This quaint port town offers a century-old lighthouse, shops, restaurants and large expanses of public beaches. Come kick your feet through the rustling fallen leaves, tour art galleries along the coast, shop and treat yourself to an ice cream cone.

Return to St. Joseph and stop for dinner at Silver Harbor Brewing Company. With at least 12 different craft beers on tap, you will have fun tasting them to find your favorites. A must-try is their smoked beer. Order a Kumbaya Brown Ale and ask them to inject hickory smoke into a glass chamber and bring it to your table. The smoke flavor infuses itself into the beer. A full menu of snacks to brewer plates will satiate your hunger.

We will have your room ready in a nearby lodging so you can wake up to more leaf-peeping in the morning.

The Jollay family has been perfecting the craft of growing fruit for over 150 years! Come pick apples (eight different varieties) and pumpkins in every imaginable size from September through October. On the last three weekends in September and all of the weekends in October, enjoy their annual Fall Festival. Hayrides, a haunted house, animal farm, fishing pond, cornfield maze and flavored cider tastings (peanut butter is a popular choice) make this a memory-making tradition.

Throughout the week and on weekends, the Jollay Orchards Farm Market is a great start to any day with its fresh cider donuts, apple pies, jams, jellies, preserves, salsas, mustards and much more. Jugs of some of the sweetest cider in Southwest Michigan, including Jollay’s flavored ciders, are reasons to come back year after year. (Buy extra cider and freeze it to serve it hot-and-spicy this winter.)

This is a great place to enjoy your picnic lunch with lots of fresh apples and pears available to augment your meal. This 400-acre farm offers ready-picked and pick-your-own fruits, a country store, pony and hay wagon rides, farm animal corral, tasting counter and heritage apple display. Open Friday-Monday, 10 a.m. to 6 p.m., it's a family-friendly place to fill your lungs with refreshing country air and your vehicle with fresh produce. When you're ready, our last stop for the day is 25 minutes southwest.

Open sunrise to sunset, this beautiful 13-acre park is one of the most popular fall destinations in Cass County. It features a Class A trout stream (popular with anglers) and 4 miles of hiking trails. Take the Big Tree Loop (1.6 miles) to see what remains of the largest tulip tree in Michigan (a violent storm took down 2/3rds of it in 1984).

This gem offers 105 acres of cultivated and natural areas along the scenic St. Joseph River valley. Open Tues.-Sun., there is a small admission fee. Fernwood's café is the perfect place for lunch. Take time to explore the art gallery, fern conservatory, multiple outdoor gardens and nature trails brimming with autumn beauty. Special classes, including yoga in the gardens, are available during the week and weekends. Check Fernwood's online September and October calendars for details.