Slim Pickins

Today was another exciting adventure. FYI: I don't usually have an exciting life, nor do I usually have so many activities planned! The adventure today was the APPLE ORCHARD!!!

There was hourly entertainment on the main stage

We are lucky enough to live in a state which produces all kinds of crops. We are, of course, famous for peanuts. Georgia also has plenty of cotton fields and we also grow apples!!! The apple orchards are about a two hour drive in a little city called Ellijay. There are a lot of orchards up there, really close together. We decided on Hillcrest Orchards. Every year, they have an "Apple Picking Jubilee," which is a sort-of festival. You pay an admission fee and you get to do things like hayrides and watch shows and pig races. They even had a demonstration with a bee keeper! Also, every weekend in October, you can purchase a bag in either a half or whole peck size and go out to the orchards to pick apples to fill up your bag.

The only real problem was that apparently there were a LOT of people picking apples recently. The trees were almost bare of fruit. There were several trees that had tiny "baby" apples on them, but nothing you could really expect to eat. Plus, if you've ever eaten a tiny apple, they are really sour!! There was even a sign as you walked in to let everyone know that there were few apples actually left on the trees and if you purchase a bag, try to limit the apples picked and fill up the bag inside the store (which housed bins and bins of large, perfect apples). So, that's what we did. We let the kids pick an apple a piece (mostly for the photo op) and then we took our half-peck sized bag into the store to fill it up.

Picking an apple from the tree

Here is our bounty! The two apples in the front were straight from the tree,
there are two apple-sippers and then the Cherry Apple Cider...yum!

Naturally, a day at an apple orchard would not be complete without apple products! I had to have a homemade apple fritter and once inside the store, I filled up the bag the rest of the way and purchased some Cherry Apple Cider and two "apple sippers" for the kids. (They're like little sippy-type cups).

I got mostly Granny Smith apples because Shane expects me to bake an apple pie with them. I suppose that will be my next adventure. I have never baked a pie from scratch in my life!!

I think it was a great day. The kids had a lot of fun, I spent some time with friends and came home with real "country" goodies!