Apple Festival

As long as I can remember my family has made our yearly fall trip to Beak & Skiff Apple Farm for apple picking. In Lafayette, NY there is a strip along Rte. 80 that is home to about 5 different apple farms. The somewhat narrow road is lined with tall trees that have begun changing colors to rich oranges, cinnamon reds and golden yellows. Beak & Skiff is about a mile away from the cluster of apple farms on Rte. 80. As we turn into the apple orchard I can't help be excited as I see the Beak & Skiff country store lined with hardy mums, Halloween decor and bright orange pumpkins. Though we had to postpone our trip a bit this morning because of the rain, it has turned into a beautiful afternoon of crystal clear blue skies and sunshine.

As soon as I stepped out of the car to get myself all situated with money, keys, and camera the distinct smell of apple fritters made my stomach growl. It was definitely a chilly day in Central New York, enough to make your nose run. Every where you look there were little kids with rosy cheeks bundled up in their warmest fleece jacket eating the apple they just picked. On that day we got to pick Empire apples, my mom's favorite. In about 2 weeks Golden Delicious will be available, my favorite.

When we were waiting in line for the tractor to take us into the orchard the breeze blew just right and I could smell the crisp autumn leaves in the air. I just love that smell. The tractor ride is short and bumpy but the orchard is so big I would get lost in a second if I ever tried to walk it. The best part of the tractor ride is seeing all the different types of apples, they vary in color from a deep garnet to a bright and cheerful reddish- orange. These days I let my daughter do all the picking. I think her favorite part is climbing the ladder that they leave available for you to move freely along the rows of apple trees. Or maybe her favorite part is picking her "perfect apple" that she is going to eat. The tractor ride back is normally the more scenic view. You can see almost the entire city of Syracuse and the hills covered in the a sea of red, orange, and yellow leaves.

We put our apples in the car walked down to the Beak & Skiff country store. Attached to the store is a little eatery where you can get cider, apple fritters, and chili dogs. My teenage years were spent egging my little brother on to see how many chili dogs he could eat. The country store has different varieties of apples for you to purchase, fudge, New York state maple syrup, and homemade pies. They make their apple cider on premises, there is a separate room you can go into and you can watch them squish the apples. Their apple cider is delicious!

After our afternoon at Beak & Skiff we decide to head up Rte. 80 to the Apple Festival. In all my years of apple picking I have never been to the actual Festival; with all the cars that lined the streets it looked like everyone in Lafayette was there despite the rainy morning. The open field was full of craft tents and food booths. Further back in the field there amusement park were the rides. You could definitely tell the people that were from Lafayette because they were prepared for anything- they were wearing boots, I had on my polka dot ballet flats. Not smart. I feel like I would have stayed longer if it wasn't for walking around in mud deep enough to cover my ankles. Despite being cold and muddy, it was a lot of fun, and home to what my daughter called "steak sandwich heaven."

I hope everyone had a great weekend!!

~Melissa