One of the things I look forward to each year is the first day of fall; and by that I mean, the first day it’s chilly enough to wear a hoodie. That came 2 weeks ago, and since then I have been trying really hard to do as much fall-themed stuff as possible. I LOVE fall, but I always put off enjoying it because I’m busy with something. So in my second year in Iowa City, I decided to see what fall activities this place has going on.

1) The Farmers Market
Now that I live in an apartment off-campus and have to pass through downtown to get to class, I’ve become more aware of all the things the downtown has to offer, and one of them is the farmers market located on the other side of my favorite movie theatre in town. I went last Saturday for the first time and it was the perfect way to start off the chilly weather season. I didn’t buy much (because I am both broke and cheap), but there was a huge variety of stands to look through and plenty of people to talk to. I met up with a few friends I hadn’t seen in a while and had a very relaxing morning eating honey sticks and cookies before I went back home to watch…

2) Football
Probably the most unexpected change I’ve made since coming to college is becoming a huge college sports fan, particularly football, and basketball. Iowa has that kind of effect on you as a student here since we have pretty good sports programs, but watching all of the college football games has become my favorite way to relax on a fall Saturday. But obviously, the best is when we have a home game. The whole city makes its way to Kinnick Stadium, and getting to see such a giant community come together to have fun and get angry at the same time makes you feel very connected with the town and the school.

3) Watching the Leaves Change
I get that you can do this pretty much anywhere, so it’s not very specific to Iowa City, but seeing the campus lose its leaves after a long summer of green foliage is a very fresh feeling. There is one specific tree near the Old Capitol that starts to turn orange a bit earlier than the other trees in the area, so it’s sort of known as *THE* autumn tree by most of the students. It’s also a pretty popular spot to take pictures, so if you see any photos of a big orange tree on Iowa’s campus, it’s probably the one I’m talking about.

4) Downtown Scary Movies
This one might be my favorite on the list. The University’s film program has a pretty good relationship with FilmScene, a local theater chain with a few locations in Iowa City. Every week, they show select movies for cheap for all students, and in October they start showing some scary ones. The best is when they play them on the projector outside, so everyone can just walk up and join in on whatever part of the movie is playing. It’s a pretty cool experience and one of the unique things that I think makes Iowa City feel like a small town even when it’s, well, a city.