Now that Autumn is upon us, I wanted to share our “Fall Bucket List.” It may not actually feel like fall in Alabama for another two months, but we can still enjoy all the fun fall activities in our area. All we can do is pray for boot weather to make it’s appearance soon!
We were able to check off most of the items from our summer bucket list, and I’m hoping we’re able to accomplish most of our fall list as well. Here are several of our absolute favorite fall activities that we enjoy year after year + a few that we’d like to try for the first time!
Fall Bucket List
1. Pumpkin Patch
The main pumpkin farms in our area are Tate Farms in Meridianville, AL and Lyon Family Farms in Taft, TN. We have now visited both, and while they have similar activities and attractions, I think I prefer Lyon Farms. It is more spread out so it doesn’t seem as crowded and it has a few things that Tate doesn’t. We spent about 4 hours there, and could have stayed longer if we didn’t need to get back home. We are actually going to Lyon Farms next week on Raley’s very first field trip with her class!
I will add that Tate Farms suffered a fire last year and we haven’t been since it’s been built back up, so it may be different. If you’re in the area, they are both a blast, so you really can’t go wrong! Follow the links below for hours, pricing and other information!
Tate Farms: www.tatefarmsal.com
Lyon Family Farms: www.lyonfamilyfarms.com
2. Beirgarten Stein and Dine – Every Thursday through October 18
US Space and Rocket Center – Davidson Center
Hours: Thursdays 4:30-7:30pm
Admission: FREE
More Information: www.rocketcenter.com/Biergarten
We went to the Beirgarten at the Davidson Center once last year and had a great time! We hope make it back this year.
This is a free event to attend and there are food and drinks for purchase. They have German cuisine and craft beer and wine. The food was very tasty! There is a play area for children and a live German band. As a bonus, it is for a good cause because a portion of the proceeds goes toward a different charity each week.
3. Huntsville Botanical Garden Scarecrow Trail
September and October
Hours: Mon-Sat 9:00am-5:00pm; Sun 11:00am-5:00
More information: http://hsvbg.org
Yall know I love the garden! It’s especially beautiful as the leaves begin to change. During the fall there are neat scarecrows set up all over the garden. They also do Scarecrow Trail Night Hikes in October which sound like fun! We’ve never done any of their family hikes, but I would like to do one one of these days.
4. Huntsville Botanical Garden BOO-tanica
Hours: October 27 – 10:00-12:00 (The event is from 10-12, regular garden hours are the same)
Admission: $5 plus garden admission
More information: http://hsvbg.org/event/bootanica
We went to this fun little Halloween event a couple years ago and we hope to make it back this year if our schedule allows us to (our church Fall Festival is the same day, but we may be able to make both!) The kids get to get dressed up, join in the costume parade, trick-or-treat through the butterfly house, do crafts, ride hayrides, and more.
5. Namaste Cafe at The Camp
When: September 21-November 30; Fridays 9:30-10:30 and Saturdays 8:30-9:30
Admission: FREE
More information: www.facebook.com/thecamphsv/
I am all about some yoga and I am all about FREE. The Camp at Mid City Huntsville is offering free yoga sessions every Friday and Saturday (weather permitting) through November 30. I’m planning to go this Friday and I’m hoping this will be a reoccurring event throughout the season. Be sure to visit their Facebook page for more information on Namaste cafe and other events that they’ve got going on!
6. Madison Church of Christ Fall Festival
Hours: 10:00-2:00
Admission: FREE
The girls always have a great time playing games, bouncing in the bounce houses, riding hayrides, and running around with friends. This event is open to the public, so come on down!
7. Trick-or-Treat
I mean, of course! This one’s a given. Ah, Halloween is SO MUCH FUN!
8. Take a train ride at the North Alabama Railroad Museum
Visit their website for train schedule and pricing: northalabamarailroadmuseum.com
This is something that I hate to say we have never done before! It’s been on our list of things to do but we’ve just never had a chance. They offer two different train rides in the fall. The Punkin’ Pickin Extravaganza takes you to a little pumpkin patch where kids can pick out their own pumpkin to take home with them. The Fall Colors Special takes you on a scenic ride to see the beautiful fall foliage. Both sound awesome to me! I am really hoping we can make this happen this year.
9. Drink all the Starbucks fall drinks
Of course I’m a basic white girl and love PSL, but I basically love all the fall flavors. I plan to drink them all up while they last!
10. Jump in a pile of leaves
This is one of those things that is so much fun for kids. Kind of like playing in the rain, but not quite so messy.
11. Drink apple cider slushies (and regular apple cider too!)
Isom’s Orchard always has delicious apple cider slushies, but I’ve heard that S&J farms are going to have them in their new building as well! We plan to head over there sometime soon to check out their new building. This would be much closer for us than Isom’s.
12. Go apple picking
I’d like to get out to a local orchard to go apple picking this year, but I need to find out which is the best to go to! Definitely on my to-do list.
13. Make pumpkin bread
This is one of David’s favorite things that I make, so I’m sure I’ll be making a good bit of it during this fall season!
14. Watch spooky movies
Before we had kids, David and I would watch one scary movie each night during the month of October. We kind of gave up this tradition once kids came along. I still love scary movies, but I enjoy watching kids Halloween movies just as much. Hocus Pocus will always be my favorite! We recorded all the Halloweentown movies last year on our DVR and it was such a blast to the past! We’ll definitely be binging on cheesy Disney Halloween movies again this year.
15. Walk the greenway
This was on my summer bucket list as well, but I can only imagine how serene the greenway will feel when there is a chill in the air and the leaves are changing colors.
16. Carve pumpkins (then bake the seeds)
I’m pretty terrible at actually carving faces into pumpkins, but I love sticking my hands in and pulling out all that goopey mess. I’m not sure why, but it’s so much fun to me. I also like to pick out the seeds and bake them. The very first year I baked them (like 10 years ago) they turned out perfect and I have yet to make them as good since. I keep trying though, because eventually they’ll turn out perfect again.
These items are fall/Halloween specific and I plan to share a Christmas bucket list closer to the holiday season!
Tomorrow I am launching an exciting new series featuring small businesses in the North Alabama area. I am very excited to share this with you and I hope that you will come back each Thursday to learn more about these amazing people, their businesses that they’ve poured their heart and soul into, and ways to support “shopping small.”
*I will be linking this post tomorrow for Girl Chat with Lindsay’s Sweet World. The Girl Chat link up is held the third Thursday of each month.
I love this post! After years of living in southern states, we are finally in a place that has fall colors and temperatures and I’m dying to take advantage of it all. Using your list as a platform to create my own!
That’s awesome! I can’t wait for cooler weather down here. Fall is such a fun time!