Back in July as Al and I were driving down 95- and by driving down I mean we had just hit traffic on a Saturday morning and were moving about 5 mph – we came up with the idea of creating a bucket list for autumn. Al hadn’t changed jobs yet and was still living in New York for the summer, therefore we figured the coming autumn was a perfect time to have a small adventure list. Hence, our bucket list was born.

Now here we are, 3 months later, and we’ve already started to cross items off.

1- Eat Guacamole- I’m a big fan of making lists, while making sure there is something on the list that you’ve already completed or know you’ll complete right away. As you get to know Al, you’ll learn eating guacamole could be a nightly thing if she had her way. Do you have a favorite in Washington, DC? We favor Oyamel above all others, but are working our way through a list of the best.

2- Start the blog- Like I said, I like being able to cross things off for the sense of accomplishment. As you can see we’ve already done this one as well.

3- Carve Pumpkins- How can you not do this every autumn (to stay consistent I’m going to say autumn the whole way through, but it’s challenging since I always say fall), there are several options on places to get pumpkins too. You can pull up to just about any church or school and find they are doing different fundraisers. Or perhaps you could make your way out to locations such as Cox Farms in Centreville, VA or maybe Jumbo’s Pumpkin Patch in Middleton, MD. Additionally we’ll be picking apples while we’re there, again there are several locations you can choose from to do this.

4- Walk on the National Mall- In DC everyone knows the best time to do this is at night, so we’re making plans again to walk along the Mall at night. It’s great for pictures and it beats walking along it during the summer months, when it’s still 85 degrees at 9pm. There are plenty of restaurants within a couple of blocks to stop in when we’re done.

5- Our favorite college football team- Al went to Syracuse University and I grew up hearing about the Orange from my father, so we are obviously Syracuse Orange sports fans. On November 9th, Syracuse is in town to play Maryland, so along with some friends we will be going to the game. Let’s be honest, for many of us fall…autumn…is football season; we couldn’t go the entire season without seeing one. As Syracuse sports fans we also know that as bad as our football team can be, basketball is always just around the corner.

6- Grill outside- The great thing about the weather in October, down here, is that you can still fire up the grill in the autumn months and not need to wear a winter coat in the process. So, we’re going to put together some of our favorite hamburgers with friends sometime in the next month and enjoy that it’s not below 50 degrees – yet.

7- Charlottesville- Here is a city with so much history and it’s so easy to forget that it’s just a couple hours away. Charlottesville has many things we want to see; from the University of Virginia to stopping at Barboursville Winery, which we have a great deal of wine from. Think about taking a drive down that way and send us back your pictures if you beat us there.

8- Halloween!- Whereas Al doesn’t favor Halloween and costumes as much, I do. So I’ve convinced (started convincing) her that dressing up and attending one of the many Halloween parties in the area will be fun. We’ll be having some fun with the dogs too, as we dress them up and put together an entertaining Halloween card. Stay tuned for the costume (don’t worry we’re not going to pick an overly annoying costume).

9- Sunday Soup- We’ve tasted a variety of soups that we both can only speak to, so this fall we’re going to give it a go a couple Sundays and make soup for dinner. Butternut squash soup is one of my favorites, so that will likely be the first I try; hopefully my attempt doesn’t ruin my ability to continue calling it my favorite.

10- Pie- As we approach Thanksgiving it’ll be time for pie, so we’ll come up with a pie or four and make our contributions to the couple dinners we’ll be hitting around the holiday. Can you really even argue that pumpkin pie is the best? Does anyone know a diner in DC that has a pie that you can’t get enough?

So, there is our list, our top ten bucket list in a matter of speaking.  Let’s hope we don’t kick the bucket after finishing these, so rather here is our list of things to do this autumn. Give some a try or let us know what would be on your list, or maybe even some things we should add to ours.

Happy Fall Autumn! (AKA, weather where you can wear long-sleeve shirts under sweaters again!)

-Scott