Fall, I've Decided I Like You: An Autumn Love Letter to Maryland

I am a summer person. I will say that right up front. I love the Bay, the long evenings, the sand that never fully leaves the car. So every September I brace myself for a little grief when the pool closes and the light starts slanting low and golden by five o’clock.

And every year, fall talks me right back into loving it. The first morning I reach for a cardigan instead of running the AC, I think the same thing: okay, fine. Fall, I’ve decided I like you.

The light changes, and so do I

There is a specific kind of afternoon in Maryland in October, the air clean and a little crisp, the trees going copper and gold along the road, that I would not trade for anything. The whole state seems to exhale. Carpool line feels less frantic. The kids come home wanting soup.

If you want to chase the color, the timing matters. The Maryland Department of Natural Resources publishes a weekly fall foliage report every Thursday into November, with on-the-ground notes from foresters and rangers across the state. Peak generally arrives first out west in Garrett County in early-to-mid October, then rolls east toward the Shore by early November. I keep that report bookmarked and plan our drives around it.

Where we go to catch it

• Western Maryland for the big show. Garrett and Allegany counties turn first and turn hardest. A drive along the mountains in mid-October is worth the trip.
• The Eastern Shore for the slow, late color. Pocomoke River State Park and its bald cypress swamp turn a rusty orange that you do not see anywhere else. If you missed peak out west, the Shore gives you a second chance well into November. (We have a whole long weekend on the Eastern Shore we do most falls.)
• Annapolis for a city version of autumn. The brick and the boats look even better with a few yellow leaves drifting down. Here is our perfect day there if you want a plan.

The cozy at home

Fall is when our house gets its best version of itself. Mums on the front steps, a bowl of apples on the counter, the first pot of something simmering all afternoon. I lean all the way into it. By the time the first frost hits, usually around Halloween here in central Maryland according to the Old Farmer’s Almanac frost dates, the porch is fully decorated and there is crab dip in the oven more weekends than not.

Speaking of which, if you are hosting this season, my Maryland crab dip is the thing I make on repeat from September through the holidays, and I have a preppy DIY pumpkin project that has become a whole tradition with the kids.

So here we are again. The pool is closed, the cardigans are out, and I am completely, helplessly charmed. Fall, you win. You always do.