When we start feeling the onset of fall, there are a few things that make us feel festive. A trip to the apple orchard is always a great way to kick off (or just enjoy) the season. We took Bailey to the orchard we usually visit, Sky Top Orchard, in Flat Rock, NC.
Click here to see my video from last year’s trip to Sky Top and some of my favorite apple recipes.
This is my favorite photo of the trip, so I’ve moved it to the top. Here’s Bailey watching hubby plucking juicy, red gala apples from a tree whilst guarding our basket.
Have you ever driven in the Blue Ridge Mountains? They’re beautiful. The drive is so scenic and makes the trip so much better.
Our strategy this year was to hit up the doughnut stand first. The line was shorter, it would fuel us for the apple picking…and it made my inner germiphobe happy because our hands weren’t dirty yet from hitting up the orchard.
Hot, sweet, cinnamon-y. Yes!
Our doughnut snack time view.
Getting directions to the gala apples.
The man giving me directions was so cute. I was trying to capture an “action shot” and when he saw me snapping the photo, in a warm and friendly tone, he said, “You can have a copy of this.”
To the apples!
The view in front.
The view behind.
We usually don’t hit up the orchard this early in the season, so there were a ton of apples all around. Once we found a good tree, we made quick work of the apple picking. Seriously, we had a basket filled in probably 15-20 minutes.
A small plane flew overhead as we headed out to pay for our apples and go down the road for lunch.
We went home with a giant basket of apples and a bag of pre-picked honey crisps (which were only available pre-picked).
We really enjoyed the fresh air and beautiful hills and trees all around. Our trip to the orchard is always fun and relaxing. We may even have to go back a second time this year. A perk of going so early in the season this time?
Till next time, Sky Top!
By the way, I’m re-posting this in case you don’t want to scroll back to the top: Click here to see my video from last year’s trip to Sky Top and some of my favorite apple recipes.
Thanks for stopping by!
Next time – lunch in Flat Rock!
looks like a fun day. i love trips to the apple orchard!
The Honeycrisps really went fast this year. We picked ours only about a week or two before you guys went. I’m not surprised they still had the Galas though… the trees were absolutely loaded when we went.
The hardest part for me is that it’s done so quickly. With three of us picking, we filled two baskets in maybe 10 minutes. We so wanted to pick more, but there’s no way we could eat them all if we did…
Were they letting people pick the galas when you went? There were some others that had tons of apples, but we weren’t allowed to pick them yet.
I think I’m always surprised how fast the apple picking goes. If you want something slower, try blueberries! Those take forever! lol
Oh yeah! We picked both Honeycrisp and Gala. At the time, they also had Ginger Gold and McIntosh available for you-pick as well as Asian Pears in the store. I think the you-pick Honeycrisps must have only lasted about two or three weekends…
I’m tempted to try and go back later in the season, but I don’t know if I’ll get to.
We’re thinking of possibly doing a second trip, too!
Ah, this made me miss NC! I was born there but I don’t think we ever made it to the Blue Ridge Mountains.
Apple picking looked like such a nice time. I love that you got to bring Bailey with you too. He’s so cute, guarding the apples. Oh, and Gala are my favorite kind. Honey crisps are a close second though.
You’ll have to come back to visit and take a drive through the mountains. Hit up Asheville! Visit Sky Top! 😉 Gala are the best!
I live within a few hours of Sky Top and definitely need to try going this year. Atleast for those amazing donuts! 🙂
I love the pics of your dog. Reminds me I need to take more pics of mine. Thanks
I’m all for more dog photos! 🙂
I was catching up on my blog reading at lunch today and spotted this post! I’m not sure how I missed it, but my husband and I headed up to Sky Top this weekend after seeing it posted on Scoop Clt. We had to wait in line almost 1/2 an hour to park! This was our first trip apple picking. By the time we reached the gate, we were totally overwhelmed. There had to be over 1k people there. People parked all through the orchard. The line for the doughnuts was so long, people were only moving 10-15 places in line per half hour. C.R.A.Z.Y. We felt like it was Black Friday at the orchard and promptly ordered an apple slushy (totally want to recreate this at home), an apple fritter, hot caramel apple, a jar of honey and three 1/2 bushels of gala apples for homemade applesauce…then hit the road to Asheville to visit some friends. The orchard is precious and all of the people working there were helpful and friendly! I think every one had Fall Fever and headed up this past weekend. Maybe we’ll go earlier next year!
We went later last year, and we had a similar experience to yours. It was so busy! We were glad to have gone earlier this year! I definitely recommend it! 🙂 Hope you had a good time!