The Best Day At the Apple Orchard

My girls and I have birthdays two weeks apart from one another, beginning with Alli on August 21. Two weeks later it’s my birthday, and two weeks later Whitney celebrates hers. For Alli’s celebration this week, she wanted to go to Skytop Apple Orchard in Flat rock, NC and she invited Dale and me to join her and her family. I was excited to go because I’d heard about this pretty orchard, but had never been.

The weather couldn’t have been any better! The temps were cool, and the sky clear with plenty of sunshine. We got there at 10:00. I wore a cotton “sweatshirt” and was glad for the long sleeves! It felt like a fall day, though I’m sure we still have plenty of warm days ahead. The cool temps allowed us to enjoy all the fun things they have to offer at Sky Top.

They have photo ops like this cute farm/fall scene.

Being there in the middle of the week was advantageous because the crowd was minimal! I hear that weekends at this orchard can be quite crowded. We didn’t have to wait in line for anything.

You pay $30 for a large plastic bag to put your apples in. Then you can go to the orchard and pick for whatever apple trees are ready for picking. There were LOTS of trees! I chose mostly Honeycrisp and Gala. They are delicious! Dale and I picked together and we came home with about 16 pounds of apples! That made my apples about $1.87 a pound, which is terrific for Honeycrisp!

After we picked apples the boys had a blast (no pun intended!) shooting the Apple Canon. These canons shoot the “bad” apples across the pond to targets on the other side – a little boys dream come true! There was also a play area with playground equipment, a tractor, hay bale, and a bumblebee train.

The main barn sells apples that are already bagged if you don’t want to pick your own. They also had pears and peaches for sale. One item they sell is Cider Donuts. Our son-in-law purchased a half dozen (still warm!) for us to share, and oh my, were they delicious! We also purchased apple cider to bring home. It is the best cider I’ve ever had. There are no preservatives, sugar or additives in it. It’s so refreshing. I used a little of it to make some of my Cider donuts for our small group fellowship this week. YUM!

On our way home, we drove the Blue Ridge Parkway and it was gorgeous. It provided a great ending to a super fun day. There’s just something about being in the mountains, out in the countryside, and on mountain roads that is so refreshing. I’ve been putting in some pretty long days studying in preparation for fall retreats, so this day in the mountains was a special joy that my heart, mind and body needed.

I hope you get the opportunity to do something like this this fall. This is a great date activity, as well a whole family outing. We had so much fun as a couple, and also with our daughter, her husband and our grandsons.
My tips would be:

• Go early in the day for coolest temperatures.
• Go in the middle of the week, if you can.
• You can check before you to to see what apples are ready for picking.
• Take advantage of all the activities offered. Many of them are free of charge. Just walking through the barns and play areas would be a fun outing…oh, and purchase a donut!

Refresh yourself with a morning at an orchard!