For many, Christmas is the most nostalgic holiday. With fun winter activities, light-hearted movies, and the actual holiday itself, Christmas is nostalgic for many reasons! For me, fall is the most nostalgic season of them all and Halloween is my favorite holiday! Between spooky-scary movies, festivals, and all the sweet treats, I absolutely adore fall! Here of some of the best activities, movies, and places that have made fall so nostalgic for me.
Throughout my childhood, my family and I would travel to the different fall festivals that mine and the surrounding towns would host. I loved them all, but my personal favorite will always be the one hosted by Soergel’s Apple Orchard. My family has been going to Soergel’s since I was a kid, and it’s really hard to pick my favorite aspect of the orchard, but the best thing to do there is head over to their country store and buy some of their famous apple cider! It’s so tasty and some of the best cider I’ve ever tasted! While you’re there, make sure to buy a caramel or candy apple and check out all the baked goods they have to offer. If it’s warm enough, (because it just might be nowadays) grab some ice cream at their own little shop and take a trek up to the top of the hill to explore the pumpkin patch, apple orchard, and corn maze! Not feeling up to the hike? Take the hayride up!
The fun, spooky movies are also one of the reasons fall is so nostalgic for me as well! Movies like The Nightmare Before Christmas, Coraline, and The Corpse Bride have long been the films I find myself going back to each year! Childhood me loved immersing myself in the magical worlds directors like Tim Burton created for us. Although, as I grew up, I discovered I enjoyed watching something a little more thrilling. Horror movies like The Lost Boys, Trick ‘r’ Treat, and Sleepy Hollow are some of the more thrilling films I make sure every time the green leaves begin to change to vibrant yellows, reds, and oranges, as, in the words of Sheriff Leigh Brackett from John Carpenter’s 1978 film Halloween, “It’s Halloween, everyone’s entitled to one good scare.”
Speaking of good scares, who doesn’t love a good haunted house? There are plenty of places around the city of Pittsburgh where you can find a great haunted house! Every year, Kennywood Park located in West Mifflin hosts their Phantom Fall Fest, where every night at 6pm, a thick fog forms over the once cheerful park and the frightening creatures that are normally kept at bay come out to play with the unsuspecting patrons. Looking for a more intense experience? Hundred Acres Manor found in Bethel Park offers a 1-mile-long fearful walkthrough attraction. Need a break from the action? Their midway has games, snacks, and a scream bar to rejuvenate you after all that screaming.
Fall has always been a time to engage in the things I love the most, whether that’s a good scary movie, an exhilarating trip through a haunted house, or a stroll through a pumpkin patch. Although I dread the coming of the chilly weather winter brings, I always enjoy when fall comes along every year to cool things off after a scorching summer.