Apple Picking in Ellijay

Yesterday was the sort of day that reminds me why Fall is my favorite season.  We spent it in Ellijay, a tiny little town in the Blue Ridge mountains that’s really not all that far from Atlanta . . . maybe around an hour’s drive.  But it’s about as different as you can get from busy old Atlanta with its little mountain streams and rolling farmland and little gravel roads that are easy to get lost on (we just about did!).  And unlike Atlanta, which weirdly doesn’t have any apple orchards or you-pick farms, Ellijay is the apple orchard capital of Georgia and has a seemingly endless amount of them . . . We must have passed seven orchards on our way to the one we ended up going to.  The whole area seems to have been especially made for Fall . . . pumpkins everywhere, roadside stands selling apple cider, and of course those mountains covered in red and bright yellow leaves.

I also wanted to go to an apple orchard because I miss my family a ton right now and apple orchards make me think of all the wonderful times I had going to them with my parents and sisters back when I was a kid in Illinois.  I have the best memories of going on hayrides and picking pumpkins and apples, and then going inside for cider and apple donuts.  Actually eating donuts was probably always my favorite part, so this time Drew and I went straight to the bakery and got apple cider donuts and little fried apple pies and ate them instead of the good proper lunches we should have had.  But it was a special occasion, and I think that fresh-from-the-orchard apple donuts might be the best kinds of donuts of all–better than chocolate, even!

After that we went out to the orchards to pick our own apples.  It was late in the season so there wasn’t much left at all, but it was still fun to look and to dodge apples that were being thrown across the field from the accident-waiting-to-happen giant apple canon.  And then Drew took outfit photos, because I was wearing this blouse I’m sort of obsessed with wearing right now–it’s from myPetsQuare, and it traveled all the way from Australia just in time for suitable Fall weather in Atlanta.  

We tried looking for a nearby mountain park after we filled up our bag with apples, but we got lost and went to Starbucks instead.  Then it was back to Atlanta for another lazy Sunday night.  Instead of writing a blog post like I should have, I caught up on some stuff, watched Nosfetatu on Silent Sunday and then made a batch of apple muffins with the apples we picked.  And right now I’m wishing I could skip ahead to next weekend for Halloween craziness, though I guess I have to finish my costume first.