Five Things Worth Doing This Weekend in Clayton and Fulton

The weekend list rotates through the five metro counties two at a time. Fulton and DeKalb came first, then Cobb and Gwinnett, so this week it is Clayton and Fulton, Friday October 2 through Sunday October 4. Five things below, and all five start on Saturday; two of them run Sunday as well. Every date, time, address and price came off the organizer's or the county's own page this week, and where a page does not give a price or a rule I say so instead of guessing. Check the link before you drive anywhere. Porches and Pies has already moved venue once because of the forecast.

Clayton first, because the most useful thing in the county this weekend costs nothing. The Dream HOME Expo runs Saturday October 3 from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. at The Morrow Center, 1180 Southlake Circle in Morrow. HouseATL is the organizer and it is on Clayton County's own events calendar. The county describes it as aimed at current and future homeowners: industry professionals, services, interactive workshops, giveaways and lunch. Admission is free. The county's listing says registration is required and the Eventbrite page is where you do it, so sign up before you go.

It is a low-risk way to spend a Saturday morning if you are a few years out from buying or already own and want to ask questions of people who do this for a living. I would register today rather than Saturday.

If you would rather move than sit, the 17th Annual Lake Spivey Road Race is the same morning at Clayton County International Park, 2300 Walt Stephens Road in Jonesboro. The 15K starts at 8 a.m. and the 5K at 8:30, and there is a kids' fun run for ten and under at no charge. Registration runs through Race Roster and was still open when I checked: $34.09 for the 5K, $39.44 for the 15K. Clayton County also lists a Get Fit Expo at the same address from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m., with health screenings, fitness and financial literacy on the program. The listing gives no admission price, so call the number on it before you plan around that part.

Over in Fulton, the Ansley Park Tour of Homes runs Saturday and Sunday, October 3 and 4, 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. both days, in the Ansley Park neighborhood in Midtown. Tickets are $45, rising to $50 on October 2, sold online through Zeffy, and the proceeds go to the Ansley Park Civic Association. One ticket covers both days and each home can be visited once. You redeem the e-ticket at any tour home and get a printed booklet that serves as your admission. Three venues keep their own hours on both days: the Alliance Theatre 11 a.m. to 1:30 p.m., First Church of Christ, Scientist 12:30 to 3:30 p.m., and MODA noon to 7 p.m. A $20 add-on buys a twenty-minute live historical performance at 178 Fifteenth Street at 12:30, 1:15 or 2 p.m. All tickets must be bought online. Free parking for the tour is at First Church of Christ, Scientist, 150 Fifteenth Street, Saturday 10:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. and Sunday 12:30 to 4:30 p.m. Street parking is available if you heed the signs, paid garages are at Colony Square and the Botanical Garden and Piedmont Park, and a free shuttle runs between First Church and The Villa at 200 Montgomery Ferry Drive NE. The Ansley Golf Club and One Museum Place lots are not available. The tour runs rain or shine, and photography, food, drinks, backpacks and strollers are not allowed inside the homes.

This is the one I would send a buyer to. Walking through homes in a single neighborhood in an afternoon lets you compare layouts, lot slopes and kitchens side by side instead of through photographs. Wear flat shoes; the organizer says high heels are not allowed in the homes.

The free option on the Fulton side is the Pumpkin Patch at Historic Oakland Cemetery, 248 Oakland Avenue in Atlanta, Saturday and Sunday from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. Admission is free and the activities cost extra. Oakland's own page lists pumpkins for sale, fishing for apples, caramel apples at $3 each, pumpkin decorating, personalized mini scarecrows, a photo setup, coffee and food vendors and an artist market. None of the pages I read mention tickets. Oakland sits just west of Grant Park and Cabbagetown, so it pairs easily with a walk through either neighborhood afterwards, and free admission means you can leave the moment a small child has had enough.

Porches and Pies is Saturday, noon to 5 p.m. It is Adair Park's pie festival, but this year it has moved indoors to Monday Night Garage at Lee + White, 933 Lee Street SW, because of the forecast. A $15 tasting pass gets you ten samples of sweet and savory pies. I did not find a separate gate price, so confirm at the link whether the pass is all you need. Lee + White is on the Westside, close to the Beltline, and it is a useful way to see the edge of Adair Park and West End if either is on your list.

One thing to plan around on Saturday: Ed Sheeran plays Mercedes-Benz Stadium, with gates listed at 4:30 p.m., the show at 5:30 and tickets from $103. The pumpkin patch wraps up at 3 and the Ansley tour at 4, so most of this list is clear of it, but if you are driving across downtown late in the afternoon, expect traffic.

If I could only do one, it is the Dream HOME Expo, and not only because it is free. Register ahead, arrive when it opens at 10, and you still have the rest of the day. The Ansley tour runs until 4 that afternoon, which puts the two ends of the metro housing market on one Saturday. Confirm every time at the links below before you leave the house.