He's the Apple of My Eye

I turned 22 yesterday! I know, I know… I’m getting old, right? I have a list of things I'm going to do before I turn 23. One of those things was to pick apples in the mountains. (Feel free to check out my “22 Things to Do While I’m 22” list here.) I have been with James for almost 5 years now, and I have been begging him for the last 4 fall seasons to take me to pick them. When he asked me what I wanted for my birthday this year, all I had to do was raise my eyebrows and smile. So on my birthday I woke up and he told me we were going to Carter Mountain Apple Orchard in Charlottesville, Virginia. We made the hour and a half drive that morning and got there around noon.

I could barely contain my excitement as we followed the windy road to the top of the mountain. There were cars everywhere! Our ears were popping and the views on the way up were breathtaking. We finally got to the top and made our way to the Apple Barn to get our apple picking bags. While we were there we admired their Country Store full of special jams, jellies, and butters. There were giant pumpkins for sale at .59 cents a pound. They had hot apple cider for 50 cents a cup, so we had to try some. It was delicious!

There was a younger couple standing by the pumpkins with a small wagon consisting of two pumpkins and a bag of apples. James said, "How much was your entire purchase?" And the husband got really excited. He said, "Not much at all! It was only $60 for all of this!" $60?!? Let me tell you guys... there was not much in that wagon. Pumpkins are $3.88 at Walmart right now. I think we're gonna go that route. After walking away, we stopped and grabbed a map of the orchard and decided to pick Granny Smith apples. They are my favorite, and they’re the best to use when you bake an apple pie. The apples were $1.19 a pound, so we decided to limit ourselves to about a dozen. When we started walking through the orchard, we noticed how full the trees were. We stopped and talked to a lady from Texas who explained that she had never seen so much fruit in her life. We are truly blessed to live in such a beautiful state where food is so abundant.

We tried to go for the big, juicy apples. James had to pick the ones that were really high up because I just couldn't reach them, but we had so much fun! It was so nice just walking through the orchard holding hands. Our conversations consisted of the bluegrass music they were playing, scenic views, and apple pies. I love him so much… when we are together the conversations are just so- easy. But anyway, we picked apples as we walked, acting as fruit connoisseurs or something. I didn’t like how much fruit laid on the ground, destined to go to waste. We talked about how some kids in the world would be excited to get a hold of some of the apples deemed “not good enough” by the Carter Mountain customers. (More on that later…)

We really enjoyed ourselves yesterday! All we had to pay for was a dozen apples and a quarter tank of gas, so it was a pretty cheap date. I am so thankful that I have a husband that cares enough about me to take me on a day trip like the trip to Carter Mountain. The views were breathtaking, the apples were tasty, and the time spent with each other was precious. BIG thanks to James for my fabulous birthday trip!!! :)