⭐ The best of Outdoorsy 2023 | Outdoorsy Newsletter
And a goodbye (for now)
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We’ve officially dug into sweater weather.
It’s the season for bundling up and finding ways to have fun being indoorsy. Some brave souls are hitting the cool Philadelphia streets this weekend for the 30th annual marathon. But there’s still time to enjoy what’s left of our gorgeous fall foliage before the season ends. (And Pennsylvanians, don’t forget to apply for up to $1,000 off your heating bill this winter.)
There’s one more change in store: this newsletter is taking a break.
We plan to bring Outdoorsy back as soon as the weather gets nice enough to enjoy the outdoors in 2024. You can also sign up for The Inquirer’s Morning Newsletter to read more of what I write on Sundays or check out Rosa Cartagena’s Things To Do Newsletter with the best fun things to do in Philly every week.
Before we part ways, let’s take a trip down memory lane so I can share some of my favorite moments throughout this journey with you. We’ll also take a detour to learn about the controversies surrounding offshore wind in our region.
☀️ Your weekend weather outlook: Friday will be cloudy and slightly warmer than the last few days, with a chance of rain. Saturday and Sunday will be mostly clear, sunny, chilly and breezy.
— Paola Pérez
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Outdoorsy 2023 roundup
We covered a lot of ground together. Since this newsletter began in June, we learned how to hit the trail safely, explored new campsites, chased waterfalls, went apple-picking, took scenic bike rides down the Shore and in Philadelphia and much more.
Here are some standout moments from all our adventures.
Favorite activities
🏊🏽 Swimming to beat the summer heat
🐦 Learning the art of birdwatching
🌱 Exploring America’s Garden Capital
Favorite reader experiences
🛶 Brenda Hébert overcoming fear and dragonboating on the Schuylkill River
🌅 Jed Ellwood and his two young boys see the sunrise at Valley Forge
✨ Ryley Wilson’s twinkling coming-of-age moment with fireflies
⛺ Jeff Arnold’s special camping memory with his granddaughter
🌳 Marion Leary finding comfort in (literally) going outside of his comfort zone
🎻 Beth Fluke’s musical (and spiritual) moment in the Wissahickon
Special thanks to all who submitted touching anecdotes.
Favorite Jason Nark features
🪨 Talk about a rocky relationship
🪲 On the hunt for Pennsylvania’s elusive fireflies
⛰️ The Pa. veteran who first thru-hiked the Appalachian Trail
❤️ When her son died, she found solace in birds
♿ Accessibility expert helps make trails better for everyone
🎤 I’m passing the microphone to Jason Nark one more time.
Every time a wind turbine’s blade whooshes around on Dave Dombek’s Northeastern Pennsylvania property, he makes a little money that helps secure some peace of mind.
Dombek, a meteorologist in the State College area, and his family own a combined 550 acres in rural Wyoming County. When the state’s largest wind farm was proposed there over a decade ago, planners with BP Energy sought to erect four of the 88 turbines on his property. The family signed a contract and now receive “tens of thousands” of dollars per year because of it, Dombek said, helping to pay property taxes and maintenance fees.
“Without that, we probably would have had to sell off some parcels of the land,” Dombek told The Inquirer.
Pennsylvania is home to more than two dozen wind farms, both large and small, on private property. While none were met with the level of controversy seen in New Jersey’s offshore wind plans in recent years, some Pennsylvania projects have seen significant pushback for the same environmental and aesthetic concerns. — Jason Nark
Keep reading for more on the ongoing controversy over the turbines and what’s next for projects in both states.
News worth knowing
Catch the peak of the Leonid meteor showers across the night sky this weekend from the late-night hours on Friday into the early morning hours on Saturday.
The Pennsylvania Horticultural Society announced “United by Flowers” as the theme for the 2024 PHS Philadelphia Flower Show.
Manayunk Timber is turning a former parking lot into an indigenous forest that will be open to the public.
Pumpkin patches, apple orchards, and corn mazes took a hit as rain put a damper on fall weekends.
Pa. leads the nation in Lyme disease cases. The continued development of forested areas increases people’s risk of being bitten by the species of tick that transmits the illness.
👋🏽 See you later
Thank you for reading, for sharing your experiences, and for taking on this challenge with me.
Goodbye for now, and take care!
📮 What outdoorsy (or indoorsy) fun are you gonna get up to this season? Email me back and tell me about your experience.
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