady groves.
We had delicious seafood dinner (more on that later) and on our way home, we made a stop at one of the pumpkin patches that advertised 300 lb pumpkin. (I did not get the name of the farm.) It was empty as it was late in the afternoon. I was ecstatic I had the pumpkin patch to myself. Mr Sweetie bought me sunflowers and a giant pumpkin that is now sitting on our patio while I bought four medium-sized ones. We also got a pumpkin pie and a bunch of little treats.
I was feeling a little sad thinking that I would not be able to visit a pumpkin patch this year. I am so happy that I got to go! In this pandemic, I am grateful for simple joys like a beautiful autumn day among the pumpkins.
Leah's Cozy Notebook 
I love fall too! And I miss our annual trip to the patch. We have been to the one of the patches in HMB (there are several!) and I agree the traffic can be crazy but SO worth it. And I never knew about the giant pumpkin weigh-in, so I’ll check that out next year!
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Hi, There is still time! The pumpkin patches at HMB are open. Safety-wise, I felt very safe and comfortable as the fields are so open. It would be hard to bump into people, at least when I was there. I recommend leaving early to beat the traffic. 🙂 By the way your blog is so cozy! I love Halloween and fall but the Bay Area weather is not cooperating with another heat wave this week! 🙂
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Wow! Half Moon Bay sounds like a cool place to visit especially with all the fall colors everywhere! I love your pictures, and I was admiring the pumpkins. The 300-pound pumpkin is massive! It certainly looks like it brings great joy to everyone who sees it! It’s also lovely to hear that you had a wonderful time at the pumpkin patch 🙂
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Thank you. We do not have a “true” fall in California as compared to the East Coast. However, we still have some of the fall colors although not as vibrant. And it is still fall feels. When I was in Hawaii last October, it felt so out of place that they had Halloween and fall display in totally tropical weather and temperature! 🙂 Is there fall/winter in Singapore? 🙂
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Astounding pumpkin! Thanks for sharing.
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Love this season!
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Fall is my most favorite season of all! Next comes spring then winter. I do not like summer! Too hot! Ha! Ha! 🙂
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