It is that wonderful time of year again where we cuddle up on the couch with our fleece blanket while our apple crisp is baking in the oven…watching football of course!  There is nothing better then taking an afternoon with the family to the local apple orchard and picking apples.  Hatches Orchard in Center Conway is a great place to have some apple picking fun.  They have a little farm stand, a picnic area so you can enjoy the warm afternoon sun with a picnic lunch.

Apple crisp is a favorite fall desert, it’s fairly simple to make and does not require a ton of ingredients.  Here is a great recipe I found on Allrecipes.com

Apple Crisp

4 apples – peeled, cored and chopped; 1 dash ground cinnamon; 1 dash ground nutmeg; 1/2 cup walnuts; 1/2 cup pecans; 1/2 cup brown sugar; 1/2 cup all-purpose flour; 4 tablespoons butter (diced) and 1 pinch salt.

preheat oven to 350 degrees; place apples in a pie pan and dust with cinnamon and nutmeg; cover with foil and bake for 20 minutes.

In a food processor chop nuts with a few short pules; pour in sugar and flour and process to combine; add butter and salt and process until mixture resembles coarse meal.  Sprinkle topping over apples and bake for an additional 30 minutes.

Yummmm….warm right out of the oven with some vanilla ice cream.  Now that is the way to enjoy a Sunday afternoon football game.

If apple picking is not your cup of tea, there is a lot going on in the Mount Washington Valley this fall season.  Take a nice drive down the “Kanc” (Kancamagus highway).  That is one of the most scenic drives in New Hampshire.  Visitnh.gov has a great site and a foliage report that is updated daily.

Conway Scenic Railroad will be the site of great fun when it hosts its 37th Railfans’ Weekend on Saturday & Sunday, September 17 & 18. There will be frequent departures of passenger trains and mixed passenger/freight trains, powered by diesel and STEAM.

Designed not only for avid railfans, but also for the entire family, the event will feature an outdoor Railroadiana flea market, displays of special equipment, collectors’ displays, a turn-of-the-last century operating turntable, motorcars, as well as the chance to try an old-fashioned hand car and rail velocipede, a 3-wheel, human-powered vehicle created in the Victorian age, also known as a “boneshaker.”

Also this coming weekend is the opening of the Sherman Farm Corn Maze.  This years design is Tim Thomas.  The maize will be open weekends through the end of October.  There is a lot to do at Sherman Farm then just getting lost in the maize.  The farmstand is open and the pumpkin patch, so why not pick out that jack-o-lantern while you are there.

If you want to celebrate this fall season with a fabulous haunt, you need to experience The Ghoullog at Cranmore.  the dates for this scary event are weekend evenings in October, starting Friday September 30.  This is a mountain top haunt and you will be riding the chair lift to the top of the mountain.  Cranmore has hosted this event for the last few years and it has become a fall favorite with a lot of our guests.  We have packaged some of our rooms around The Ghoullog so please call for a fall fabulous deal!

The Conway Scenic Railroad will once again be loading passengers on the Pumpkin Patch Express weekends of October 14-16; October 21-23 and October 28-30.  This is a special Halloween train where children will pick a pumpkin, visit a cider mill and of course, doing this while in costume.

Santa’s Village will be open two Saturdays in October for some Halloween fun.  October 22 and October 29 they will have a Silly Spooky Halloween Extravaganza.  Join them for the costume parade, trick or treating and lots of Spooktacular fun.

Maine’s Blue Ribbon Classic, The Fryeburg Fair opens October 2 through October 9.  It has become the Maine’s largest agricultural fair complete with six days of harness racing, a farm museum second to none, the world’s largest steer and oxen show and a reputation known throughout North America.  Even if you are not a fair fan, you must go for the food…caramel apples, hot apple cider, fried dough, apple crisp, kettle corn, turkey dinners…I can almost smell it now.   Visit fryeburgfair.com for a schedule of events.   Nothing like fall and fair time!

So much to see and do this time of year.  Give us a call to book your package.  We look forward to celebrating this magnificent season with you and your family.