the peachy queen

My mom is in town!

It's always lovely to have people visiting. My mom has been able to visit quite a few times since we moved here, and every time has been an adventure. Pedicures and shopping are almost always a must, as well as restaurant hopping and days of reading and rest.
She arrived on Friday, and so far we've hung out with some of our friends, eaten her specialty chicken enchiladas for dinner, caught up on So You Think You Can Dance, and Sunday we went peach picking!

We managed to find an orchard that was open on Sundays, and jumped into the car so that we could make it in time. It was over an hour away, and closed at 5.
The drive there was stunning, and as we started to approach the orchard we started to get excited about all of the fresh fruit we'd be getting! So we started to sing (made-up lyrics to "What a Wonderful World):

Mom: "And I think to myself, what a wonderful thing!"
Me: "And I think to myself, I'm the peachy king."

The whole trip was inspired by our accidental peach adventure from last summer, when my mom, aunt and cousin were in town. We followed a trail up by Monticello after seeing a sign that said "fresh peaches", and ended up living on peaches and peach things (salsa, vinaigrette, cider, etc.) for months.

If there really is a peachy king, then mom would most definitely be the peachy queen. 
Long live the queen!

Peach orchards are a kind of dark, magical place.

After we filled our bag to the brim with peaches (oh, the peachy possibilities), we decided to head back before the shop closed to pay for them and pick out a few more peach delicacies.

We got peach cider donuts, a jug of peach cider, and of course, a fresh peach milkshake. Which was ohmygawd. 

After it was finished...

Mom: I kind of want to lick the inside of the cup.

Yes, that. Exactly that.

Once we wandered out of the store and into the car, we made the short trek back to Blue Mountain Brewery, which we had seen on our way there. 

It was happenstance that this orchard was in the same direction of the magical place called Afton, where we stayed for Dusty's birthday two years ago. 

We had stayed in a bed and breakfast and had gone to this brewery, where the views are unparallelled and the food is delightful. 

We also happened (again, unwittingly) upon Blue Mountain on our way back from Cleveland in June. We caught a gorgeous sunset and I ate their baked beans because they're amazing. 

We got there around 5:30pm, and the place was booming!

The sun was a bit too intense still to sit outside in it for too long, so we decided to sit inside. We had pizza and soda and I had their baked beans, because they're amazing. 

I finally just asked the waitress what was in them, and she furrowed her brow and said, "Um...beans."

Thanks, chica. 

A great day, and another great week is waiting in the wings!