Issues → September/October 2007 → Feature Stories →
Beauty and the Best of Autumn in New England
15 great things to do, places to go in this amazing season
by Katrina A. Yeager
Capture fall in a pottery or bronze leaf, a candied apple, a Cider Day brew. Take a drive, take a hike, or take a balloon ride. Paddle a canoe or kayak. Pick a pumpkin. It's autumn in New England.
1. Home
Capture fall color forever with a Stillwood Pottery piece. Kassie Hennessey shapes and glazes terra-cotta clay to look like oversize leaves. Each one is beautiful as a tabletop decoration -- with or without a tea light candle -- or as a soap dish or change tray. Prices $8.50-$85. Made in Orono, Maine. 207-947-3765; stillwoodpottery.com
2. Soundtrack
If I had the grace of autumn / then I'd know just what to do / I'd hold on 'til the time was right / and let go with brilliant hues. -- "Autumn," from the album The Harvest by Colrain, Massachusetts-based singer/songwriter Erica Wheeler
3. Nibble on This
Yum -- candy apples at Jaswell's Farm (401-231-9043; jaswellsfarm.com) in Smithfield, Rhode Island. It's right in the heart of "apple country" and has made these crunchy delights a specialty. Eight choices, including traditional cherry-red candy-coated, caramel fruits, and blue raspberry candy-coated.
4. When You're Thirsty
Try the season's apple cider -- celebrate Cider Day in western Massachusetts' Franklin County (413-773-5463; ciderday.org). Or, look for fall ales, on tap or bottled. Two popular brews made in New England are Shipyard Pumpkinhead Ale (Maine) and Smuttynose Pumpkin Ale (New Hampshire).
5. Bike
Vermont's four-mile River Road is a don't-miss. This dirt byway parallels the Ottauquechee River between Woodstock and Quechee -- perfect for an afternoon outing. Often, you're so close to the water it feels as if you're on a boat. See fish rising and swallows swooping. Look for the old cemetery, the covered bridge, and the turn-off to a farm where you'll find cheese and maple syrup made on site.
6. Style
Jewelry maker Michael Michaud of Fairfield, Connecticut, has designed a collection called Falling Leaves, featuring maple, oak, and hawthorn. Each piece is molded from an original leaf found in nature and then cast in bronze. Prices $40-$125. To find a local gallery or retailer, call 800-295-6784; fourseasonsdesigngroup.com
7. It's Not Just About the Leaves
Fall is also harvest time -- that time of year when we visit New England's apple orchards, pumpkin patches, and corn mazes. Maybe best of all are the county and state fairs that celebrate the season's bounty. This year, check out the 189th Topsfield Fair in Topsfield, Massachusetts (888-781-3247, 978-887-5000; topsfieldfair.org). America's oldest continually operating agricultural fair showcases New England's largest apiary exhibition, a fall flower show, draft horses, plenty of farm animals, food, arts and crafts, and nationally known entertainment. Don't miss the giant pumpkin weigh-in, where growers try to beat the world record (1,502 pounds).
8. From the Air
That's right... No one ever said the only way to see color was from eye level. Get the birds' perspective: Go hot-air ballooning, skydiving, paragliding, or flying. In western Massachusetts' Pioneer Valley, climb into a wicker gondola with Paul Sena (413-238-5514; worthingtonballooning.com), or jump from an airplane with Dave Strickland (800-444-5867, 413-586-1889; airborne-adventures.com).
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