FALLing into Columbia :: My Autumn Bucket List

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Scarves and boots. Warm apple cider. The scent of burning leaves wafting through the crisp night air. It’s fall, y’all, and I’m going to enjoy every day of it.

As a kid in New Hampshire, spring was my favorite season, the snow giving way to bluer skies and green grass. And the fact that it was my birthday season didn’t hurt. Upon moving to Florida, summer became my new love, spending endless hours on the beach with my friends and roaming the Walt Disney World property at night.

But when I started college in North Carolina, I quickly began a love affair with fall, and it remains my favorite season to this day. When I was pregnant, I didn’t dream of the baby splashing around in a kiddie swimming pool, or building a snowman with him, or receiving the first blooms of spring that he would pick. I dreamed of the tiny costumes he’d wear, the hayrides we would take, the pumpkin-flavored sweets we would bake, and the many festivals we’d attend.

Now that my baby is here and the fall season is upon us, I’m overwhelmed with all the things I want to do, the memories I want to make.

Knowing that life won’t stand still for the next three months and that this season will be over just as quickly as it’s beginning, I decided to make a fall bucket list for our family:

My little pumpkin was still in utero when I visited Clinton Sease Farm last year. I can't wait to take a picture of him in this same spot.
My little pumpkin was still in utero when I visited Clinton Sease Farm last year. I can’t wait to take a picture of him in this same spot.

Clinton Sease Farm

I first went to Clinton Sease Farm with my friends’ kids last year, when my little pumpkin was still in utero. Now I’m excited to take him to pick his first pumpkin and see the animals. (Corn maze and pumpkin patch through November 16; 404 Olde Farm Road, Lexington)

Irmo Okra Strut Festival 

You guys, there’s an Okra Man. Need I say more? There’s also a parade, live music, arts & crafts vendors, kids’ amusements, and – of course – lots and lots of okra. I’m a Northern girl by birth, but I’m a Southern girl at heart, and I love me some fried okra! (September 26-27, Irmo Community Park, 7505 Eastview Drive, Irmo)

Picking & Enjoying All Things Apple

I have such fond memories of going to apple orchards as a child. While my little one is too young to remember any apple picking we do this year, I can see this becoming an annual fall tradition for our family. I can almost taste the apple cider and donuts. (If you’d like to put this one on your to-do list, check out Columbia SC Moms Blog’s guide to apple orchards.)

Gaston Collard & BBQ Festival 

The food at the Gaston Collard & BBQ Festival is so good, my husband wouldn't stop eating long enough to take a picture.
The food at the Gaston Collard & BBQ Festival is so good, my husband wouldn’t stop eating long enough to take a picture.

I’ll admit that I usually think of summer, not fall, when I think of barbecue, but the town of Gaston happens to make awesome barbecue (and Southern sides from cornbread to black-eyed peas) as the weather cools. For less than $10, you can eat yourself silly, which my husband and I did last year, and look forward to doing again. After lunch, you can walk off the carbs around the antique car show that’s a favorite part of the festival, or cheer for your favorites to win the barbecue competition. (October 3-4 in front of Gaston Town Hall, 131 N. Carlisle St., Gaston)

Boo at the Zoo 

Halloween being one of my favorite holidays, I’ve wanted to go to Boo at the Zoo since we moved to Columbia four years ago, but I thought people would look at me funny if I went sans child. Though my son is too little to have candy (I guess his dad and I will have to take one for the team and eat his stash), I am excited to take my little bear (or elephant… or monkey… hopefully I’ll decide before the 30th) trick-or-treating for the first time. (October 17-30 at Riverbanks Zoo & Gardens, 500 Wildlife Parkway, Columbia)

Columbia City Ballet: Dracula 

Don’t worry – we’re getting a babysitter for this one. With the exception of last year, when my pregnant body couldn’t take sitting that long in one place, my husband and I have seen this ballet every year we’ve lived here. This ballet is THAT good. Set to contemporary music, this is one of the hottest interpretations of Bram Stoker’s novel that I’ve ever seen. (October 30-November 1 at the Koger Center for the Arts, 1051 Greene St., Columbia)

Bubbie’s Brisket and Bakery

Come mid-fall, I should be recovered enough from barbecue and Halloween candy to fill my belly at this “Jewish Food Extravaganza.” From matzah ball soup (aka Jewish penicillin), to corned beef and brisket, to lesser-known (but equally yummy) foods like tzimmes and kugel, I plan to nosh (snack) my way around this food festival before going home and taking a schluff (sleep). (November 16 at Beth Shalom Synagogue, 5827 N. Trenholm Road, Columbia)

Looking over my bucket list for fall, I think I may need to add “join a gym” to my winter bucket list…

What’s on your fall bucket list? Share in the comments.

Slideshow image: Fall leaves in Ridgeway, Toby Keller / Burnblue / Foter / CC BY-NC-SA

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