10 Things You Have to Do this Fall

Saturday, September 17, 2011

GoLocalProv Features Team

With this weekend's air crisp and dry, and the beginning of color hitting the trees, it's time to dig into the fall's favorite activities. We've got the 10 things you've got to do to get the most of this beautiful season in Rhode Island.

1. Get lost in a corn maze

Check out the big mama of them all at Escobar Farm. Find your way out of 8 acres of double overhead corn stalks, sip some cider and embark on a hay ride. Check out the annual pumpkin festival next weekend on September 24, and next month welcomes Harry Potter Day (10/15) and a Halloween Party (10/29). Visit www.escobarshighlandfarm.com for details (and a discount coupon).

2. Celebrate local wines

The local vineyards just get better and better, and the harvest season is perfect for touring and tasting. Grab your Coastal Wine Trail passport and sniff, swirl and sip your weekends away.

3. Leaf peep by boat

Sailing on Narragansett Bay is a treat this time of year as the already stunning vistas get a fresh dose of blazing color. If you don’t have your own boat or are unable to bum a ride on a friend’s, check out a Save the Bay

or Rhode Island Bay Cruises Lighthouse tour, hop on of the many tour boats in Newport, hop the Prudence Island Ferry for a little jaunt, or even explore local estuaries by kayak.

4. Celebrate apple mania!

Apple picking is quintessential autumn in Rhode Island. Check out this guide to pick-your-own spots and find the farm for you.

5. Ghost tours

These are some of the most fun nights you can have. Pawtucket’s Slater Mill Ghost Tours (featured on Ghost Hunters); the Ghost Walks and Ghost Tours of Providence, Newport’s Fortress of Nightmares at Fort Adams and downtown Ghost Tours explore the ghosts, graveyards and the unexplained of the Ocean State.

6. Pumpkinpalooza

The Jack-O-Lantern Spectacular at Roger Williams Zoo takes the cake with 23 years under its belt and more than 10,000 pumpkins to share during the nearly month-long event (running October 6-31), but other displays,

including Newport’s Annual Ballard Park Pumpkin Tour on October 15 and Pawtucket’s Haunted Tunnel and Pumpkins in the Park on Fridays and Saturdays beginning October 7 are lots of fun for families.

7. Cheers!

Newport beloved International Oktoberfest, a 3-day extravaganza of beer, bratwurst and Bavarian exuberance om-pa-pa’s its way into town October 8-10. Keep it family friendly in the kids area or kick it up a notch by toasting your stein with newly-made friends while rocking out to one of the great bands.

8. Take a hike

It remains the best way to see a place--on foot. Get out and enjoy Rhode Island's trails, whether hiking ridges, skirting lakes and ponds, or winding through nature preserves. Use this great trail resource to get you started.

9. Savor local flavor

Apples, cranberries, pumpkins and more dress up local menus and let you taste your way through the season. From the trend-setting restaurants of Newport Restaurant Week to 18th-century meals and hearth cooking demonstrations in Bristol, you'll have plenty to savor.

10. Country roads

Inexpensive and adventurous, let the ‘ol family trickster lead you on an unhurried, unplugged (dare you to power off the smart phone) country drive. Some of the best include Rt. 77 through Tiverton and out to Little Compton, Rt. 44 in Smithfield, Rt. 1A through Westerly, Charlestown and South Kingston; and just about all of Jamestown.