Fall To-Do List

National Book Festival on the National Mall

This weather has been incredibly amazing this past week, and it has started me thinking about all the fun outdoors activities I get to do in the next few months.  Fall is my absolute favorite season for outdoor fun, primarily because the weather is crisp and perfect, and bonus...no pesky mosquitoes to eat me alive!

Here are a few DC area events that are already on my radar for the next two months:

National Book Festival--This year's festival will take place September 21st-22nd on the National Mall. Festival-goers can meet and hear firsthand from their favorite poets and authors, get books signed, hear special entertainment, have photos taken with storybook characters and participate in a variety of activities.  Some exciting authors attending this year are Khaled Hosseini, author of "The Kite Runner" and his newest, "And the Mountains Echoed" and Veronica Roth, author of my new favorites, "Divergent", "Insurgent" and the soon-to-be-released, "Allegiant".  I volunteer at the Festival each year for the Junior League of Washington, and my favorite part is seeing how excited the kids are when meeting and talking to their favorite authors.  Melts my heart!

Quattro Goomba's Winery

Winery Tour--It's been a few years since I've done a winery tour, and I'm excited to say that I've been invited to a fun birthday party at one the last weekend of September.  Virginia is home to over 200 wineries, some as close as about an hour outside of Washington.  Typically, I've gone with a big group on a party bus or van, and it is always a great day.  The birthday party will be at Quattro Goomba's Winery, and I'm super excited to check this one out since I've heard great things!  They also have a pizza shop inside the winery in case we imbibe in one too many tastings!  Perfection!

Billy Goat Trail

Hiking--I've been itching to go hiking for a few months now, and the weather is finally cool enough to hit the trails.  There are a lot of really great hiking trails right outside of DC, but I think this year I want to try White Oak Canyon in the Shenandoah National Park.  It's a 4.8-mile trail that takes you past some really great waterfalls, which are supposed to be surging in the fall.  Sounds perfect!

photo from Metro Weekly

Drag Queen Race--I have meant to go every year, and for one reason or another, have never made it to this iconic DC event.  This year, my calendar is marked for October 29th, where the area's most fabulous queens flaunt their stuff and race down 17th Street in high heels.  If you need me that night, be sure you can find me in Dupont Circle.

Which leads me to Halloween, my second most favorite holiday!  No idea what I will be dressing up as this year, or who I will be, but since I missed the last two years, I have some serious making up to do.  Translation--be prepared for pure awesomeness.  When it comes to Halloween, I hate to disappoint.

So, what are you looking forward to this fall?  A few more things I'm looking forward to as the temperatures cool:  making chili and apple crisp, drinking hot apple cider, roasting pumpkin seeds, and maybe even doing some weekend antiquing, enjoying a Oktoberfest party or hitting up a local county fair.  And obviously, if anyone wants to take me as their plus-one to a Redskins or Ravens game, I am so in!  Love me some football.  Looks like I'm going to have an action-packed, fun-filled fall.  So looking forward to it!