You'll recognize the feeling the first morning it arrives. The air is crisper-maybe even a bit cleaner. It's fall, and with it comes a vast array of activities to enjoy. If you live in or plan to visit Massachusetts, the following fall activities are available for your enjoyment.
From mid-October through early November, Boston's Urban Adventours offers an over 15-mile-long bicycle tour of Boston's green spaces. Stops include the Boston Common and Public Garden, the Charles River Esplanade, the Rose Kennedy Greenway, and more. Participants should be cyclists accustomed to spending four or more hours on their bicycles. While the tour is available throughout much of the year, it is its most beautiful during peak foliage season.
If you missed out on the summer beauty on the Cape, don't let fall pass you by without a trip to the Wellfleet Farmer's Market. Fall colors dazzle the wares, picked at their absolute peak. Local crafters display an array of products including natural soaps, hand woven rugs, fresh honey, homemade pies, and fudge.
Just north of Boston in Salem, the Salem Haunted Happenings runs throughout the month of October, and features everything witch-related-and more. Historical tours afford visitors a look at the graveyard where the real-life Salem witches are buried and a short production that details the Salem witch trials. Restaurants and bars feature fall specials on food and drinks to refuel before setting out on the witchcraft trail for part two. Maria's Sweet Somethings offers "wicked good confections," and they're open until 11 p.m., which is well into those bewitching hours. Eclectic shops line the path for those needing a bit of retail therapy. The month-long celebration culminates in a huge street party on Halloween.
Carver, Massachusetts is home to King Richard's Faire-New England's oldest renaissance faire. The event is held weekends and Monday holidays from Sept. 3 through Oct. 23, and features a wealth of rides, skilled games, and shows-including jousting-on its 80-acre wooded site. Feast on spit-roasted turkey legs and hearty bowls of chowder or stew. Take home a treasure from the Artisan's Marketplace.
Fall means pumpkins-for both cooking and creating a festive display of harvest colors inside or outside your home. The perfect stop for picking up your pumpkins, gourds, and more is Flint Farm, located in Mansfield. Don't leave without sampling their delicious made-in-Massachusetts ice cream.
Check out Massachusetts' fall foliage via the water on a Nashoba Paddler Paddling Tour. On Oct. 8, an easy paddling tour-the Fall Foliage Paddle-will find you in a kayak or a canoe. The trip affords adventurists the most spectacular fall foliage of the season. Located in Groton, the tour lasts three hours, and you may request a boxed lunch with your reservation, for an additional cost.
