With the new breeze and the colorful leaves this new season brings, the fall also brings a yearning for pumpkin spice and fall time activities. We want you to make the best out of this wonderful season and take advantage of all that Fordham and New York City has to offer! Here are 10 fun and festive things to do with your friends to get your fix of fall time activities!
1. Go Apple Picking at Alstede Farms, Chester, NJ
Who doesn’t think of apple picking when October rolls around?! Well we sure do! Alstede Farms, in Chester, New Jersey is the perfect place to spend a Saturday with your friends, picking apples and walk through pumpkin fields! There is also a taxi service that provides a shuttle between Gladstone Station on the NJ Transit, making this farm easily accessible and painless. If you are interested in other apple picking locations, Hudson Valley Farm, Barton Orchards, and Greig Farm are great options as well. (Directions to Alstede Farms can be found here!)
2. Visit Sleepy Hollow, NY
Sleepy Hollow is a small village located in Tarrytown, New York that is bursting with fall activities! These activities range from creepy cemetery tours and haunted hayrides, to farmer’s markets and restaurants. Being 20 minutes away at Fordham, taking an Uber to Tarrytown with all of your friends is such a quick, simple, and relatively cheap way to celebrate fall at Sleepy Hollow.
3. Queens County Farm Museum
If you want to spend an entire day reveling in fall-time goodness, the Queens County Farm Museum is the place for you! This farm also has a wide range of fall-time activities, but its most popular is the Corn Maze. This farm is accessible by Uber or by the subway and bus. While it might take a little longer to get there, the free general admission, and $9 Corn Maze admission, is hard to beat for a full day of fall fun! (If you have a group of 10 or more, Corn Maze tickets are discounted $1! (Directions can be found here!)
4. Make Hot Apple Cider and Pumpkin Bread and Share with your Friends
Hot apple cider and warm pumpkin bread are the perfect delicious treats for a chilly fall night! Making these festive treats is such an easy, perfect way to wind down and have a great time with your friends! (Tons of recipes for these fall treats can be found on Pinterest! Check out our favorite recipe for pumpkin bread, and this amazing one for apple cider!)
5. Go to Football Games
When the fall time rolls around, football season is in full swing. Spend a day supporting your fellow Rams at a Fordham football game while eating hot dogs and salted pretzels! If you’re willing to spend some money, cheering on the New York Giants or Jets game during a professional football game is also the perfect way to get your fix of both fall and football!
6. Go to the Bronx Zoo
Being Fordham students, it’s no secret that the Bronx Zoo is free on Wednesdays, and these beautiful, cool fall days are perfect for walking around the zoo with your friends! Because of the Halloween season, the Bronx Zoo is also offering Boo at the Zoo on the weekends from October 3rd to November 1st!
7. Movie Nights
Take a break from studying for midterms by revisiting those classic Halloween movies such as Hocus Pocus, Halloweentown, and Beetlejuice. If you want to enjoy a new movie, check out He Named Me Malala (10/2), Steve Jobs (10/9), or Paranormal Activity: The Ghost Dimension (10/23) in theaters this month. Whether you want to do a dorm room movie night with your friends or Netflix and chill with your significant other, investing in a movie night is never a bad idea.
8. Stargaze on The High Line in Chelsea
If stargazing on Eddie’s isn’t doing it for you anymore, The High Line in Chelsea is providing free telescopes every Tuesday night until October 27th. This is perfect for people who don’t have class on Wednesdays, and anyone who is on a tight budget (aka basically every college student). While you’re down there, check out one of the numerous art galleries, which Chelsea is famous for, or grab a bite to eat at one of the many dining options offered at Chelsea Market. Perfect date idea for you and your boo or your best friend!
9. Explore the Outdoors via the Old Croton Aqueduct Trail
If you’re feeling a little motivated, go for a hike or a run along the Old Croton Aqueduct Trail, a 1.1 mile nature walk, at the Van Cortlandt Park. We hear that there are detours available if you want to take a break to explore the cute towns and historic sights along the way. Many of us may feel a little too lazy or tired to embark on this one, but more power to you if you can!
10. Go to the New York Botanical Gardens
Fordham students are so close to the New York Botanical Gardens, and we must take advantage of it! Immerse yourself in fall foliage by going on one of the Fall Forest Weekends, November 7th & 8th and 14th and 15th. Getting a new profile pic for the fall has never been so easy! NYBG’s Greenmarket, every Wednesday until November 25th, provides affordable, locally grown produce, such as heirloom apples, homemade cookies, and mixed orchard fruit juices. We all have our favorite foods, but the Greenmarket makes it a little easier when Mom forgets to send those beloved care packages.