Apple Picking in Upstate New York
Wasn't quite what I expected
Two weekends ago we went apple picking with friends in upstate New York. Hailing from the Pacific Northwest, fruit picking is a favorite tradition of mine. Blueberries in July, strawberries in June, peaches at the start of August and apples in October. I eagerly await each season, ripe for the picking.
So I was elated when our friends invited us to an apple orchard to kick off the cozy season. I had no idea what to expect and was curious how it’d compare to my experience back west. Well in true New York fashion, tradition gets a chance at reinvention.
To start, getting into an apple orchard isn’t as simple as driving up (assuming you have a car at all). To get into an orchard you have to make reservations in advance and pre-select the amount of apples you’d like to pick (by the pound). Doing so spits out a QR code that grants you entrance and a half-bushel bag upon arrival for $48 (seems kind of steep to me).
We arrive to the farm (1.5 hours north of the city, Little Bird’s first road trip!) to a parade of cars awaiting check in. Thirty minutes and one bag later, we’re directed to a sea of parked cars to test our luck (à la Hunger Games). Within a few minutes we find an opening and await our friends before grabbing a bite and starting the haul in earnest.
In terms of food, there’s a handful of food trucks to choose from. Will and I opt for tacos while our friends flirt with some burger options nearby. We sit down in a grassy patch to catch up and eat.
Our little sojourn on the lawn feels surprisingly calm considering the hordes of people around us, seems like New Yorkers are experts at tuning out the background (I joke that if we ever leave this city, the baby’s white noise machine with be YouTube videos of sirens and honking cars).
Rested and fed, we make our way toward the orchard to stock up on apples. The catch? 90% of the trees are completely bare. I kid you not. It’s probably on us (we waited until late-October), but hot damn, it was (literally) slim pickings.
I began the day with lofty hopes of filling my bag with honeycrisps and galas, but quickly found myself eager to fill it with anything at all.
Halfway through the endeavor it occurs to me that it’s not about the apples at all, is it? We’re having such a great time with our friends; everyone is funny and bright and happy to outside. I guess that was the whole point of the day and I was merely slow to the realization (I thought we were there for honeycrisps!). The point of anything in NYC is to enjoy, enjoy, enjoy! It’s such a social place.
Alas, I looked at my sad quarter-filled bag of orphaned apples and followed the crew for hot cider and warm donuts. It was perfect. From the overpriced apples to the great company, I’d do it again in a heartbeat.
Updates on Little C
The baby is 10 weeks old today (I had to double check because that couldn’t possibly be true) and her social smiles are coming out in full force. I’ll be honest, I never knew a baby could be so much fun. Apart from some hairy sleepless nights; our little girl wakes up happy, eats well and tags along wherever we go without a fuss.
This keeps the city accessible to us, which means we can continue to explore as long as we account for feeding breaks every three hours (but let’s get real; that’d be the case even without the baby - ha!). All smooth on the baby front, I’m happy to report.
See you Monday, cheers!
Antonina