Fun fall afternoon alert: Every fall one of my besties and I vowed that no matter how crazy our schedules got we’d always to do a fun fall activity. Typically it is the Renaissance Festival, but this year it was lunch, apple picking, and ice cream! We had lunch in Clintonville and then headed out to Utica, which is about an hour from Columbus.
Our day started with lunch at Wildflower Cafe in Clintonville. Unfortunately, I did not get a piece of butterscotch pie and I am sad about that as I write this. Wildflower is a quaint little diner where locals enjoy a good meal. Children always welcome. It is a small place and there can be wait at the high traffic times, fyi. Prices are reasonable and the staff is always friendly and accommodating.
Once we finished, we headed out east for apples. Branstool Orchards is a fabulous place with a large variety of apples…apples I’d never even heard of! We ended up taking home Pinova, Florina, and Topaz – I know! Those beauties don’t grace the shelves of a grocery store, you gotta work for that melt in your mouth goodness. When I mention “work,” I mean send your child in
the tree for the picking and watch. ha!
Branstool even rewards you for your apple picking efforts by offering a free pumpkin for every 20 pounds of apples picked. We ended up with three pumpkins. Luckily, they have wagons you can use to haul your goodies – or your children – through the orchards.
Branstool is a enormous gorgeous orchard with the pumpkin patches hidden between the apple trees. It is a lovely place to spend the afternoon picking apples and pumpkins. So you know, you walk to the orchards, not just drive your car up and park. Hence the wagons.
Now, being out that way and not stopping at Ye Old Mill is just tragic, so of course we stopped. The girls each got a scoop. Order one scoop and ask for two different flavors – two scoops and you’ll be eating ice cream for an hour. Take a walk around their grounds, feed the geese, listen to some history, or let the kiddos play. Ye Old Mill also has a restaurant, so technically eating there first would have worked out well for us, too!
One more thing, the drive out is beautiful this time of year with the leaves changing. Mom and dad can enjoy that little slice of heaven…if the kids aren’t screaming in the back seat, that is.
Tips:
- Bring water and good walking shoes.
- Bring a jacket – you never know how much cooler it will be when you leave the city.
- Branstool and Ye Old Mill take credit cards!
- No stroller – too difficult to push through the orchards.
- Port-o-potties…plan accordingly.
Branstool Orchards
5895 Johnstown-Utica Rd NE
Utica, OH 43080
(740) 892-3989
http://branstoolorchards.com/
Ye Olde Mill
11324 Mt. Vernon Rd.
Utica, OH 43080
1-800-589-5000
