We picked apples...sorta

We stayed at Jellystone Campground in Cherokee, NC and it was great...from the trick or treating with Yogi to the river 20 feet from our campsite to the very friendly staff. I called a couple weeks prior to our arrival and asked the lady who answered the phone (Beth) if she knew of an apple orchard in the area where we could pick our own apples. This is something I have always wanted to do but have never had the opportunity to do.

Beth was super helpful and said she would give us information when we checked in about an apple orchard about an hour and a half away. SO...when we checked in last Friday Beth's husband handed us a business card to the apple orchard.

While reading the information on the business card I said to Brad "This place better be an apple orchard and not just a fruit stand". If I had only known. So we plugged the address into the GPS and off we went to Waynesville, NC. Did you know that 35 mountain (curvy/hilly) miles takes a LOT longer than 35 highway miles? Well, it does.

So the drive was nice (this was one of the only days of our entire vacation that it didn't rain)...and I was SO excited about running around an orchard with David. The trees were beginning to change so we got to enjoy some nice leaf peeping. On a side note - have you ever heard of leaf peeping? Odd term, I think. But it's a for real thing...I've heard it on the radio a few times lately. I thought I was all cool and hip for saying we were leaf peeping. Brad thought I was a dork.

We get to the orchard and guess what? It's a FRUIT STAND. Seriously. See?
I was so mad (well, really disappointed) that I just wanted to cry. That only lasted about 10 seconds because crying over apples is kinda stupid. So once I got over my pity party we decided to buy 20 pounds of apples (without experiencing the joy of picking our own apples) from a bin at the fruit stand. 20 pounds for $8. Can't beat that...or sometimes you can if you find 5 pounds at the store for $1.99. It happens. But it somehow felt cool getting them from a fruit stand (with an apple orchard in the back yard...an apple orchard that we were not allowed to pick from....how rude....okay, I'm done).

I asked someone at the fruit stand if there was anything ELSE fun to do in Waynesville. The nice lady said "Oh, you have to go to Lake Jenaluska, it's fun and you can feed the geese". Well, we have geese in Alabama but if that's what Waynesville has to offer then I'm game. We discovered just how lame Lake Jenaluska was. Very.

So we brought our 20 pounds of apples home with us. I shared some with a friend and will cook the rest. I make apple butter during fall each year, so I might make some this week. Tonight I made fresh applesauce that David asked me to make then told me it was gross. Awesome. I do have a recipe for a great apple strudel muffin...I'm sure I'll make some of those too. I'll share the recipe, if I can remember, later.