Each week we map out a road trip in the region. If you have a suggestion for a great one, e-mail roadtrip@post-gazette.com or write: RoadTrip The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette 34 Blvd. of the Allies Pittsburgh, PA 15222

We're looking further ahead than usual because this is a more distant roadtrip -- to Circleville, Ohio, just south of Columbus.

Why would anyone from Pittsburgh want to drive 3 1/2 hours to there?

How about:

Pumpkin pies.

Pumpkin doughnuts.

Pumpkin burgers.

Pumpkin pizza.

Pumpkin fudge.

Those are some of the ways they'll be celebrating the big orange fruit at this, the 100th anniversary of the Circleville Pumpkin Show, from Oct. 18-21.

The town and the festival were much smaller when the show started in 1903 (world war canceled it for a few years). The town still has only about 12,000 residents, but more than 400,000 visitors are expected to attend this year's blowout.

That fact itself is crazier than some of the events, such as Jerry Ayers' attempt that Thursday to set a world time record for carving 100 pumpkins (he already holds one for carving a ton, or 2,000 pounds, of pumpkin in 7 hours, 11 minutes).

Lindsey's Bakery will try to bake the world's largest pumpkin pie. Last year's was 6 feet in diameter and weighed 400 pounds. This year they're going for 14 feet.

There's also a pumpkin-pie-eating contest and the pumpkin toss, which may or may not happen in that order, plus parades, the Miss Pumpkin Show and more fun.

More than 100,000 pounds of pumpkins -- some of them heftier than 1,000 pounds each -- as well as squash and gourds will be displayed over the eight city blocks the festival now covers.

Growers vie for the Giant Pumpkin Champion trophy, which has been described as Circleville's Stanley Cup. The current record holder is a hometown guy who grew a 1,353-pounder. This year's whopper weigh-in is at noon on that Wednesday.

The festival claims to be Ohio's largest and oldest, the sixth-biggest in the United States and "the greatest free show on Earth."

To drive there, just head west on Interstate 70, cutting around Wheeling on I-470, and continue on to the edge of Columbus. Drop south on its I-270 beltway and then get on U.S. Route 23.

Or, if you like back roads, angle down from I-70 at Zanesville on U.S. Route 22.

You'll know when you're there.

The air will be filled with not only the smells of pumpkin cookies, taffy, cake, waffles and blossoms, but also the spectacle of Circleville's water tower, which is a pumpkin, too, complete with a stem.

Pumpkin promoters point out that while you're in the area, you could visit Wittich's (since 1840) Candy as well as Renick's (funky) Family Market and the Small (really small) Town Museum in Ashville. The museum holds the nation's oldest traffic light (and it's "worth coming 100,000 miles just to see" says a curator on its Web site ohiosmalltownmuseum.org).

Sleepover options include the looks-like-it-sounds 1898 Castle Inn B&B (www.castleinn.net or 1-800-681-3158) and nearby Deer Creek Resort & Conference Center, which also rents cottages and the Harding Cabin, once Warren G.'s presidential retreat. Nicknamed The Shack, it sleeps nine and has its own boat dock (www.visitdeercreek.com or 1-877-678-3337).

For more details on the pumpkin show, even recipes, visit www.pumpkinshow.com or call 1-888-770-7425. For more on Pickaway County attractions, including canoeing on the Scioto River, visit www.pickaway.com/visitors.html.