Apple-picking season is here.
The first day of fall is just around the corner, so look out for our answers to your equinox questions, like when to change your clocks (and how this impacts your ābiological clockā). But first, letās sip on cider and pick apples at a handful of orchards near Philadelphia.
āļø Your weekend weather outlook: Solid for outdoorsy activities. Expect some clouds today, and mostly clear skies Saturday and Sunday with lows in the 60s and highs in the mid-80s.
ā Paola PĆ©rez (outdoorsy@inquirer.com)
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Warm apple cider. Freshly baked pies. Unbelievably soft doughnuts.
If youāre looking for these and other beloved fall staples, youāre in luck. There are more than a few orchards near Philly where you can pick your own apples for peak autumnal fun, including:
š Linvilla Orchards, where you can fill a two-quart bag with your choice from 25 varieties of apples, and bite into plenty of baked goods (š Brookhaven, Pa. about 50 min. away)
š Duffieldās Farm, where a combo ticket saves you a seat for a hayride after you fill your bag with apples ā and donāt forget the doughnuts! (š Sewell, N.J., about 40 min. away)
š Weaverās Orchard, which grows a wide selection of apples on some 18,000 apple trees, and thereās a market with everything from apple cider pressed on-site to apple dumplings (š Morgantown, Pa. about 1 hour 30 min. away)
š§ŗ Paolaās pro-tips: Call ahead or check social media to see what your orchard has available the day of your visit. Some spots let you bring your own containers, but others sell their own so you can haul your goodies home.
See the full list of 10 orchards weāre visiting this season.
News worth knowing
The Philly fall festival season is on, bringing neighborhood street markets, must-see film festivals, and even celebrations of the weird and fringe. See our picks for must-do fall fests.
A wildfire in the southern New Jersey Pinelands broke out on Monday and was fully contained Wednesday afternoon. Officials said the blaze accidentally started after someone failed to properly extinguish a campfire.
Parks and playgrounds in the region are prioritizing accessibility with designs that accommodate special needs. Yet in Philadelphia, cost and space constraints mean its efforts still lag behind the suburbs.
Swede Run Fields in Moorestown has become an increasingly popular stop for migratory birds, other wildlife ā and people, too.
Itās been getting dark earlier since late June. Take advantage of all the daylight hours you can ā and some early evening hours too ā with end-of-summer, beginning-of-fall happenings from South Philly to New Hope.
š¤ Now Iām passing the mic to Jason Nark. Youāll always find his work here.
WILDWOOD CREST ā The office was overcast Saturday morning, the wind pushing dark tides over a mostly empty beach, when Robert Morier emerged from the waves in a wetsuit, on his way to work.
Morier, a 46-year-old professor at Drexel Universityās Close School of Entrepreneurship, changed into a bathing suit and T-shirt, grabbed a jug of water, and pushed a metal lifeguard stand toward the surf. At 10 a.m., he climbed to his seat and scanned the turbulent Atlantic, one last weekend of research to prove that lifeguarding can teach lifelong leadership and communication skills and glow up a young professionalās resumĆ© more than scooping ice cream on the boardwalk.
āThere is no other job you can get at 16 that gives you this much responsibility and forces you to communicate with adults like lifeguarding,ā Morier said. āI think more students should become lifeguards instead of focusing on getting traditional internships in high school. Lifeguarding offers a more dynamic environment that cultivates leadership versus being behind a desk.ā
Morier, who grew up in Wildwood Crest and lifeguarded there decades ago, returned this summer for hands-on research on how the beach patrol there āfosters innovation and leadership.ā ā Jason Nark
Keep reading to see what the Drexel professor learned while moonlighting as a lifeguard.
š¤ Jason says: This was taken at Bartramās Garden in Southwest Philadelphia.
One word: Bliss. You can watch and listen to this serene scene here.
Well before the leaves start to show off their more colorful āoutfits,ā some people are already eager to eat pumpkin spice-flavored everything. I can enjoy a PSL, but I love a good chai even more, and always leave room for cinnamon and snickerdoodle.
Fall favorites aside, hereās a brief primer to ring in autumn:
š Check your calendar: Sunday, Sept. 22 at exactly 8:43āÆa.m. marks the first official day of fall.
ā° Change your clocks back: We āgainā one hour of sleep when Daylight Saving Time ends on Nov. 3 at 2 a.m.
š” Fun fact: āEquinoxā comes from the Latin words aequus (meaning āequalā) and nox (meaning ānightā).
Let Tony Wood fill you in on how standard time impacts our ācircadian rhythm,ā and more on the historical significance of this seasonal shift.
What do you like to do outside this time of year? Do you have any traditions or events you canāt miss? Let me know how your apple-picking adventures go.
āThe heat of autumn is different from the heat of summer. One ripens apples, the other turns them to cider.ā ā Jane Hirshfield
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