If the current blanket of (Karl the) fog nestled over San Francisco is any indication, fall is right around the corner. While the Bay Area is famous for our Indian Summers, we definitely enjoy our share of autumnal traditions and treats. Anyone craving falling leaves and turtleneck sweaters can rest easy with this pumpkin spice-flavored collection of reasons to celebrate a San Francisco Fall:
1. #OrangeOctober
2. We get to bundle up and pack a picnic for Hardly Strictly Bluegrass on September 30 through October 2. This year's free weekend of music in Golden Gate Park includes CAKE, Mary Chapin Carpenter and Roseanne Cash.
3. Weekend road trips to the pumpkin patches and corn mazes of Half Moon Bay are almost here.
4. Send for your family: San Francisco temperatures rise in the autumn, but hotel prices drop. It's a semi-famous anomaly to take advantage of before the city's hotels catch on.
5. Humphry Slocombe brings back Peppered Pumpkin ice cream.
6. Wine is always a good idea, but Napa Valley's harvest season in September and October is the region's busiest—and most fun.
7. Tech titans' lavish Halloween parties are always the easiest events to crash.
8. Bay winds pick up during the fall, providing perfect sailing conditions for the Bay Area's boaters. If you've ever wanted to try a sailboat cruise around the Bay, this is the time of year to do it.
9. Ghirardelli Square hosts a chocolate festival every September. That's right—a festival just for chocolate.
10. Which co-worker will you spot in a leather vest and dog collar at the Folsom Street Fair? The anticipation is half the fun.
11. It's time to start training for October 2nd's Bridge to Bridge run and beat your time from the Golden Gate to the Bay Bridge. Running that 12K is usually faster than driving down Embarcadero anyway.
12. Every October 17 offers a chance to celebrate our resilience following the Loma-Pieta Earthquake of 1989. Raise a glass at 5:04pm and toast the City by the Bay.
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