Happy October, friends.
How’s “false fall” treating you? If you pulled your sweaters out thinking summer was done and dusted, you’re not alone. Soon enough, it’ll start to feel like autumn (real autumn).
As the clock ticks on, we’re losing roughly 2½ minutes of sunlight each day, The Inquirer’s weather whisperer Tony Wood reports. One sure way to combat the negative effects of shorter days? “Get outside and move your body daily,” an expert told Wood.
You don’t have to tell me twice.
Here’s today’s itinerary:
- Autumnal celebrations: Follow our guide to vibrant fall events around Philadelphia.
- Fancy a farmstay? Learn why Airbnb is recruiting Pennsylvania farmers to host guests.
- Microplastic pollution: See the results of a new survey of waterways across the Delaware River watershed.
⛅ Your weekend weather outlook: A mix of sun and showers. Friday will be warm, but temps will cool off Saturday and Sunday.
— Paola Pérez (outdoorsy@inquirer.com)
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From First Fridays to the Philly Bike Ride
In Philly and the surrounding region, we have a variety of fall festivals and markets to embrace the season in good company.
Here’s a preview of some lively events to look forward to:
🏺 Mt. Airy Arts Fest (Oct. 3) at Allens Lane Park will have stations for painting, printmaking, and ceramics to make art with your own hands, along with live performances and food to enjoy.
🧀 Manayunk Fall Festival (Oct. 17) lets you mac-and-cheese-crawl your way through local vendors. Plus, just one neighborhood over, enjoy free pumpkin decorating and more fun for all ages at East FallsFest.
🍁 Cherry Hill Harvest Festival (Oct. 18) at Croft Farm will host a beer garden, free pumpkins, and a petting zoo.
News worth knowing
- The Delco 10 Miler is back in a big way on Sunday, with a slightly different path through the county. Get all the details on the race here.
- A study of 22 Philly-area rivers and creeks found microplastics in all of them. It highlights a growing threat to the region’s drinking water.
- Spotted swimming in flood waters in Surf City: A smooth dogfish shark. Not spotted (because they’re not real): Lobsters on the lam.
- Last weekend’s nor’easter underscored the limitations of computer models, and it may also foreshadow what’s to come.
🌳 Your outdoorsy experience
My colleague Sam Stewart recently spent a couple of days in the Poconos and was excited to share this with us:
These pics are from the Little Falls Trail in Promised Land State Park! It was SO beautiful, lots of water along the trail (including a waterfall!), and it was a super easy, 1.5-mile loop. It was my first fall hike of the year, the weather was incredible and the sun was shining 🙂
Such a spectacular sight! I’m already planning my own trip up there. Thanks, Sam.
How about you, dear reader? What’s happening in your neck of the woods? Email me with your favorite adventures or special outdoor memories (and pictures, if you have them). You may see it featured here.
Tapping into agritourism
🎤 Here’s rural reporter Jason Nark.
Pennsylvania is home to tens of thousands of farms, and Airbnb wants you to stay on them.
The short-term rental giant is partnering with the American Farmland Trust and recruiting Keystone State farmers — and even offering grants — to host guests and tap into the growing agritourism industry. The average farm stay listing on Airbnb, the company said, can make an extra $9,600 per year.
Valerie and Jeff Fellenbaum said they’re making much more than that at Pleasant Pines Stables, their horse farm dating to the early 19th century in Lancaster County.
“Once we started, we never looked back,” Valerie Fellenbaum said. “I would say, from March to about the end of October, we’re anywhere from 85% to 90% booked.” — Jason Nark
Discover how farms in Pennsylvania and beyond are looking to agritourism to stay profitable and find alternate sources of revenue.
Paola’s picks
🚣 An activity: Find a good spot to watch sailboats hit the Delaware for the annual Philadelphia Regatta Cup.
👟 A shoutout: Look out for these runners at the Delco 10 Miler.
🐕 A fun pup-ortunity: Join “The Dogist” for a walk along the Schuylkill Banks and up the Rocky steps on Sunday.
💡 A fall fact: According to Merriam-Webster, the term “autumn” entered English in the 1300s, and “fall” became the shortened version of “the fall of the leaves” in the 1600s.
🎵 A song: “Fall in Philadelphia” by Daryl Hall & John Oates.
An unassuming view
I believe this is a Virginia creeper plant, also known as woodbine. It also bears some resemblance to poison ivy. Avoid its berries, though — while wildlife can feed on them, they are toxic to humans.
👀 Can you spot a spotted lanternfly among the leaves? By my count, I think there are at least two.
Speaking of the invasive species, my colleague Nick Vadala reported this week about a man tricking at least 80 Pennsylvanians into paying for fake trainings and permits to contain the invasive species. Be wary of scams like that, folks.
👋🏽 Our next adventure awaits!
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