Autumn Equinox: 11 things you gotta do in Delaware this fall
Betsy PriceHellllloooooo, fall.
We're so glad to have you back again.
As the heat of summer dissipates and the trees begin to change color, here are our suggestions for 11 things you gotta do this fall:
• Check out the inaugural Great Pumpkin Carve Festival set for Oct. 26 and 27 at the Delaware State Fairgrounds in Harrington. Expected to include a trail of 50 amazingly carved pumpkins weighing 150 to 300 pounds each, the festival will give the Great Pumpkin Carve in Chadds Ford, Pennsylvania, a run for its money after last year's disappointing militaristic crowd control.
• Chow down on apple cider doughnuts, easily found at area farms, including Milburn Orchards and Fifer Orchards.
• Drink a pumpkin ale, offered by many Delaware breweries, including Dogfish Head's Punkin Ale, originally brewed for Punkin Chunkin.
• Try a traditional fall festival, such as Oktoberfest, which is going on through Sunday; The Polish Festival, which starts Monday; Apple Scrapple Festival, which is Oct. 12 and 13; or theSea Witch Festival, which is Oct. 26-28.
• Or go with an alcohol-soaked one such as the Delaware Beer, Wine & Spirits Festival in Dover; Cheestoberfest in Dover; or Brews by the Bay.
• Check out the new offerings on Wilmington's Market Street, where a recent round of eating and drinking places has prompted claims that the city is experiencing a revival: Margaux restaurant; Bardea restaurant, Stitch House Brewery and Farmer and the Cow. While you're there, check out the newly returned colored lights changing hues on the Grand Opera House.
• Get a flu shot. They take two weeks to take effect, and flu already has been found in all three Delaware counties. Last year, when 35 people died from flu, the first cases weren't discovered until late October.
• Read or watch five things on delawareonline.com before you are asked to subscribe, which we hope you will. First-time subscribers can get an astoundingly cheap deal.
• Watch the fall leaves change at Winterthur Museum, Gardens and Library while you're checking out the garden follies, the museum's first outdoor exhibit. P.S. Some of them would make great backgrounds for family photos for holiday cards.
• Get your remaining wits scared out of you at one of the area's many haunted-theme attractions, such as Frightland near Middletown, which opens Sept. 28.
• Make it a point to go to one of the country's most unique political events, Sussex County Return Day. It will be Nov. 8 this year and will feature political opponents riding in carriages together to the traditional burying of the hatchet. You can only see these in election years, and nowhere else except Georgetown, Delaware.
►Fall Equinox 2018: Delaware Online's top songs for autumn
Contact Betsy Price at (302) 324-2884 or beprice@delawareonline.com.
