Sunflower fields have always been magical and almost imaginary places to me, like unicorns! I've never been, but images on Pinterest have made it seem so impossibly beautiful. That's why prancing through a sunflower field has been on my adventure list for quite a while. I never knew quite where to find one. Do you have to cross over into an alternate universe or visit another planet?? It's not like I see them while driving my daily commute.
Then one day, I saw a post on Instagram. ONE POST! The poster was at what looked like an amazing sunflower field. I immediately inquired the location, looked it up and planned to go the next weekend. I couldn't wait!
On the next Sunday, the magical day had finally come. Ray and I buckled up and headed to Happy Days Farm from his house in Mansfield, NJ. It only took 30 min to get there!
When we arrived, we we're extremely surprised to see a busy area and large crowd. Tons of cars lined the entrance and folks walked out with huge sunflowers in their arms. Although I wanted this to be a more personal experience, I still couldn't help but speed walk up, singing Spongebob's classic, "I'M READY! I'M READY!" as we made our way up to the sunflower area.
We approached the magical sunflower fields and we're surprised to see a ton of other attractions. The farm also has blueberry fields, a pumpkin patch, corn maze and tons of other fall fair activities. It was really poppin'!
Signs and directions were not very clear, but we overheard that we had to pay $14 each for a festival wristband and then $1 for each sunflower we pick.
Once we had paid the proper people, we excitedly walked into the sunflower fields. Upon entering, I realized that it was more beautiful than I ever thought possible. Although, there were tons of people, Ray and I were able to find a secluded area to explore.
We pranced, we frolicked, we smiled, we laughed. It was pretty dang cool to be completely surrounded by such beautiful things. Then, we looked for the perfect sunflowers. Ray and I decided to make flavored sunflower seeds so we picked the biggest, fullest flowers we could find and cut them down.
PRO TIP: bring your own knife or sheers, they do not provide them. Also, BEWARE of bees! They are everywhere, but they are too busy pollinating to bother you. If you are allergic, I would caution.
After we got our fill of the sunflower fields, Ray and I decided to explore the corn maze. They were laid out nicely so we were able to find our way out after about 45 mins. It was a really cool experience because the corn stalks were so tall!
The Happy Days Farm sunflower experience was far from ordinary and fulfilled my wildest dreams! I'm not sure how it's possible for a single place to make someone feel so happy! Although, we picked some awesome flowers, we later found out that to harvest seeds you need far older plants. OH WELL! They were still great eye candy.
The fact that I was able to check this off my adventure list because of one post I saw, makes me really happy! That's why I post and share my adventures with you. If you happen to stumble upon something here that you've always wanted to do, and are now able to do it; this blog has served it's purpose! YAY! I hope you find your perfect adventure.
Exact location: 77 Iron Ore Rd, Manalapan Township, NJ 07726
Website: http://happydayfarmnj.com/
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