Autumn Festivities

There have been a lot of happenings in the past month that have kept me pretty busy; from Apple Picking to Johnny Cake Festivals. It has been a lot of fun.

One of our biggest events for October is Apple Picking because it's fun, cheap and is a great time of fellowship. This year, as usual, we went to Jaswells Farm where we picked some of the best Empire Apples I have tasted. Unfortunately we went a little late this year for the Hay Ride but now we know for next time. We spent a couple hours picking apples, pumpkins, gourds and veggies and then returned to our apartment for the baking of apple delights and the carving of pumpkins. We also spent the afternoon playing Mario Kart Wii.

Allie and I with our Pumpkins

Hannah and I have been trying to attend more festivals and events going on in Rhode Island this year and have been getting better at including students as well just so they can get off campus and explore since they don't have cars. One of the first Festivals we went to was the Scituate Art Festival. It was huge. We were there for a couple hours and did not even see everything. There was everything from food, to jewelry, to antiques and local honey. Anything artsy you can think of, it was there. It was the perfect day too because it was one of those random weekends where even though we were in the Fall season it was 80 degrees out. Before we left though I just had to get a Funnel Cake, and for those of you who think it's the same as a Dough Boy...it's not.

Little Johnny Cakes

The latest festival we have discovered in Rhode Island is the Johnny Cake Festival. Now I had no idea what a Johnny Cake was until about last year I think. I had heard of them and knew they were made of corn but other than that, no clue. For those of you who were like me, a Johnny Cake is basically a pancake made with cornmeal and served with butter. Yes, they have a whole festival for this, although it is much smaller that the Scituate Art Festival it is a great place to find local things. It is held at Kenyon's Grist Mill where the cornmeal is made in North Kingstown, RI. There were vendors set up around the lake and mill with photography, jewelry, food and clothes. One of the most interesting two vendors was the Hannah's Farm Alpacas. They look just like Lamas but they make a funny noise. This place though makes all kinds of things out of the Alpaca wool, which apparently is very warm and expensive. They even had little Alpaca toys for kids. The other booth was the RI Spinners Guild. They were out with their Sheep wool and spinners, spinning away. I knew that they did that stuff in Scotland because I have seen it but I had no idea they still did it here. This festival was better than the Art Festival when it came to local food vendors. There were booths here with local honey, roasted nuts, BBQ sauce, spreads and milk. They even had popping corn for popcorn, which we tried and failed at.

Alpaca Toys

All in all it has been a great month and to end it we had a little Harvest Party to celebrate Fall and Halloween.