Review: Classic Fall Experiences

Fall: the season of sweaters, pumpkins, shades of deep reds and bitter cold mornings. The following are a couple things that I wanted to try and prepare for the oncoming autumn season.

PUMPKIN PATCH

Sixty acres of pumpkins, corn and soybeans. I arrived at Carolyn’s Country Cousins Pumpkin Patch. Each year the pumpkins have been harvested by the Raasch family since 1991. I pulled into the parking lot to see healthy, bright greens and kids running around, chasing each other.

Once I entered the gates of the farm and payed the woman behind the window $10, I climbed aboard the haywagon to take the trip to the patch. The short ride covered the grounds with variety of pumpkins: orange, white, green, smooth, tall and short. I hopped off the back of the truck with the hand of the tractor driver. I walked into the field and received a wiff of hay.

I immediately started looking for the right pumpkin for me. I had always been the kid who needed the perfectly round pumpkin, just the right size, with no imperfections. I was hoping to find a member of the squash family with no scratches, bumps or holes.

It may have been hard to find, but with 20 acres of pumpkins, I was confident at least one was perfect.

I took it back on the hayride with me to buy it for just over $5 and left the pumpkin patch with a perfectly good pumpkin in hand.

Overall, I enjoyed my time at Carolyn’s farm a lot. I loved seeing the young families and their young children playing in the grass and riding the “kitty” train around in circles. It was a heart-warming reminder of the arrival of fall.

PUMPKIN SPICE LATTE

I had never wanted to be one of those classic “white girls” who were excited when the pumpkin spice latte from Starbucks came back into season, so I had never tried it before until now.

I pulled through the drive-through Starbucks on Mission and handed the barista my $4.66. She shortly came back with a warm latte in hand.

I got a wiff of the thick pumpkin smell when I went to set it down in the cup hold of my car. It smelled as strong as my Grandma baking pumpkin pie in her kitchen on Thanksgiving.

I couldn’t help but close my eyes and remember moments spent with my family during Thanksgiving break, in the kitchen cooking or outside raking leaves.

It tasted of a liquid version of a pumpkin pie, with a hint of coffee and cream added. The drink was too hot at first and burned my inner cheeks. I then took the lid off and raised the cup to my face, letting the warm steam permeate into my skin.

I will definitely be going back to the Starbucks drive-through when I’m craving the warmth of a Pumpkin Spice Latte late at night or early before school.