It is officially fall, you guys. Hip, hip, hooray! The best season of the year has finally rolled around and we are counting down the days until Oct. 1, which is in 3 days for all of you knee deep in exams and essentially dead to the world.
Here’s why fall is the best time of the year: all the fun festivities! Duh. Here are the top 10 things that should be on everyone’s October bucket list this season:
1. UNC Football
Take advantage of free admission to the athletic events on campus while you still attend UNC, and go cheer on the Tar Heels! It is football season and the first conference game is coming up this Saturday, Oct. 3! Check out the 2015 Football Schedule here.
2. Carrboro Farmers' Market
Tired of dining hall veggies yet? Thought so. Check out the Carrboro Farmers' Market, which is on Saturdays year-round. In the month of October, it is open from 7 a.m. to noon. At the market you can find a variety of locally grown produce sold from over 70 market members. You can also find fresh flowers or handcrafted trinkets, handmade from the vender selling!
3. Thrift shopping for flannels
Flannels are essential articles of clothing everyone should have in their wardrobe for fall. Half of the fun of owning flannels is the search for them. Everyone loves a good thrift store raid. Carrboro, that hipster town right down the road, is drowning in cool thrift shops.
Here are a few thrift shops to check out across the Chapel Hill-Carrboro area:
- Rumors: 106 N. Graham St., Chapel Hill, NC 27516
- PTA Thrift Shop: 125 W. Main St., Carrboro, NC 27510
- Club Nova Thrift Shop: 103 D W. Main St., Carrboro, NC 27510
- Goodwill, of course: 4808 Chin Page Road, Durham, NC NC 27703
4. Haunted trails (and I’m not talking about HoJo's tower of terror…)
Everyone loves a good scare, especially this time of the year! Unless, you are me. I am scared just looking at these websites. BUT, if you do love being scared you should definitely check out these attractions, all just under or over an hour away. Here are the top three:
- Haunted Forest at Panic Point: This haunted trail is in Youngsville, N.C., which is a small town just outside of Wake Forest. It's approximately 56 minutes from my room in Morrison Dorm. This attraction opens this coming weekend and operates through Nov. 1. Prices range from $16 to $29.
- Kersey Valley’s Spookywoods: Found in Archdale, N.C., near High Point, N.C., this haunted attraction is approximately 1 hour and 10 minutes from the dorm in which I sit. This is also the lovely place where I tripped as I was being chased by scary men with chainsaws through a corn maze. This haunted trail operates on weekends from Oct. 2 to Nov. 13. General admission is $25.
- Woods of Terror: This haunted forest is found in Greensboro, N.C., approximately 1 hour and 17 minutes away. The attraction opened this past weekend and runs through Nov. 17. General admission is $18.
5. Make Pillsbury pumpkin cookies
No explanation needed.
6. Corn mazes
Do you babysit? Need a different idea for a date? Just need to get out of your dorm room!? Check out some of the family friendly corn mazes around the Triangle. A lot of these farms offer hayrides, haunted trails at night and pumpkin patches, as well as corn mazes. Here are a few in the area:
7. Apple picking
There is nothing like a warm slice of homemade apple pie with a scoop of vanilla ice cream on top. This time of year is perfect for baking just that type of treat! I can practically smell a warm apple pie cooking in the oven right now just thinking about it. It could also be the fact that I am sitting in Sugarland…Whatever it is, I want it.
Apple season is coming to a close so you better hurry if you want to check this activity off your fall bucket list! Millstone Creek Orchards is an apple orchard only 53 minutes from campus. This coming weekend (Oct. 2 to Oct. 4) is their last weekend of apple picking! Don’t worry if you happen to miss it. There are plenty of places in the mountains to pick apples if you are just DYING for that fresh apple pie. Lots of results come up if you Google ‘apple orchards’ near you.
8. Go to a pumpkin patch
Most, if not all, of the corn mazes mentioned above double as pumpkin patches. However, if you are a fun sucker and just want the pumpkin and not the patch, check out your local Wal-Mart. Just know, if you do this, you are lame.
9. The North Carolina State Fair
The fair cannot come soon enough! Where the deep-fried Oreos at? The N.C. State Fair runs Thursday, Oct. 15 through Sunday, Oct. 25, which is approximately 16 days, 20 hours and 55 minutes from this moment (the time varies depending on when you read this blog post, which you should totally share with all your friends, family and pets! #DIGITALFIRST)General admission for adults varies from $8 to $10 depending on how you purchase your ticket . Check out the daily schedule by clicking here.
10. FRANKLIN STREET ON HALLOWEEN
If you aren’t dressing up and going out on Franklin Street on Halloween you are sure to miss out! It is difficult to put into words that describe this experience. My only advice to you is GO! This event has its own Wikipedia page, y’all. Town officials estimated some 32,000 people packed Franklin Street last year .
Here is a picture of me as Wendy Peffercorn from Sandlot.
I saw myself three different times, ran into Squints twice and Benny the Jet Rodriguez once. It was crazy. FYI if you haven’t seen the movie Sandlot, you missed out on a classic, folks.
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