A few weekends ago my family hosted some friends from Port Saint Lucie, Florida, for a few days. Since the true fall experience doesn’t reach that far south, we started our weekend enjoying the beginning of the season with a trip to Solebury Orchards on one of those unusually hot fall afternoons. After leaving with more apples than we’ll ever need, we followed up our apple picking with some drinks in Peddler’s Village at Free Will Brewing Co. Taproom. The Scarecrow Spiced Ale went perfectly with our autumn-themed afternoon.

Since this was the first time in a while they’ve made it to the area, on Sunday we took a trip into Philadelphia for a quick history lesson. And by that I mean we drove past the Liberty Bell and Independence Hall on our way to take part in Big Red Pedal Tours’ Old City Bar Crawl. The Big Red Pedicycle is a 15-person bicycle that takes you on a bar tour of the Old City area, starting at Second and Market streets. We biked around the corner to Third and Chestnut, where we made our first stop at Plough & the Stars. Once we got back on the bike, we made our way to South Street, where we stopped at Milk Boy and Tattooed Mom.

We made our way back to the bike and pedaled our way to the beginning, finishing our bar loop. It was a beautiful day with multiple street fairs happening, so we took a walk around the area before going to Revolution House for pizza and appetizers. As our day in the city was loaded with food, drinks and fun, we returned home from our adventure and spent the rest of the evening watching the Eagles win against the Cardinals.

Ending a weekend of good food, drinks and company, we sent our friends off on their journey home with future plans in the works for the next trip. It’s always a great time seeing long-distance friends and to be able to share the best parts of your city with them.

— Aly Evans, administrative assistant