5 Great Ways to Celebrate Fall
Autumn in New England. It isn't just foliage that is at its peak. Warm days and crisp nights makethis season perfect for enjoying everything the Mount Washington Valley has to offer, and there's plenty.
pick an apple
Fall is the harvest season and the easiest way to take part in that harvest if you are not a farmer is to go apple picking with your family. There are several orchards in the region that offer pick-your-own apples, some with picnicking areas onsite so you can make a day of it.
Right in Conway, Hatches Orchard is a small mom-and-pop business that offers pick-your-own apples throughout September and October on weekends and holidays. Midweek is also possible by appointment. Hatches practices low spraying and the grass is mown and trees pruned for easy access to picking. Bring a picnic lunch, and don't forget your camera.
Hatches Orchard is located at 1440 Brownfield Road in Center Conway. For more information, call Elaine Hatch at (603) 447-5687 or email e.hatch@yahoo.com.
get lost on a farm
Now I'm the sort of person who could get lost anywhere, but if that doesn't come naturally for you, the local Sherman Farm in East Conway provides a maze that should help. The Maize, as it is called is grown from corn each year planted in a pattern that creates an artistic design visible from the air. Past designs have celebrated dinosaurs, charitable organizations, Tom Brady, Alice in Wonderland and, of course, farming. Games and clues are offered throughout the maze to help you figure out where to turn.
The Maize is the centerpiece of the Sherman Farm's harvest festival activities, which also include farm animals, a kids play area, games and rides — the Moo Express, the Grain Train, hayrides to the pumpkin patch, a jumping pillow and corn cannons — as well as some great food — kettle corn, ice cream and cider doughnuts.
The Maize is open weekends Sept. 23-Oct 29, 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. Sherman Farm is a working farm with a fully enclosed year-round farm stand (really a farm store), producing its own milk and vegetables and selling products from other farms, too. If you are living locally, consider a farm share. You'll get your money's worth.
Sherman Farm is located at 2679 East Conway Road in Center Conway. Call (603) 939-2412 or go to shermanfarmnh.com for more information.
go to the dogs
The Conway Area Humane Society celebrates its annual “Bark in the Park” festival on Saturday, Sept. 23, from 9 a.m.-3 p.m. at Schouler Park in North Conway Village. The day-long celebration of our K-9 friends features a group Walk for the Animals (usually through the village and in Whitaker Woods), vendors of products for dogs and their owners, including arts and crafts, an agility course and games for dogs, contests, yoga with your dog and K-9 demonstrations.
There will also be live music and food trucks at this event. Dogs are definitely welcome here!
Bark in the Park is a fundraising event for the Conway Area Humane Society, the local society that rescues and finds homes for dogs and cats.
For more information, go to conwayhumane.org.
take in the pumpkin art
Yes, pumpkins. Throughout October, the communities of the Mount Washington Valley celebrate the Return of the Pumpkin People. Started in Jackson in the 1980s, the contest and driving tour invites individuals and businesses to create whimsical displays inspired by art, music, movies, folktales or their own imagination. Van Gogh has been pumpkined, as have the Beetles crossing Abby Road, Gru and the Minions, King Kong and Gulliver. What will this year's displays bring? Take the tour and find out.
It's the perfect day trip, motoring around Jackson taking in these surprising sights and enjoying the foliage, consider taking a break from the tour, picking up lunch at J-Town Deli (174 Main Street) or coffee and dessert at Autumn Nomad (18 Black Mountain Road), behind the post office, and heading up Carter Notch Road a short to Jackson Falls to enjoy the cascades. Parking is right beside the falls and a short walk along the river will reward you with more views.
To take the Jackson Pumpkin People tour, download a map from the Jackson Area Chamber of Commerce at jacksonnh.com or pick one up at participating businesses.
go to the beer garden
After all this fun, you might need to slow down, relax and recharge. What better place to do that than a beer garden or festival?
Beer festivals have become more popular around New England in recent years with the rise of microbreweries, but the valley has a longer history, having held traditional German-style Oktoberfest celebrations for decades.
This year, Tuckerman Brewing Company in Conway is holding its fall festival on Oct. 14. Tuckerman has a wide lawn in front of the brewery where it hosts food trucks and presents live music most weekends during the summer and fall. On Oct. 14, it widens that weekly celebration with traditional Oktoberfest events including a keg toss, stein hoist and axe throwing. There will also be a fall beer release of a limited-run Vienna lager. Music that day, 3-6 p.m. features The Lazy River Riders. No oompah band for this event. The Lazy River Riders play rock, pop, blues and country.
Tuckerman Brewing also takes its beer garden on the road with popup beer gardens at Settlers Green in North Conway on select weekends this fall coinciding with other events at the outlet shopping village — the Busker Festival Oct. 8-9, and Bring a Friend Shopping Days Nov. 12. For more information, go to tuckermanbrewing.com or settlersgreen.com.
If your idea of Oktoberfest is focused on traditional food, also celebrating Oktoberfest with a one-day event is Purity Spring Resort in East Madison, which is holding Oktoberfest outdoors on Purity Island from 4 to 8 p.m. on Friday, Sept. 29. The menu, provided by Purity Springs' own Traditions Restaurant features German potato salad, gurkensalat (cucumber), traditional German rotkohl (red cabbage), bratwurst with sauerkraut, German rouladen, flank steak filled with bacon and onions; mustard and pickles, German grilled marinated chicken, as well as hot dogs, iced tea and lemonade. Here, too, there will be stein hoisting, music, and seasonal beer and wine available for purchase. For more information, go to purityspring.com.
