From the editor
Happy weekend, Dispatchers.
There’s a lot of rain in next week’s forecast, so get out there today and squeeze in a fall activity or two. Not sure where to start? Kathleen has your apple-picking guide, and where to find the best apple cocktails.
Keep scrolling for this weekend’s Top 10 events, a free Oktoberfest, and three upcoming events worth getting tickets for now.
And grab your Dinner Club seat: Signups close Monday for Wednesday’s dinner. We’re 47 strong — help us reach 50 neighbors meeting neighbors. Now that’s community.
Have a fantastic weekend.
— Abby
In this issue:
🀄 RSVP time
🍎 How do you like them…
🏈 Your couch’s newest competition
🗓️ This weekend, a field trip and tickets to buy now
📩 Was this forwarded to you by a friend? Subscribe — and join the more than 6,000 of your neighbors who never miss a thing.
IRL
🀄 Mahjong corner
Boot Camp: Beginner Class + Guided Play on the same day! (Message me by replying to this email if you want to come to just one.) Oct. 18 @ 11 a.m. (class) and 1:20 p.m. (Guided Play)
Guided Play: Oct. 20 @ 5 p.m.
🍽️ Dinner Club
🚨 Signups end Monday @ 6:30 p.m. — the only thing missing is you!
Take the quiz and join the movement that more than 400 of your neighbors are in on. We’ll gather 50+ kind folks on Wednesday, Oct. 14 @ 6:30 p.m. for dinner at restaurants all over town. Same time, different places. Then reunite at the Misfit for a nightcap to gossip about how it all went down.
Table for who? Scenes from September’s Dinner Club by Seen in Saratoga.
🍎 The Best Pick-Your-Own
Stock image by Atlantic Ambience on Pexels.
I recently took my kids apple-picking, and it was the perfect fall afternoon: crisp and sunny, with hot cider doughnuts waiting at the finish line. The crop was a little thinner than usual (a spring frost cost New York growers more than $30 million this year), but the picking was great and spirits were high. After a brutal season, our family-run orchards could use the love, and you get apples, doughnuts and a few screen-free hours in return.
More Than Apples: Bowman Orchards; 147 Sugarhill Rd., Rexford
Pick from 63 apple varieties across 98 acres, plus pumpkins, then hit the play zone ($20.95 pass) for a steam train, corn maze, hayrides, pony rides and apple cannons. The petting zoo and playground are free.
Ultimate PYO: Saratoga Apple; 1174 NY-29 Schuylerville
My eighth graders are far too old for apple-themed choo-choo trains, so we went straight PYO (with a doughnut bribe). Their surly attitudes eventually softened, like fallen apples, and we had a great time. Go early: we arrived at 10 a.m., and by the time we left, the doughnut line was 15 minutes. (Worth it!)
Farm Fresh: Riverview Orchards; 660 Riverview Rd., Rexford
Great for animal lovers: pet the goats, and catch free weekend hayrides to the best picking. The farm store has doughnuts, local crafts and an observation beehive, plus picnic tables and a porch with a view.
Country Chic: DeVoe’s Apple Orchard; 1569 U.S. 9, Clifton Park
The classic country store and orchard, with gift baskets of local fruit, jams and cheeses, plus pies, fritters, muffins and, of course, doughnuts.
🍎 When you prefer your apples with booze
When Mom (that’s me, Kathleen) wants to drink her orchard fruit? I mean I love a seasonal beverage as much as the next guy, but I’m done with the sweet stuff. Here’s where I go when it’s time to adult:
Cantina Saratoga, where Apple Cider Margaritas put the happy in hour. (Also available as a mocktail.)
Seneca, where the Pear Cosmo perks me up with the Grey Goose La Poire, dry Curacao, fresh-squeezed lime juice, cran and fresh pear.
The Wishing Well, where you can sip your way through autumn offerings. My favorite is the Apple Ginger Moscow Mule, with Ketel One vodka, Giffard Ginger of the Indies, spiced Apple Cordial and Fever Tree ginger beer.
The Misfit, where the Rita’s Apple Pie (with an Añejo base) has a salted caramel cinnamon sugar rim.
📌 ICYMI…
🏈 SPORTSBALL
McGregor’s new NFL menu scores
Last Sunday was our first day of mahjong at McGregor Links Country Club, and we couldn’t help but have a tiny bit of FOMO re: the cheers erupting from the stunnnning bar.
Turns out, The Brackett House had just launched a new NFL menu — available Sundays (11 a.m. to 7 p.m.) and Mondays (bar opens at 4 p.m.) — and it was quite a scene.
Think Miller Lite and Labatt pitchers for $12 and heaping plates of Game Day Specials for as low as $7. Plus: make your own combo of any 3 snacks (think mozz sticks, pretzel bites, wings, fries and more).
You don’t have to be a member to hit up the bar for a game. So come on down!
🫶 Together with The Brackett House at McGregor Links.
📰 IN BRIEF
Alpine Sport Shop (321 Clinton St.) celebrates 85 years with an induction into New York State’s Historic Business Preservation Registry (HBPR) at 10 a.m. today, it announced this week.
“Classroom technology” was in the hot seat (again) during Thursday’s Board of Education meeting and Maple Avenue Middle gave a revealing performance report, reports Saratoga Civic Pulse.
Also in Civic Pulse from Thursday night: a 120-foot cell phone tower remains under review, and more during the Planning Board meeting.
A former Miss Saratoga County has founded a crime survivors support group, reports NewsChannel13.
🗓️ WHAT TO DO
Loving these expertly curated weekend previews by Slice of Saratoga — including Showcase of Homes and the Henry Street Block Party. Hello! (Click on the image for 10 autumnal activities.)
🍺 FIELD TRIP
Prost: Lake George Village Oktoberfest parties on today (Canada Street across from Shepard Park) from noon to 10 p.m. before wrapping up tomorrow/Sunday noon to 5 p.m.
Lake George Village Oktoberfest celebrates 15 years this weekend with its biggest lineup yet: more than 60 vendors. Hosted by Adirondack Pub & Brewery, the free Bavarian street fair takes over Canada Street with nonstop polka, German beer and food (including bratwurst made right here in the Capital Region), Oktoberfest games and kids’ rides, all set against peak fall foliage.
🎟️ HEADS UP
Mark your calendars now — these super-fun ticketed events are coming up fast.
🍻 The Saratoga Springs Preservation Foundation’s 14th annual Pints for Preservation Pub Crawl returns Saturday, Oct. 17, mixing beer with a little architectural history. Starting at 3 p.m. at Druthers Brewing Company, crawlers will hit Bailey’s Cafe, Gaffney’s and The Grotto Tiki Lounge before ending at Whitman Brewing Company, learning the backstory of each building along the way. There’s an architectural scavenger hunt, too, with a chance to win a “major award.”
🍷 In recognition of Domestic Violence Awareness Month, the stunning Keuka Spring Vineyards tasting room (15 Spring Street) is hosting a ONE fundraiser for Wellspring on Tuesday, Oct. 20, from 5:30 to 7:30 p.m. A $50 ticket gets you a glass of wine, a grazing table and live music from Amy-Lin Slezak, with proceeds going to Wellspring, which provides a 24-hour hotline, counseling, shelter and legal advocacy for survivors of domestic violence and sexual assault. It’s limited to 40 guests.
🎤 Caffè Lena’s TrueSongs is back for its seventh year, and after outgrowing Caffè Lena last year (forcing a last-minute move), it returns to Universal Preservation Hall on Friday, Nov. 6. Over several months, local people who have faced major life challenges work with professional songwriters and storytelling coaches to turn their experiences into first-person stories and original songs written just for them. Each speaker represents an area nonprofit, and on the night of the show they tell their stories live, followed by the first public performance of the songs those stories inspired.
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