Open the windows, break out the hoodies, fire up the crockpot and pumpkin spice it up… summer has officially given into fall.
One of the things we love about living on the Carolina coast are the shoulder seasons… the months of 
October, November, March and April where our friends to the North might be stuck inside and where us North Carolinians are enjoying what we lovingly call “porch weather”.
The story of the season is falling leaves, falling temps, fall festivals, fishing, food, football… did I miss any f’s?
With the cooler air comes a renewed sense of spirit. As summer waves goodbye, autumn invites us to come outside and live in a world without humidity. The crowds have returned home, the water is still warm, and 75 is a high, not a low. It’s pretty hard to resist being outside so why even try?
Tight lines & full bellies
No matter the season, the fishing never stops… but fall reigns supreme. The wide waters of the Neuse and the warm waters of the local creeks prove to be one of the top fisheries on the East Coast year after year.
Brisk mornings on the water will put your angler skills to the test catching drum, tarpon, flounder, trout, stripers and more. Huge drum are spawning visitors to our rivers, and larger trout arrive and hang out for months in our local waters. It doesn’t get much better, kinda like when baseball and football are on at the same time… another fun October overlap.
And this year we actually caught crabs until late-October. With the largest “King Jimmy” crab of the season caught on October 23rd! 2019 takes the prize for the best crabbing year we’ve had in quite some time.
Suffice it to say, we’ve had many happy dinner tables lately. Check out few of our favorite neighborhood seafood recipes. It’s an exciting time of year for those that have a love of fishing and those that have a love of eating!
Let’s go festing
We are surrounded by fall festivals that draw hundreds of thousands of people to the area, and lucky locals get to enjoy them right in our backyard! The Ol’ Front Porch Music Festival, NC Seafood Festival, MumFest and Oktoberfest to name a few have all been popular weekend hot-spots. Add in the Oriental Chili Cook-Off and neighborhood trick-or-treating and you’re totally booked for October.
Ol’ front porch music festival
This is my favorite festival of them all, just down the street in Oriental. Thousands descend on our little village to “band hop” around town the first weekend in October. From Cane Mill Road and Chatham Rabbits on the main stage to blueberry beer and bluegrass at the brewery, the Ol’ Front Porch Music Festival rocks. Such a neat experience to walk the village streets on a fall day and hear sweet strum’n sounds on just about every corner.
Seafood festival
The first weekend of October is the NC Seafood Festival, the largest 3-day festival in the state. Morehead City has hosted the growing event for over three decades. Come and “catch” the excitement… there’s lots to see, do, and eat with vendors and artisans from all over the coast and the main attraction, the delicious seafood cooked up just about every way you can imagine. Bring your walking shoes and your appetite!
Mumfest
MumFest draws 100,000+ visitors to New Bern’s revitalized downtown waterfront for all of the Mumfestivities the second weekend in October. Festival-goers enjoy live music, boat shows, amusement rides, street performers, dog shows, shopping, a petting zoo, and lots of tasty treats.
O’town chili cookoff
What’s better than all you can eat chili on a cool October day? At this delicious event, local chefs compete on the Oriental waterfront for the People’s Choice and Judges Awards and probably most important award of all……’best chili in town’ bragging rights! Perhaps we’re biased but Team AP sure does make a tasty bowl of chili. And we’re not the only ones, we were runner up for the People’s Choice award two years in a row and this year took FIRST PLACE 2019 People’s Choice!
Halloween in the hood
Lion and Tigers and… Ninjas? A growing annual tradition, the kiddos (and kids at heart) love making their rounds through the neighborhood and showing off their costumes… and filling their pumpkins of course. The evening starts with a party at the clubhouse then BEWARE… ghosts, superheroes and princesses are let loose in Burton Village, and will no doubt be on a sugar high!
As my great-great-great Aunt once wrote “I’m so glad I live in a world where there are Octobers” ~ Lucy Maud Montgomery, Anne of Green Gables
Lucy, I couldn’t agree more.
