This year I made the decision to want to try to take the kids apple picking. The reason I say it like that is because, it can be kind of a pain. Our local San Diego orchards are about an hour away, up windy roads. It’s not all that convenient. Plus, if I’m being honest, apple picking takes about 15 minutes at the very most! So it’s like, why put all that energy into it for 10-15 minutes of fun? I just had to remind myself that my kids only get one childhood and each memory counts. Another reason for my hesitation is because most places up-charge the apples by the pound and nobody wants to pay $50 for 5 lbs of apples. Am i right? We decided to make the most of it. San Diego just so happened to be getting some great fall-like weather that weekend so I was really feeling it.
We drove up early on a Saturday morning. It was foggy, raining, and chilly. I was just fine with the weather because the last time we went it was 90- something out. No thanks! When we finally got to the orchard, we realized that they only took cash. I was so irritated! We were literally in the middle of nowhere so there wasn’t an ATM in sight and I didn’t want to have to spend more time driving somewhere far to get cash. I then had the great idea of asking someone if they would be willing to let me Venmo them so I could have some of their cash. As I asked the first family, I saw their faces as I mentioned that I didn’t have cash. They were immediately turned off by me asking. And to be honest, I also felt kinda weird asking as well. My husband then decided to ask the next guy we saw and guess what? He was totally willing to help us out. We couldn’t have thanked this guy enough for saving out butts and making our kids super happy! The orchard we went to was small and cute. It was really starting to rain at this point so the apples were washed and ready for us to snack on while we picked our apples.
After apple picking we headed out to grab some lunch and maybe some famous pie. We found this great little place that was almost like a little food “hall”, I guess you could say. There were a couple shops and a play area for the kids. There was also an awesome place called Julians Hard Cider. It was such a cute little place! Very quaint and family friendly. We found a great booth, ordered our flights of cider, and picked out a board game while our burgers were being made. I really enjoyed this little place. It was totally worth the drive up there! If you plan to check it out, I would highly recommend that you arrive early. The place got jam packed while we were there! This tells me that this place is a gem.
If you’ve never been to Julian before, it’s one of those places in San Diego county that you can go to, without actually feeling like you’re in San Diego. It’s small, it’s quaint, it’s family friendly. It’s a premier mountain town that adds another element of endless possibilities in San Diego. Julian truly offers something for everyone.
