This is what I remember falling in love with when I first came to Virginia with family on vacation probably 15 years ago. We went back the next year to visit colleges because the land was so breathtaking to me that I knew it would be a great place to go to school. My college decision ended up sending me farther north, and I never imagined that I’d end up actually getting to live in Virginia and be so close to this beautiful country. Today we decided to get away from the ‘burg and head to the western side of the state to soak up the sun and beautiful fall colors of the Appalachain!

We started our afternoon at Dickie Brothers Orchard, which is in the mountains about an hour west of Charlottesville.

You drive down a long country road with so many beautiful pastures and homes before actually reaching the orchard’s main building.

We picked up some bags and headed out to pick some apples from their orchards! We went apple picking last year and I loved being able to stock up and make all sorts of goodies with them, so I KNEW that I wanted to get a ton of apples again this year. We picked Fuji and Rome apples–Fujis are best for eating and Romes are great for baking!

The orchard we went to last year was huge and really touristy so the apples were so picked over and hard to find. Not so at Dickie Brothers! There was a bounty of beautiful apples to pick from!

With every apple I picked I was thinking about all of the things I can’t wait to cook and bake!

I think we ended up picking about 15 pounds worth! 😮

The orchards are so beautiful–the air up there is so crisp and clean and lightly scented with apples. I could pitch a tent and live up there.

After we finished our picking we headed back to the main building for more good stuff.

They had LOADS of pre-picked fruit inside, all of which were great prices and looked amazing.

I picked out some more apples inside: Golden Delicious, Stayman, and Winseap! The amazing woman who worked at the orchard told me all of those varieties would be great for baking, apple butter, etc. We also picked up some delicious looking apple cider that’s made by another local orchard.

We had so much fun at this place and would go back in a heartbeat! The staff was wonderful and the grounds are incredible. Again, I would like to please live there. Amongst the apples.

But apples weren’t our only mission. Since we made the 3-hour drive out to there, we had to see more of the sights. And luckily for us, the sights happen to include THIS:

This is Crabtree Falls, the tallest waterfall in Virginia!

When you arrive at the parking lot you can see the base of the waterfall that flows into a river, and then you can choose to hike through the mountains to see more of the falls.

Who is that strikingly handsome young man on the bridge?!

😉

Well I was certainly not planning on doing the hike, and was definitely not prepared in the footwear department.

But once you see the bottom you can’t help but want to see the entire waterfall. So hike we did!

We had to tread very carefully though!

I think a couple more people have died there since they put up that sign, actually. 🙁 But we stayed safe and really enjoyed the beautiful trail.

The further up you go, the more amazing the views of the falls are.

Neither of us have seen a waterfall of this scale before so it was an incredible experience. The sound of the rushing water is incredibly calming and almost surreal.

We’re DEFINITELY going camping in this area in the spring. Hold me to it!

We wanted to head back before dark because the mountainous roads out there are SCARY, so after enjoying the scenery for a while we started the drive back. As we were driving down Blue Ridge Parkway, the sun began to set and the views were too incredible to miss. I pulled over at an overlook so that we could take it all in.

I may be a little biased, but I say this is the most beautiful part of the world.

What’s that you say? Too many pictures? Huh? I’m sorry, that doesn’t register with me. There’s no such thing as too many pictures. I took well over 300 today so trust me when I say that I picked out each and every one that I wanted to share with you all! And trust me when I say that there will be lots of applelicious recipes coming soon. 🙂

Thanks for reading!

-Lauren