It's pumpkin spice season! Okay, I know a lot of us don't gauge the year in seasonal coffee drinks. It's fall, when the leaves turn, and the weather turns crisp, and we wear a jacket in the morning, and bring out our boots. If you're an autumn traveler like we are, it's a great time to do all the fun fall things before Halloween comes and some of these things go away.
Not only is it cheaper to travel in the fall, but there are fewer tourists everywhere and the shorter hours is actually made up for with shorter lines. This means you can sleep in a bit and also have early evenings if you want. Want to make the most out of your fall? Then here are some fun ways to celebrate the season and Halloween.
Corn maze
I look forward to the corn mazes all year long. It's so fun to go out and spend an afternoon on local farms and get lost in a maze of maize! We pack up the car with a change of clothes (and sometimes the dog) and hope there's no mud where we will have to use those extra clothes and shoes and towels, but if we do, we're prepared. The mazes test our ability to read a map or our trivia knowledge.
While other families split up and race each other through the maze, we view it as a fun family outing and the three of us go together. Sometimes we just let the dog go and pick our course and sometimes we use whatever clues they give us at the beginning. After we emerge from the corn, we make a trip to the gift shop, grab something warm to eat and drink and then head home. There are always great photo ops.
Pumpkin harvest
If you find a corn maze, it's not unusual for there to be pumpkin harvest festivities going on nearby. Kids love to run and pick out the pumpkin they will use for their jack-o-lantern at home and also enjoy running and around and climbing on things. We have farms that feature hay bale pyramids and tours on a farm train. Usually these days out are fairly affordable and you can even sign up to receive coupons when the celebration starts.
Farmers' market
This is similar to you-pick farms, except you can just go with your list and have fun finding them at the different stalls. Another plus to the markets is that you are getting affordable local foods and you can usually pick up lunch from any number of food merchants there, too. Our market up the street is a great place to get everything from crepes to tamales. When you're traveling, it's a perfect way to stock your fridge with healthy options for snacks and side dishes.
Fruit picking
I love fresh fruits and vegetables. I also love to visit local farms. I'm always amazed by what people can grow. I have my own garden, but it's not big and awesome, so I like to get ideas on how to make it better. Many of these farms let you go pick your own fresh produce. You pay by the pound and often they have a store where they sell jams, sauces, and other things they make on-site. These make great gifts and souvenirs as well.
Wine and beer festivals
Right after the grape and wheat harvests come the festivals! Food, wine, beer, you name it. Fall has tons of wine and beer celebrations everywhere they serve such things. Find new favorites when you can sample all the local (and some not-so-local) varietals and brews. Most of these fests require you to buy a glass for your samples, so you already have a built-in souvenir, too!
Head Underground
Lots of weird stuff happens underground. Here are some I enjoyed:
And if you're looking for something interesting, but not scary (unless possibly seeing a rat or a bug scares you), the Paris Sewer Museum is a cool underground self-guided tour that's only 9 euros, and I promise there are no skeletons.
We lucked into a tour of the Sacramento Underground when we were visiting the Sacramento History Museum in July. The underground is where the original street level used to be until they had to raise the roads and buildings due to floods.
If you want an off-the-beaten-path visit to London, take the Tube to Orpington to visit Chislehurst Caves, a former fall-out shelter for the war, but after that a place where bands would play some fantastic concerts for smallish groups of fans. The caves were chalk mines and mined for bricks used for buildings in the city and have even been used for TV and movie sets, like Dr. Who in the 60s.
Go to a theme park
Most theme parks have a Halloween celebration of some sort. Here are the top ones, including how to save on admission if there's a way to:- Mickey's Not-So-Scary Halloween Party. Many park days at the Magic Kingdom and Disneyland in Sept-Nov are cut short for this party that requires a special ticket to get in. From 7pm to midnight, many of the park guests come dressed in costume to enjoy 5 hours of trick-or-treating, dancing, nighttime thrill rides (only specific rides will be open during that time, not the whole park), Hall-o-wishes fireworks display, an all-villain musical show in front of the castle, villain meet and greets, amazing park decorations and, best of all, a special parade opened with the Headless Horseman on horseback. It’s all totally Disney and so out of their normal festivities that it’s worth putting off your vacation until that time of year.
- Knott's presents Knott's Scary Farm. Save significantly on your tickets by buying them online instead of at the gate.
- Universal puts on Halloween Horror Nights. While ticket prices don't waver, you're sure to get your money's worth while riding select rides and being scared out of your wits with roaming creeps, themed haunted houses and scare zones. It's like being in your very own horror movie.
- Busch Gardens in Tampa and Williamsburg offer up Howl-o-Scream. Much like Universal, they have scare zones, haunted houses and themed entertainment. You can't get cheaper tickets for this event either, but it'll scare your pants off, which you maybe can't put a price on.
- Legoland has spooky fun for the little ones with Brick-or-Treat. It includes trick or treating and the opportunity to dress-up and enjoy the park after it closes for the regular day. Tickets are separate from the main park admission, but totally fun!
We were just in Tennessee and Dollywood had Harvest Festival, which had real pumpkins grown by local farmers, meet and greets with their pumpkin guy Harvey, autumn decor, and cool harvest vignettes.
Eat in cool places
In Portland, we have a place called Chapel Pub that used to be a funeral home. That can be interesting for a meal and drink. In Denver, we at at a restaurant called Linger Eatuary, which was a former mortuary and still has some of the original furniture. Find other haunted restaurants and horror-themed restaurants for your next trip.
Doing a little bit of research before traveling, or even when you're at home, can get you to some really cool seasonal activities.
What are some of your favorite fall activities or places to travel during spooky season?
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