How Do You Like Them Apples?

By Sean McVeigh
Who would’ve thought that traffic would be a factor on the Saturday of Columbus Day Weekend? You’re telling me that it’s 70 and sunny in October on a holiday weekend and we weren’t the only people to think it was a good idea to go apple picking?
This isn’t the first time I’ve written about my autumnal infatuation. I am an unabashed fan of fall. And this past weekend was when I really got to dive headfirst into the season. My wife and I, along with two other couples, decided to get out of Dodge and really get into the fall spirit. What better way to do that than to go apple picking?
Doc’s Cider has been popping up around some of my local haunts and when we noticed on the can that it was made right here in the Empire State, well, we had no choice but to give it a try.
This hard cider is brewed in the lovely Warwick, NY. I’m not sure why, but to all six of us on this outing, Warwick seemed like it was a lot closer than it really was. I guess if you are driving anywhere upstate from Rockaway, estimating an hour and a half to two hours is a pretty good guess. A guess that is always sadly underestimated. After almost three hours in the car, we arrived at the orchard.
The plan was simple: park the car, pick some apples, then go explore the rest of the place and have some drinks. The first part of the plan went off without a hitch: the car was parked. The rest of the plan … did not play out exactly how we drew it up.
The place was mobbed. Who could’ve guessed it? And we passed two or three other stops along the way that were just as crowded. In a bit of a panic, we jumped on the first line we saw. (Nothing says “relaxing weekend trip upstate” like lines.) This line happened to be the cider tasting flight line. What a happy coincidence. We drifted our way through and got a nice little sampler of what Doc’s had to offer. But they always know how to leave you wanting more. As fate would have it, as soon as you walk out of the tasting, you are met with a little store where you can buy everything you just tried … And so, we did.
I say “apple picking” but there was no actual picking of apples. I guess “apple sipping” would be more accurate. We took those Doc’s and went and found a sunny spot in the grass and that was how we spent the rest of the day. At one point, someone mustered the willpower and went to inquire about actually doing some apple picking but decisions were made, and they just came back with some apple cider donuts.
The whole adventure we had dreamt up was formulated in Rockaway and drinking some Doc’s. We ended up driving three hours to go hang out in Warwick and drink some Doc’s.
I am now writing to you staring at a bowl of softball sized apples. On the way out, we bought a few pre-picked bags so we could at least pretend we had done what we set out to do. Funny enough, the apples taste just as good when they are picked for you.