With autumn underway, it's the perfect time to enjoy fresh fall produce, beautiful scenery, and cultural events in and around Richmond. Whether you prefer to stay close to the Brandermill Woods community or discover new adventures further afield, there's a senior-friendly autumn activity to suit everyone. Let's explore four enjoyable ways to make the most of autumn in your Independent Living community.
1. Visit a Local Pumpkin Patch
Pumpkin picking is a lovely fall-themed activity to enjoy with friends and visiting grandkids. Fortunately, the area around Richmond is home to several family-friendly farms where you can enjoy time in nature while picking your own pumpkin to take home.
Levi's Pumpkins is just a 15-minute drive from the Brandermill Woods community and welcomes families to come and pick its produce throughout October. Aside from pumpkins, the farm sells plenty of other autumnal products to decorate your Independent Living apartment, including cornstalks, hay bales, and ornamental signs. The team also operates a range of fun games and display areas — perfect for capturing seasonal photographs of your loved ones.
2. Enjoy the Richmond Folk Fest
The ever-popular Richmond Folk Festival is one of Virginia's largest open-air events and showcases a diverse mix of performance acts and crafts for three days in October. The festival boasts six stages, where you can catch live music, dance, and storytelling performances from across the United States and beyond.
You can find the festival along the riverbank in Richmond's beautiful downtown district, and it's the ideal way to explore the city's vibrant cultural influences, geography, and history. Visitors can also enjoy a delicious range of global street food dishes, including Italian classics, spicy jerk chicken, and traditional American comfort food.
3. Go on an Apple-Picking Day Trip
Virginia is renowned for its delicious apples, and many of the state's orchards allow visitors to pick their own. The Carter Mountain Orchard in nearby Charlottesville hosts family-friendly apple-picking sessions throughout the fall. If you prefer eating apples to picking them, you can purchase pre-picked fruit at the farm store alongside pumpkins, condiments, and baked goods.
The orchard also offers wine-tasting sessions and sells its own wines from its tasting rooms. The wine shop has the tasting room with the highest elevation in the area, offering glorious panoramic views from its elegant patio. Enjoy an apple cider donut, apple pie ala mode, a glass of wine, or a hard apple cider while you take in the sights above the treetops.
4. Go for a Drive to See the Fall Foliage
You'll find no better place to see glorious fall foliage in all its technicolor glory than Shenandoah National Park. The park is home to Skyline Drive, a spectacular 105-mile stretch of road across the Blue Ridge Mountains. Traveling the entire length takes around 3 hours, but you can join the road at any of the four entrance stations to shorten your journey.
The road operates a 35-mile-per-hour speed limit, allowing you to take in the valley and mountain views and spot native wildlife, such as deer, black bears, and wild turkeys, in their natural habitats. Mileposts point out interesting features along the route, and you can access scenic hiking trails from the entrance stations.
Discover Our Community
Midlothian, Richmond, and the surrounding areas provide a wealth of activities for seniors. Discover what the area has to offer, and explore our top-quality services and amenities by visiting Brandermill Woods community. Call us at (804) 744-1173 to schedule a tour to experience our community for yourself and explore your Independent Living, Assisted Living, and Memory Care options.
