97.9 The Hill’s Staff Picks: Favorite Fall Festivities

Welcome to the seventh edition of 97.9 The Hill’s Staff Picks.

This time, read on as your favorite staffers discuss what can arguably be considered the greatest season of the year: FALL!

Below you can find all the best places to pick a pumpkin, some insider vacation tips, a festive drink to order from Starbucks and where to find the perfect pint of cider.

So put on your spooky socks, grab a cup of cocoa and discover all the reasons to love the season.

Victor Lewis (Digital Content Editor & Friendly Neighborhood Weekend Host)

Favorite Fall Festivities: Fall is the superior time of year for so many reasons – Southern summers can be brutal, and this break from the heat is something I look forward during literally the rest of the year. The only good part about hot months is tomato season, but even the mightiest of tomato sandwiches pales before the glory of the first piece of sweet potato pie that autumn brings with it.

Leaves changing color is an obvious highlight, and since half my family is from the mountains, a trip into higher elevations when everything is all red, yellow and gold is absolutely crucial to the season. I’m the type that enjoys driving in most scenarios, and winding mountain roads decorated by colorful leaves is a particular highlight.

Reasons to love the season: Besides obvious temperature and food-related reasons to love the season: Halloween. My second favorite holiday, placing close behind Christmas. Halloween is one of my favorite celebrations because it almost feels like festivities grow up with you: as a kid, you’re collecting candy and trick-or-treating, as a teenager you’re finding ways to get in trouble, as an adult you do your part to make sure folks younger than you have a happy Halloween while also indulging some of your more ridiculous impulses all while watching scary/seasonal movies on nights when you probably should just go to bed instead. Halloween rules.

Kenny Dike (Billing, Broadcast Traffic, & Sales Operations Manager)

Favorite Fall Festivities: Big fan of fall. Didn’t love it as a kid as it represented being back in school, meaning alarm clocks and homework and being a long way away from the next summer break. But as a grown-up, love it, I don’t ever have homework (at least not in the academic sense,) and thanks to smart phone technologically, my alarm clock is way less brutal. And what is summer break?

Reasons to love the season: Favorite things about fall are football, Halloween (who knew it would be even more fun as an adult?!) and any pumpkin flavored food product. I mean ANY pumpkin related food product. All in!

Elle Kehres (Reporter)

Favorite Fall Festivities: Last year I had my first experience picking my own pumpkin off the vine. While this was in Charlotte, I know there are plenty of opportunities right in our backyard to do the same! Pumpkin carving is one of my favorite activities, but if you think it’s still a little too early to carve your pumpkin (and you don’t want it to get all mushy on you before the big day), I suggest pumpkin painting! Also very crafty and entertaining and your pumpkin friends last much longer.

Ohhh and my favorite thing of all: hot beverages. To be honest, I drink hot cocoa year round so sweater season really isn’t an exception – but now is my time to shine. Back in the day I used to work at Starbucks, and while I can’t get behind the PSL (Pumpkin Spice Latte), might I offer up another option: the Caramel Apple Spice. Truly a delicious apple cider-esque beverage. Alternatively, Trader Joe’s has some stellar apple cider for cheap. Heat that bad boy up, perhaps toss in a splash of Fireball Whiskey if you care to partake, and sip your way into the season.

Reasons to love the season: Orange is my favorite color. While I am a summer baby at heart, growing up on the West Coast, actually getting to experience seasons here is still very novel for me. North Carolina is beautiful and I love to see the trees change! Plus I LOVE dressing up so Halloween is right up my alley.

Aubrey Williams (General Manager)

Favorite Fall Festivities: We always go to the beach in September and I think it is the most beautiful time of year to be there – the air, the light! At my house, we love carving pumpkins and make a point to visit Ragan and Holly’s Pumpkin Patch where there are old tractors for the kids to play on and hayrides.

Reasons to love the season: I adore summer and I am always sad to see the daylight go, and the leaves fall – but I do enjoy the cooler temperatures, wardrobe change, red wine and fires in the firepit. Oh yeah, and HALLOWEEN! Time to start planning this year’s costumes…

Aaron Keck (Host, The Aaron Keck Show)

Favorite Fall Festivities: When the weather turns, we spend more time inside, so my favorite fall activities tend to revolve around food: pumpkin pie and apple cider, to be specific. (Why can’t we have these things all year?)

If you’re a Disney fan, though, Brad and I have discovered that fall is the perfect time for a Disneyworld vacation! (In non-pandemic years, at least.) Here we are last year celebrating Halloween at the Magic Kingdom, with a couple friends from Georgia. (Brad’s arm was fine, by the way – he was dressed as Evan Hansen for Halloween.)

Reasons to love the season (?): I grew up in Michigan, where the fall weather is kind of icky – so I’ve never been a big fan of this season. (Though I do have some nice memories of trick-or-treating on Halloween!)

Ali Evans (Account Executive & Host of Woman Crush Wednesday)

Favorite Fall Festivities: McKee’s Corn Maze in Hillsborough in my favorite fall thing ever! Unfortunately, I don’t think they’re opening this year. I’ve been going since I was in high school with my best friend Melissa. She and I are pretty competitive when it comes to tracking down all the check points, and I’ve passed that along to my husband Brian as well. Another fall thing I love – is love! My husband and I got married on November 1st, so fall is always very special for us. This year, we’re spending a couple days in Boone (where we met) and enjoying the cold weather, the leaves changing, and definitely drinking some spiked hot apple cider.

Reasons to love the season: Let me be VERY clear. Are you listening? I LOVE FALL. I LIVE MY WHOLE LIFE FOR FALL. I look fantastic in olive green. In fact, if it’s not in Fall’s color wheel, it’s probably not in my wardrobe. Fall comes around and I open all the windows in our house, burn candles, and I’m nice to people I don’t even like. I feel slightest crisp in the air, and I turn into some kind of Disney Princess with perfect hair who can control falling leaves and sings everything she wants to say. Fall is my season. MINE.

AJ (“Spooky Night Guy”)

Favorite Fall Festivities: There are two parts to every year. Part 1 is football season. The other Part is waiting for football season.

Reasons to love the season: I love fall. Halloween. Football. Candy. The weather. And most importantly, my birthday.

Jada Jarillo (Marketing and Operations Manager)

Favorite Fall Festivities: We have some great family traditions that start with decorating the outside of the house, sometime in mid-September (yes, it’s already decorated), with purple, green, and orange lights, spooky ghosts, and my son takes pride in the plastic spiders he carefully places in the bushes. Sometime in October we’ll add some mums and pumpkins, and some Styrofoam gravestones in the yard.

Our favorite place to find a pumpkin is Smith’s Family Fun Farm in Hillsborough. Not only is it close by our home, it is a large patch that allows you to wander around the field and pick your own pumpkin. It also has great play equipment for kids, including a huge tube slide, so it makes for a fun family day.

Finally, it wouldn’t be Halloween without the annual pumpkin carving night, coupled with baked pumpkin seeds and a scary movie or two. We may or may not end up trick or treating this year, but I’m sure there will be still be candy, and as long as we have our decorations, pumpkins, and scary movies I think we will still have just as much fun.

Reasons to love the season: Like every other sane human being, I absolutely love everything about the season. From the smell of falling leaves, to enjoying walks on cool afternoons, and yes, even pumpkin spice.

Brighton McConnell (News Director)

Favorite Fall Festivities: Lately, I’ve loved going to breweries and cideries in the fall. Whether it’s Botanist & Barrel here in Orange County or Bold Rock near my hometown, it’s tough to beat sitting outside on a crisp fall day enjoying things like campfires, cider donuts and live music! Here’s some photos of my last trip to Botanist & Barrel last November, where my friends and I got to juice some apples!

Reasons to love the season: I LOVE the fall — easily my favorite season of the year, both in terms of the weather here in North Carolina and the fun activities. Going to football games (and participating in the marching band) were a main reason for many years. I also love Halloween — pumpkins as decorations are so great and it’s tough to beat all the great treats that go on sale!

Anna Griffin (Creative Account Coordinator)

Favorite Fall Festivities: All things HALLOWEEN! It’s spooky time, baby! My friends and I love haunted houses. The Clayton Fear Farm is super fun every year for a haunted corn maze and hay ride!

Reasons to love the season (?): Pros – I love Halloween. It’s my second favorite holiday after Christmas. It’s so fun coming up with a creative costume and just having a great time! Other than that, the leaves changing is beautiful and I prefer fall fashion myself (sweater game fire).

Cons – I HATE the cold. 72 degrees or above, please. Anything below that is an Arctic chill for me. Nope. No thanks.

Jack Carmichael (Administrative Assistant)

Favorite Fall Festivities: This fall, I’m really looking forward to being outside! Fall in NC is my favorite weather for going on long walks and hanging out with friends and family outdoors (from a safe distance). In 2020, that’s a BIG win. Sure, it can get a little chilly, but who doesn’t love a good sweater?

I’m also looking forward to another pandemic-friendly activity this fall: going to a pumpkin patch! There’s definitely a nostalgia factor to this one for me. Pumpkin patches bring me back to selling pumpkins with my boy scout troop, carving pumpkins with my dad, and watching the all-time classic “It’s The Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown!”.

Reasons to love the season: There’s a lot to love about fall. I’m a sucker for all the fun holidays, and seeing the leaves change never gets old. But I do have one hot take that might get me in trouble: candy corn is delicious. I can already hear your protests. Yes, it has zero nutritional value. Yes, it includes an ingredient called “confectioner’s glaze” made of bug secretions. And yes, it…kind of tastes like chalk. But it makes me happy! Unfortunately, the sweet, weird taste of candy corn is inextricably linked to my good feelings about fall. You know deep down you agree.