Apple Holler is just over the border in Wisconsin, and is close enough to both Chicago and Milwaukee that it always draws a huge crowd. We went there a few times when Kai was very young, but it had been years since our last visit. The place reminds me of the famous Yogi Berra quote: "Nobody goes there anymore. It's too crowded." But on this day, we wanted to pick apples so we decided to go anyway.
As we neared the area, we found cars parked on the side of the country road quite a bit down from the actual orchard. Their parking lot must have been overflowing.
We waited in line to pay to get in. The minimum price to get in is $20 per person, and for that they give you a small bag to fill up with apples. We decided to upgrade to a bushel, at a cost of $100 for the three of us. Definitely expensive, but I look at it as you are paying for the experience, not just the apples.
Once in the orchard, we found that although there were a lot of people there, the orchard was so expansive that it didn't seem all that crowded.
We walked past rows and rows of different types of apple trees: Red Delicious, Golden Delicious, Macintosh, Jonathan, Honey Crisp, Gala, and more.
We didn't go all the way to the back; we would have to carry the apples back out. So about halfway back we found an Asian Pear tree and started to pick.
And then we started picking apples. I believe this next photo is by a Gala tree.
I liked the Honey Crisp best and Kai liked the Gala.
We filled up our bushel, and boy, was it heavy. Kai helped carry the bushel out.
Kai even made a short video while we were there.
On our way out, Kai wanted to pick some Golden Delicious.
After lugging the bushel much of the way back, we were relieved when we came across an empty wagon that someone had abandoned.
The orchard also has a play area. Here is Kai by a "cow maze."
And here he is with Mom standing under the Golden Goat Bridge.
Of course, no trip up to Wisconsin is complete without a visit to the legendary Brat Stop.
We started with an order of the "world famous fried Wisconsin cheese curds."
And of course we had to have brats for lunch. My wife and I like it the way you're supposed to have it, with sauerkraut and brown mustard. But Kai likes his with onions and yellow mustard.
Yes, it was a great day!
Kai's video was well done. Kai seemed to be such a gentleman in his tone and demeanor, and his eye contact with the camera was especially good at the end as he was bidding good bye.
ReplyDeleteNow, my big question...what are you going to do with a bushel of apples ? :)
Kai had planned to make that video from the day before. He was very calm... maybe from being tired after lugging that bushel of apples, ha!
DeleteMy wife has been researching many apple recipes... pies, cakes, apple sauce, etc. She will have a busy few days! :)