Denise Membreno

Denise writes about the people and places of Smith Mountain Lake in "Shorelines," published bi-weekly.

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It's happened again -- a breeze has blown summer away. Autumn officially will arrive in a couple of days.

At the lake, that use to mean saying goodbye to summer crowds. And while foot traffic does decrease as the days grow shorter, the lake is not the desolate place it once was during the cooler months.

The fall season will kick off with the Antique and Classic Boat Show on Saturday at Mainers Landing.

That will be followed by the Smith Mountain Lake Wine Festival on Saturday and Sunday, Sept. 27-28. Vicki Gardner, executive director of the Smith Mountain Lake Chamber of Commerce, said the festival started 20 years ago as a way to extend the season at the lake. Now Gardner will tell any one who will listen: The lake has become a year-round destination.

There are several other festivals to enjoy in the fall. Oct. 11 is the date of the first Morgan Farm Pumpkin Patch Family and Festival Fun Day. There will be tractor pulls, animals, a trackless train and, of course, pumpkins to pick. Representatives from Relay for Life will be on hand to serve food.

Nov. 1 is the date of the well-established and always popular Smith Mountain Lake Chili Festival. The sixth annual event serves up chili for every taste, music and lake views from Bridgewater Plaza.

One of the biggest draws to the area is the fall festival of colors nature provides. The number of people coming to the area every year to view nature's fireworks varies from year to year. The more spectacular the leaf colors, the more visitors.

"We get a lot of people coming off the parkway looking for something different to do," said Roy Enslow owner of Bridgewater Marina. "They find it's actually less expensive to take a pontoon boat out and cruise the lake than it is to drive the parkway. I get people from different countries. They don't come here just to see the colors, but they make it one of their day activities."

"We see a little bit of every thing," said Christina Mize owner of Bay Roc Marina. "They rent houseboats. They go fishing. We've got some clients who just bring a picnic dinner and go out for the evening."

The folks at the Virginia Dare offer fall color cruises that Amanda Thompson, who takes reservations for the cruise boat, said practically sell themselves. The lunch cruises last two hours; reservations are needed.

"A lot of people come from out of state just to go out on a two-hour cruise to see the fall foliage," said Thompson. "We cruise over to the dam and back. The boat's captain narrates the cruise."

Leaf watching is becoming a sport in itself. You can start tracking the peak colors of the leaves on the Internet Oct. 1. The Virginia Tourism Corporation will offer color-tracking reports at www.virginia.org/fall/. The report will allow tourists to time their trips to different areas of the state during the peak of the color season.

The Virginia Department of Forestry can help plan your trip route. The DOF estimates peak color at the lake will occur from Oct. 27 to Nov. 10. Access www.dof.virginia.gov/fall/ for tour directions to different areas of the state including Bedford and Franklin counties. These tours are developed by local foresters to provide travelers with the best locations to take in the fall foliage.

The DOF Web site also offers information on which trees turn what color. If you are a native Virginian, you may know dogwood leaves turn a scarlet or purple color. Poplar leaves turn a golden yellow, and oak leaves change from green to red, brown or russet.

We are lucky to have the opportunity to either take in the fall colors by land or by water.

"Fall is a great time to go for that one last cruise on the lake before winter," said Enslow.