It's apple pickin' day!! We've been waiting for this day all year! Although Jason and I just returned from Kentucky with a bushel of apples, we very excited went to pick our very own Georgia apples. We planned to dehydrate all of the Kentucky ones and eat the delicious Ellijay, Ga ones.
Last year was the first time we ever went apple pickin'. We decided immediately afterward to make this a yearly tradition. It would be our first event to usher in the fall festivities. Let the cool weather, apple cider, pumpkin carving, and hay ride going begin!! We were so excited as we made the drive to BJ Reece Apple House and Orchard. It was a two hour drive, which would allow us to listen to the short story called "The Thing On The Doorstep" by Lovecraft. It was really creepy and wonderful! Finished it right before we started seeing "Tater Picking" and "Apple Picking" signs.
Within no time, we began seeing rows of apple trees on the beautiful Georgia mountaintops of Ellijay. We walked through the apple house, spying the fried apples, homemade baked goods, and fresh apple cider. We stole a sample of cider and made our way toward the mooing cows and crowing roosters. We purchased a large bag for storing apples and paid a lady in a bright, apple-colored shirt. We grabbed a map of the orchard from another woman closer to the goats and made our way to the Golden Delicious patch. We grabbed a few apples, wanting to save most of the bag for Red Delicious. Last year we searched all over the orchard and were unable to find them. This year we were determined. We would not leave without our required Red Delicious! Below are pictures of us in the golden patch:
After grabbing our golden apples, we made our way down the orchard to where we thought the red delicious would be. We found ourselves next to the apple canon, which is where the map said our apples would be. We walk toward the very back, near an area that was closed off to the public. We thought we spotted our apples! We were picking a few when suddenly an Indian man and his two adorable kids came over to ask us if we had found the red delicious bunch--guess we aren't the only ones struggling to find them. All of us consulted our maps and soon realized these were Rome Beautiful apples. We decided to walk to the edge of the orchard on the other side, where there was supposedly another red delicious patch. We reached the edge and were about to give up hope, when Jason noticed some trees hiding behind the granny smith apples. Success!
Here is where he found them!
This man takes great pictures!
Ta da!
To test our efforts and to verify the validity of our find, a taste test must be performed. This would be the apple that would tell us the truth:
If you can't tell by Jason's smile... we hit gold! Or red, as it were.
Our haul!
Jason and I quickly made to the exit, as the sun was beating down on us. We then walked through the apple house, debating buying a few more items. However, end the end we just grabbed a water and headed out. It was late (2 p.m.) and we had yet to eat. We drove half an hour home before coming across Bigun's BBQ! Jason's old coworker told us about them. We weren't able to try it on our last trip, but we were determined this time. We turned in and ordered at the counter. Jason also purchased some pork rines. I tasted the pork rines since I had never had them before (just for the record... not my thing). Another side note... they have cookies the size of our head there! So huge!!! We didn't get one. But, we did get this:
So good! What a kick ass day! Fall is soon to arrive and it is going to be a glorious season!!
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