Sunday Funday: Apple Picking

At the beginning of apple season, in late August we met a farmer at the farmer's market who had the most delicious apples.  We talked to him about coming to visit the farm.  The way we spoke about it we agreed it would be the perfect mom & pop operation for us to go visit one weekend.  He even said "be sure to call ahead to make sure we're picking".

Sunday morning we finished a tasty breakfast.  It was the perfect Fall day.  Eric and I decided to take the girls apple picking.  So we found the farmer's number and Eric called up to see if they were picking. And they were.

We had just enough time to get out the door, stop for a quick lunch, pick apples and get home in time for the Life Teen Mass at our parish.

On our drive up to Blue Ridge, GA Eric was telling me about this BBQ place on the side of the road with a million cut out pigs on signs.  And moments later we passed it.  Nothing beats road side BBQ in Georgia.   This did not disappoint.

 As we got closer to the apple orchard the traffic picked up.  This was suspicious.


We turned the corner to the address and. OH. MY. GOSH.  This wasn't someone's back yard.  It was the LARGEST ORCHARD IN GEORGIA.

Holy cow.  There were parking attendants, a tram, a gift shop, the works.   While we were a little disappointed that it wasn't the mom & pop shop we were expecting, we were blown away at the efficiency and friendliness.

We loaded up the girls, jumped on the tractor "hay" ride and off we went to pick apples.

 We were able to pick about five varieties, all favorites of ours.  We had to taste test the Pink Ladies because not all of them were ready yet.  Evie didn't care for it at first, but now it's the only one she wants at home.

 She specifically asked for yellow apples, so we were thankful they had a few Sun Crisp left.

 

 She really got into apple picking.  Eric had to help her, but then she'd walk around munching on an apple.

 Maggie was having too much fun for words.

 After we picked our three bags full, we loaded up the tractor and road back to the barn where we had tasty fried apple pies.  The girls had an epic meltdown so we left before we could even look around.

We had lost track of time and realized we had to head back to town as fast as possible if we were going to make it to Mass.  As we got closer to home the traffic got worse and worse.  And then Maggie needed to eat. AH.

I started looking for other times and places to make it to Mass, but we made it to our neighborhood parish 3 minutes late.  Too bad we hadn't showered and smelled terrible from apple picking.  Thankfully we found a seat in the back.  Wrangling those tired, stinky girls was rough.

All in all, a fun day! It was a little surprising to find such a large orchard but we had a great day, even if we went to Mass without showers!