Fall Break - Blue Ridge Day 3

Day 3 of our visit to Blue Ridge was all about apples. We had heard great things about Mercier Orchards, and we were excited to check it out. Our cabin was just 10 minutes away from there. I knew the orchard was probably going to get super crowded with it being a beautiful Saturday. We got there at 10AM - right when it opened...

We purchased our bag (1/2 of bushel) and a small basket to put some apples in for the apple cannon (you need to pick ones that are bruised or on the ground for the cannon). More on the cannon later.

Our chariot arrived. Ok, a beat up tractor arrived to bring us up to the orchard...

Waiting to take off...

Briana excited about "accidentally" bonking daddy on the head with apples like last year...

Our family...

Our driver was snacking on an apple...

We got a tour of the grounds and they were really pretty...

This was the original store...

We arrived to this...

We were told we could eat the apples to try them before putting them in our bags. That was awesome. We could sample everything.

Briana got on Doug's shoulders immediately...

We started our picking with the Golden Delicious...

Let the bonking commence...

Fresh apples...

Next, we moved on to the Cameos...

Doug likes Granny Smith, so we grabbed a few of those...

The Beni Shoguns were really tasty... 

Another load of guests arriving...

The Jonagolds were delicious and we grabbed a few of those...

September Wonder...

We grabbed a few Red Delicious too...

Our bag was completely full by the time we hit the Rome apples...

Some of the trees were already almost bare. The Macintosh apples were pretty much gone. And the Gala apples bloomed extra early this year - they started blooming in July. That is almost unheard of. July is blueberry season in Georgia...

Two varieties weren't ready for picking yet - the Arkansas Blacks...

And the Pink Lady apples...

I've heard Pink Lady apples are amazing. I've never had one and hoped I'd be able to try one. They are ready in October. Oh well - I'll have to try and find them somewhere.

Then it was time to shoot some apples...

If you got an apple in a barrel, you won a fried pie. Unfortunately Miss B didn't get it this time, but she had fun trying...

 

The tractor drove us back to the store and we stopped at the outside restaurant for lunch (There is a restaurant inside the store too). We were starving!

They were serving woodfired pizza for the first time. We decided to give it a shot... 

We were the very first customers to ever order their pizza. 

And of course, Bri got her much anticipated apple cider...

We were pretty hungry, I didn't get a picture of the pizza. But, I got a shot of what was left of Bri's second piece. It was really good...


Then it was time to venture into the store. It was packed...

Sample counter...

Rows and rows of famous fried pies...

We got a few items - including a purple panda that Briana spotted. My panda fanatic just had to have it...

We were pretty tired after a few hours of picking and shopping, so we headed back to the cabin. We had such a wonderful time.

Back to the cabin...

A little more fishing and relaxing...

Briana and I did a puzzle together...

I had to write an e-mail, so I asked Bri to go onto the couch. This is where I found her after I finished. My kid that never naps in the day...

Doug decided to take a nap too. I was worried about B sleeping too long because I knew she wouldn't want to sleep that night. Doug convinced me to let her sleep a while. (And I was right because Bri couldn't fall asleep until midnight. Ugh.)

For dinner, we tried a small restaurant a few minutes from the cabin known for their fried chicken...

This is what a Saturday evening at this place looked like! LOL! Just a couple tables had customers...

But I have to admit, the fried chicken was ridiculous. Very tasty (I could only eat one piece - it was so filling)...

As I mentioned earlier, Bri had a hard time falling asleep. That meant I had a hard time falling asleep. Luckily, the cabin owner didn't have anyone renting the cabin on Sunday or the few days following, so she said we could stay as late as we needed to on Sunday. We were able to sleep in and not rush out of there.

Day 4 - we headed home.