We all know the “most beautiful campus” is also home to some of the most beautiful fall colors, but you may still be wondering what kind of fall festivities there are to do in Eau Claire. Well, I’m here to tell you about one.

Envision this: Breezy, 60-degree weather, partly cloudy skies, apple trees as far as the eye can see, a picturesque big red barn, crunchy, colorful leaves aplenty…

Where can this slice of seasonal heaven be found, you may ask? Ferguson’s Apple Orchard, a short ten minute drive from campus.

On Sunday, a beautiful day where it finally (I repeat, FINALLY) felt like fall, I decided to kick off October with the fall festivity I’ve been looking forward to most since this glorious season ended last year.

I began my visit by getting lost. Literally, fellow Spectator editor Hailey Novak, our friend Sam and I could not find the orchard we were looking for. Turns out Eau Claire is home to more than one apple orchard and there is such a thing as showing up at the wrong one, little did we know.

Once we found our way, we began with a trip inside the big red barn.

Get this, there was a huge table filled with free apple samples (college student gold, my friends) of seemingly every kind of apple known to man. Plus, the sampler is able to cut as large a piece, or really as many pieces as he or she desires off the apple without any management supervision. Bliss.

On top of that, there were a variety of apple-filled goods to choose from for extremely reasonable prices. For $2.50, I got a small nut-covered caramel apple. We bought apple cider for just 50 cents, and a half peck of freshly-picked apples for $8.

Cookies, tarts, strudels and any other baked good involving apples were also available for purchase, and all for a price most college students could afford.

Another $5 bought us the rest of our fall Ferguson fun. We jumped on a hayride for a view of a bulk of the beautiful orchard.

Afterwards we were able to explore the Apple Blossom Park play area.

I know what you’re probably thinking: A play area? Why in the world would this be exciting for college students? To this I say, “Why wouldn’t this be exciting to you, especially as a college student?”

There was a petting zoo, a pumpkin patch, a spinning apple (like the tilt-a-whirl, but an apple), a tree swing and many more exciting things, all giving you the chance to be a kid again, if only for an hour or two.

For that short time, none of the stresses of being a college student plagued me. A little boy was even kind enough to share his tree swing wisdom with my friends and I.

Of course, he also watched as I completely failed at swinging from the tree. But hey, it was part of the trip’s charm.

I highly recommend you stop at Ferguson’s Apple Orchard, for an hour or two of good, old fashioned fall fun.