While just about every fall we head up to north Georgia for a weekend of fall fun, we had not been apple picking for years. Ironic, since our cabin is in Blue Ridge, just about twenty minutes from Ellijay, the Apple Capital of Georgia. Doubly ironic since my girls each eat about two apples a day…all year round.
In October of 2008, Rob came home to Atlanta from his temporary home in DC for a nice fall weekend. Instead of staying home and “getting things done”, we decided to go up to the cabin and enjoy the lovely weather. Our idea was to go to Hillcrest Orchards as they have apple picking AND a petting zoo, and then head to Burt’s Pumpkin Farm. We were in for a big surprise at Hillcrest. Its business had boomed since our last visit and the number of activities available had mushroomed!
The girls were anxious to get to the petting farm (mostly to see the kittens, I think), but Camille stopped along the way to milk a cow and Chloe stopped to ride in a trike derby. In the petting farm, the girls both loved holding the kittens (yep) and chicks. The little goats kept trying to eat our hair and clothes.
The girls checked out the giant slide and the zip line then discovered the bungee jump! I’m not sure how it related to apples, but both girls wanted to try it. Bouncing flipping and flying through the air on a gorgeous fall afternoon; what a treat!
And finally, we got to what I had set out to do in the first place….walk through the avenues of trees and pick apples straight from the source. The girls had a great time finding the apples they wanted, and we very quickly filled our bag. Inside the store, I bought a beautiful market basket that was made in Ghana.
Driving by Burt’s Pumpkin Farm, we decided to not fight our way in. The parking lot was full, and the farm looked overcrowded. Not fun, though I did miss seeing the rows and rows of orange pumpkins!
We had a delightful fall day, and I’d love to get out and pick apples again … I wonder if there will be any left to pick.
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