A weekend full of fall festivities!

The weather has been absolutely wonderful this past week and I know so many of us are just itching to get outside and enjoy the beginning of Florida fall! If you’re not sure what to do this weekend, you’re actually in luck, because there’s so much going on - you may just not be able to make up your mind on what sounds like the most fun. You may just have to go to all of them!

The Haystackular Haymaze  across from S.S. Dixon Primary School in Pace is open and hours are 4 to 9 p.m. on Friday, noon to 9 p.m. on Saturdays and noon until 6 p.m. on Sundays. This fun event runs from September 30th until October 22nd.  If you haven’t been, here’s what you can expect...to start with a 4,000-bale haymaze to get disoriented in (the largest hay bale maze ever constructed in northwest Florida), hayrides, bouncers for the kids, a playground, a corn trough to play in and even a zip line! 

Next, we have the fabulous Main Street Milton First Friday! This event takes place every first Friday of the month through November 4th  - hours are 5 p.m. until 8 p.m. If you haven’t been, you really should go. They have a car of the month club, arts and crafts, and I’ve even spotted our roller derby team there... I’ve also noticed a nice collection of classic cars seem to hang out at First Friday, maybe they come for the live music or dinner specials offered by the local restaurants, or maybe they just like being downtown and visiting with everyone  - whatever their reason, they sure do have some nice cars and I sure hope First Fridays are here to stay for a long time!

The next event is another local favorite - so much a favorite that's its been happening for 30 years now! Yep -I ’m talking about the St. Rose of Lima 30th annual International Fall Festival! Starting Friday, October 7th from 5 to 10 p.m., Saturday 10a.m. to 10 p.m. and Sunday noon until 5 you can enjoy foods from the cultures of Filipino, America, Hispanic, Cajun, Italian, and Polish. There’s art tables, craft booths, plant booths, bakery booths and even a petting zoo. Keep me away from the petting zoo. I almost left there last year with a goat and a pot belly pig named Bacon.

Not really into the Fall Festival scene, how about taking a trip over to the Milton Library and visiting the Friends of Milton Library Sale. They have great prices on used books and it’ll be a little more quiet that the festivities going on around town. Hours are Monday through Wednesday 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. and Thursday, Friday, and Saturday 9:00 a.m. until 1:00 p.m. Closed on Sunday.

You could also visit the Santa Rosa County Historical Museum, open 10 a.m. until 2 p.m. on Saturdays in October. Here you will learn about the culture and history of Santa Rosa. The museum is located in historic downtown Milton.

The last place on my list is the Sweet Season Farms Corn Maze. This was so much fun for us last year! We literally stayed for half the day. The farm is open 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. on Saturdays and 1 to 5 p.m. on Sundays. It opened October 1 and will run through November 6th. I follow them on Facebook and due to limited rainfall this summer, the corn is not as tall as it has been in past years, but that won’t stop us from visiting! There is so much to do here. Admission is $5 for ages 4 and up, but along with a gigantic corn maze, that by the way is drawn out into a theme each year, they have a play ground, hayrides, a cow train little ones can ride on, a corn cannon  - yeah, you actually load corn into a PVC pipe and fire the corn, and a picnic area. Not to mention the farm is just beautiful. And with the beautiful weather we’re expected to have this weekend, this will be a great place to spend the day!

There you have it, plenty of options to choose from! Enjoy the wonderful weather and our great town and which ever event you choose to go to - even if its all of them!

-Jenn V.