Autumn Has Found St Joseph

After a week of rain, came the weekend. Yesterday was an autumnal day, I don't care what the calendar says. It was very cool (low 60s), very windy (I had trouble standing still on the bluff), and it threatened rain all day.

D and I made our way to Lake Bluff Park late morning. The Farmer's Market was open for business and the tents were all set up for the Epicurean Classic. The first thing we noticed at the Farmer's Market was the abundance of offerings. Homegrown Michigan sweet corn was available in abundance but the prices were quite high ($.50 per ear). Not only were the last of the summer fruits (raspberries, peaches, etc.) still available, but the first of the autumn fruits (apples) were too. The day lilies and gladioli of summer were replaced with the sunflowers and mums of fall. But the most obvious produce to signal autumn was the pumpkins! Yikes!

I was sooo not ready to see pumpkins! But like it or not, autumn is here.

We made our way around the food vendor's tables and purchased some raspberries, strawberry jam, salsa, egg noodles, and 2 loaves of bread (1 pumpernickel, 1 cranberry walnut). OK, we bought a couple cookies too ;-)

No, no, we didn't forget K. Fuzzy Butz bakery had a table of dog goodies set up and K got a Woofy Stick.

Looking out from the bluff, we could see that the latest construction projects are making good progress. The Rose Fountain will have it's grand opening next weekend. The carousel is really taking shape. The other buildings look almost ready for occupancy.

It was not the best of weekends (weather-wise) for the Epicurean Classic.

So very unfortunate. The wind was blowing so hard you had to brace against it.

And it was a gloomy day. It was hard to see the chefs under the tent for the book signings.
There were a few hardy souls out in shorts, but even those people had light jackets on.

Labor Day is still a week away, but autumn has already come to St. Joseph.