It’s fall! The weather may not agree just yet, but as of Sept. 22, the northern hemisphere has officially entered into autumn. It’s the season of cozy sweaters, scary movies, apple picking and pumpkin-flavored everything. But where to begin?
The corn maze is an ideal fall activity. Places like Fender’s Farm in Jonesborough and Stickley Farm in Bluff City offer a stroll through their corn mazes, yes—but there’s something for everyone to enjoy. Through the month of October, get lost in the haunted mazes at night, or even pick your very own pumpkin from a pumpkin patch.
Now that you have your pumpkin, what should you do with it? Pumpkin decorating parties are a great way to get all your friends in the spirit for Halloween. Pick up a carving kit or two from any grocery store, spread newspapers on the floor and get to carving! If you don’t have a porch, painted or bejeweled pumpkins make for festive indoor decoration—and you get to skip the pumpkin gut clean-up.
If you do carve the pumpkins and wind up with a mess of orange entrails covering your living room, worry not and waste not. It doesn’t take a fairy godmother to transform a pumpkin into something magical. Roasted pumpkin seeds are a tasty, easy to make snack. The insides themselves can be pureed and added to many recipes: pumpkin bread, pumpkin risotto, pumpkin oatmeal or even a homemade pumpkin spice latte.
You’ve gorged yourself on pumpkin, so now it’s time to settle in for a scary movie. Nothing helps digestion like horror. There’s plenty of choices on streaming platforms, but if you feel like leaving home, check out Real to Reel Theater’s Friday Fright Nights. Every Friday in October, the theater will show a different classic horror double feature for just $3 per movie.
The leaves will start changing soon, and before you know it, fall break will be upon us. What will you do to celebrate the seasons changing?
