😏🍎 How do you like them apples?

🏃 Another day, another girl dinner deal to add to the roster. Enter: Maple & Ash’s $36 special, which comes with a martini, fries, Caesar salad, AND tuna tartare. Who’s coming??

🍺🥨 Dust off your lederhosen. On Saturday, we’re dropping FOUR pairs of tickets to Harpoon Octoberfest on Oct. 3. Expect live music, keg bowling, and plenty of Bavarian spirit to go around. Plus, all B-Side Members get $5 off Octoberfest After Dark.

🥳 And a big ol’ HBD to Member Claudia C.! Martinis. Beer. Cake. Repeat.

👀 What’s on tap today:

Up first…

Let’s just say, we know how to pick ‘em … Apples, obviously. Apple-picking season is in full swing, so we rounded up a list of local orchards for every fall personality.

Here’s what’s worth the visit:

🍎 If you want a *classic* apple farm outing … Honey Pot Hill in Stow is one of the OGs — it’s celebrating its 100th anniversary this year! A co-owner said it’s also one of the few that presses its own cider weekly (which they also use in their cider doughnuts). Plus, they’ve got some new apple varieties this year like the super-crisp Pixie Crunch. Not to mention, you can visit the animals, take a hayride, and roam the Monster Maze, which is billed as THE largest hedgemaze in North America. Oh, and note: The orchard is cash-only! 

⏱️ If you’re not trying to drive an hour just for apples … Belkin Family Lookout Farm, Boston Hill Farm, and Brooksby Farm are your girls. They’re all a ~30-minute drive from the city and feature all the classic fall farm activities. Lookout is arguably the ~vibiest~ of the bunch, with live music, a taproom, and trivia nights.

🚇 If you don’t have a car at all … Doe Orchards, Russell Orchards, and Cider Hill Farm are all a quick Uber ride away from the commuter rail (and remember: you can bring your bestie for $1 on weekends!).

🍷 If you want an orchard that feels more … adult … Nashoba Valley Winery is a quadruple threat. Not only does it have a fat collection of heirloom apples, but it’s also a brewery, distillery, AND award-winning restaurant. Or go to Russell Orchards for a wine flight. They also have cider slushies for the N/A baddies <3. 

🍑 Tired of hearing apple this, apple that!? Good news: You can still pick peaches at Doe and Shelburne (which also has Asian pears!), or head to Smolak Farms for blueberry-picking and CYO flowers. Smolak is planning on hosting comedy nights, Mahjong, speed dating, oysters, and more; and Brooksby will have campfire and s’mores on select weekends. Stay tuned!

✍️ Trust, it’s NOT slim pickin’s. Here’s the Globe’s full list of apple-nerd-approved orchards.

🪩🏛️ Spice up your night out, but with considerably better scenery. On Friday, Nov. 6, switch things up with the return of Late Nites, a party after dark at the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston. From 8 p.m. to 1 a.m., check out the special exhibition Maverick Kings, catch music from partner stay silent, and make your Friday night plans a little less predictable. Early bird pricing runs through Oct. 12 and all ticket sales end November 5. Make sure you get your tickets in advance — no day-of or door tickets will be available. Get ready to party!

🎤 Macklemore has major beef with Robert Kraft. Yes, that’s a real sentence. Kraft said Macklemore wouldn’t be allowed to open for Ed Sheeran’s upcoming tour stop at Gillette after saying “Free Palestine" on stage and performing a protest song in New Jersey earlier this month. (Kraft said Gillette wasn’t a “platform for hate speech.”) Kraft reportedly chatted with other venue owners about it, too. And then he was dropped entirely from the rest of Sheeran’s U.S. tour. Dig into Kraft, Sheeran, and Macklemore’s full statements.

🚗 Flock flopped big time on Boston’s data security. During a Boston Police pilot last year, Flock agreed that Boston’s license plate data wouldn’t be shared outside BPD. Well, three days in, city officials realized that other law enforcement agencies in Flock’s network could access Boston info. What we don’t know: which agencies searched Boston’s data, how often they did, or how many drivers may have been exposed. This comes amid broader backlash about Flock cams, including concerns about immigration enforcement, abortion investigations, and alleged misuse by individual officers.

🏆 Massholes won BIG at the Emmys. Mass.-based horror comedy “Widow’s Bay” made out like a bandit with a whopping 14 (!) wins — the most for a comedy series in one season. Star Matthew Rhys alone took home three trophies. Plus, Noah Kahan looked particularly adorbs on the carpet — he’s giving school portrait day lol — before performing a heartfelt rendition of Simon and Garfunkel’s “Bridge Over Troubled Water” to honor celebs who died this year. <3

🛍️ It’s a great week to be a Boston shopaholic. And a horrible one to be our bank account … Exhibit A: New England Thrift is having a BIG Lululemon sale now through Sunday to clean out their “Great Wall of Lulu Leggings” — $35 a pair; $60 for two. Exhibit B: All used books at Brookline Booksmith will be 40% (!) off Sept. 19. Exhibit C: Hill House, the coastal girly clothing brand known for its iconic nap dress, is officially open in the Seaport. Consider it “stimulating the local economy …”

This month, B-Side Members can save more than $100 across our events, plus more monthly deals!

🦪 Sept. 17: Make a felt oyster & oyster tasting at BPM, $20. Join us at Boston Public Market for a workshop with Heirloom Felt Designs where you'll make your own ADORABLE felt oyster and sample three fresh oysters from Red's Best. Get a ticket here — EVERYONE gets $5 off with code bsidefive. 

🎸Sept. 19: Berklee Homecoming, price varies. Use this link to get special pricing on one of the year’s best concerts. See Berklee alumni Susan Tedeschi, Tiwa Savage, Fabiola Méndez, Dreion, Dogs in a Pile, and more.

🥐 Sept. 24: Croissant decorating with Lakon Paris Patisserie, $30. Decorate a croissant like the award-winning pros at Lakon. You’ll get a box full of two of their famous French butter croissants, house-made pastry creams, fun toppings, and a small drink! 

👀 Want to feature your upcoming event above? Click here.

You comparison shop flights, couches, even your oat milk. Why not an X-ray or MRI? Prices can vary by provider, facility, and location, so shop around and compare your options before you book it.

Tom Brady is THE most active retiree we know … Globe columnist Beth Teitell set up a “Tom Brady” Google Alert last month just to see what he was up to. And boy, was he BUSY. 

Here are just a *few* of his wild summer adventures:

Beth’s phone was on fire with *every* little thing he did, whether it was sending a text or reacting to something. After a month or so, she finally turned them off for some ~peace~.

Sounds like retired Brady needs a part-time Market Basket cashier gig to keep him out of trouble. 

— Written by Kelly Chan and Emily Schario

🥧 Thanks for reading! *turns on alerts for Ann Michael Maye*

💜 Special shoutout to today’s sponsor, the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, for supporting local journalism and bringing culturally rich experiences to our city.

💰 The results are in: 43% of B-Siders are sticking to a $100-$200 cap for concert or show tickets, especially for their fave artist. One reader wrote: “There’s no limit to what I would pay for a One Direction reunion tour.” Fun fact: Kelly may have been a top 1% global fan last year …

💃 Keep up with us @BostonBSide on IG, TikTok, and X. Send comments and suggestions to [email protected] and [email protected].