October 1, 2021

Apple Picking (Fall Break 2021)

 Once again, Doug, Bri and I made the trek up to the North Georgia Mountains during fall break to go apple picking.

I just realized that this was our tenth year in a row picking apples in autumn...

Apple Picking 2021 (BJ Reece/Ellijay)
Apple Picking 2020 (BJ Reece/Ellijay)
 
 Once again, here are the pictures of Briana sitting on Doug's shoulders to pick apples...

This year was no exception (even though Briana is now 15 years old)...
 
The reason we choose this particular apple orchard to visit each year is it is the only one in the area (that I've found) that allows "u-pick" on a weekday. The other orchards offer visitors u-pick on the weekends.
 
We don't like to visit the orchard on the weekends. Weekends are a MADHOUSE.
 
We went to this particular orchard one time on a Saturday, and though there were a lot of extras and fun things for kids and Bri had a good time, it was just ridiculously crazy crowded and we swore we'd never go on a weekend again. The popularity of these orchards has increased over the years tremendously - and for us, it's just not worth dealing with the insane crowds. Especially now that Briana is older.

I follow the orchard on FB, and they mentioned that the apple trees have not been as plentiful this year. A late spring frost zapped the trees and killed a lot of the crop. All the orchards seem to be struggling to supply apples this year. I warned Doug and Bri that it might be a bust finding apples, but we would still walk through the orchard and visit the store and do all our other "fall-ish" type stuff.
 
We like to arrive when the orchard first opens in the morning. We get up pretty early in order to do so. With it usually being fall break in a number of counties, we always know the orchard has the potential to get quite crowded as the day goes on, even though it's not "weekend" crowded.

We arrived after 9AM, went straight to purchase our bags for our apples and walked into the orchard...
 
 The picture with the sign says visitors can pick across the street since there are so few apples in the orchard. Unfortunately, that only seems to be the case for the weekends. Only one side was open the day we went. 
 
It was a cool, clear, beautiful morning. The only apples available to pick were Rome Beauty. We went to that section of the orchard and tried to find some apples.
 
There is a petting zoo that families can visit on property (during the week and on weekends), but we only walk by it. We've never petted the animals there...
 

We are there mainly for the apples.
 
There are a lot of cats and kittens living at the orchard now. I've noticed a big increase in the last couple of years. They are adorable...

One particular cat followed us from the orchard back toward the parking lot. Bri was talking super sweet to him/her, so he/she decided to hang with us for a few minutes.

The trees were really lacking in apples unfortunately. We noticed a few trees that had apples higher up - and that is when Bri hopping on Doug's shoulders is extremely beneficial...

We picked enough apples to fill two small bags, so our visit was quite successful.
 
And my lovely family obliges me when I ask them if I can take a few group photos along the way.

As we were leaving the orchard to head to the store on property, car after car pulled into the rocky parking lot. So many filled with small kids. I had no idea how they were going to find any apples. It was difficult for us. And the orchard continued selling empty bags without really informing customers about what they were about to find (or not find) when they got into the orchard. I only knew because I saw the info online.

We dropped our apples off in the car and walked over to the store...
 
Jams, jellies, nuts, dressings, cider, fried pies, fudge, slushies, vegetables and of course apples were all available for purchase.

We grabbed a few things and headed out. It was starting to get more crowded and it was a perfect time to skedaddle.

We stopped at my favorite antique store in the town square...

Then we had lunch at one of my favorite BBQ places (yes, the one with pig hill)...

This was the first time I wasn't able to find the pig with Briana's name on it (see lower left pic in collage). I've been lucky enough to spot it each time we've visited since we bought it but not this time (they move the pigs around every so often).

We stopped at our favorite farm market...

And we stopped at another market we had never noticed before. It is going through renovations (and additions are being made - it will be quite large when it is done). They had some yummy things to buy, so we will be back...
 
The roosters in the front were so loud! And that jumbo rooster in the picture was really chill, but he looked like he wasn't going to let anyone mess with him.

After driving, picking, shopping and eating, it was time to head back home. It was another fun and quite successful excursion. I'm so happy that Briana still enjoys this tradition. We'll keep visiting as long as she wants to/is able. And who knows, Doug and I may continue to visit even if Briana isn't able to come with us anymore.  

So that was our apple picking day. My next post - the art museum!


 at 8:30 PM

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