Dear readers,

I’m writing to tell you about my favorite things to do in and around Boston this autumn season! The trees are just starting to lose their green, and I am beyond excited for everything to turn red and yellow. Starting with what I like to do in the city, the Boston Common and Public Garden are my favorite places to lose track of time, staring at the beautiful scenery. Swans gather around the roots of trees, waddling through the fallen leaves. As it gets colder, the waterfowl migrate for winter and the pond in the Public Garden slowly freezes over, soon becoming the perfect place to play ice hockey.

I like taking photos with my friends in the Boston Common especially because the lines of trees create a wall of warm colors. Though we try to get that quintessential autumn picture (leaves caught in midair, big smiles on our faces), the photos often turn out blurry and awkward. Still, walking through the Common is a wonderful experience. Leaves gather in large piles, and it makes me feel like a little kid to stomp through them. I tried to throw myself into a pile of leaves once, but they aren’t as soft a landing pad as one would think…

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Just outside of Boston, I’ve made it a tradition to go apple picking with friends. Honey Pot Hill Orchards in Stow, MA has so many varieties of apples, varieties I didn’t even know existed. At the entrance, you pay for a basket to fill up with your hand-picked apples, fresh off the tree. 

Amazingly, Honey Pot Hill Orchards has been a family-run business since 1926. They have a schedule for the best times of year that certain apples are ripe and ready-to-pick. Other fruits are also grown on the farm, like blueberries, peaches, and plums.

You can take a hayride across the grounds and visit their farm animals. The chickens, pigs, goats, and even mini ponies seem to enjoy running around their pens. At the specialty store, you can also buy treats made on-site, like apple cider and pumpkin pie, filled donuts and fruit jellies. My friends and I shared a big bag of warm apple cider donuts, and they were amazing. Apple picking is definitely my favorite thing to do in the autumn.

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Salem, MA is famous for the Salem Witch Trials. Beginning in 1962, several local women were accused of witchcraft. Salem gets extremely popular in October. The haunted aspect of the town makes it the perfect place to celebrate Halloween. If you go, don’t be afraid to dress up for the occasion. Witches, warlocks, and other magical creatures roam freely through Salem during the fall.

The Salem Witch Museum is an incredible experience. Not only can you look around at the museum’s displays, you can sit in for a storytelling session about the history of the Witch Trials. During this storytelling session, I walked into a pitch black theatre and sat in the center of the room for the best viewing. I won’t spoil the show, but the narration and acting were definitely unlike anything I’ve seen before.

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Fall activities, in and around Boston, are part of what makes this season so magical. I think autumn is the best time to visit Boston because of the atmosphere. The beautiful red trees. The refreshing chill. The delicious fall foods like apple cider and pumpkin pie and butternut squash soup.

When the chillier seasons come around, it’s so cozy to curl up with a good book, a cup of hot chocolate in hand as the leaves fall in waves of red, orange, and yellow outside.

Sincerely,