AGRITOURISTS

I've been hearing commercials for the Louisburg Cider Mill for weeks now going on about their apple cider and apple cider donuts. Somehow I managed to convince Chris that this was something we had to experience and for some crazy reason we thought Cider Fest weekend was the time to do that. So, Saturday morning, we hopped into the car and headed down to the cider mill only to be greeted by a crowd of people with lots and lots of strollers (we witnessed a woman pushing a stroller that had a pumpkin in it, no sign of the child...it was creepy). Apparently Cider Fest has a big pull on the family crowd. Something about pony rides, bouncy slides, pumpkin patches and corn mazes. We dived straight in and headed for the country store, immediately jumping in line for hot apple cider and donuts.

After a fortifying snack of donuts, we jumped in line to see the mill. Making apple cider turns out to be a pretty simple process. Apples are washed, they go into the mill and they get mashed up. The end. But it was good apple cider.

After the mill we realized we had some extra time, so we decided to go try out the corn maze. On our way to the maze, Chris pretended to be the Great Pumpkin in the pumpkin patch. He's so cute.

Have you ever done one of these corn maze things? I hadn't before and I found it to be a little eerie. The wind rustles the dried up corn and it sounds like somethings in there getting ready to come and attack you. The paths tend to be littered with half eaten corn cobs. Your mind begins to wonder what gnawed on the corn and if it's got the taste for corn how long will it be before it gets the taste for human blood. We didn't spend much time in the maze.

To counter the maze, we thought it would be a good idea to visit the winery a few miles down the road. Somerset Ridge Vineyard and Winery seemed the place to go after you've fed your children sugar and then let them run crazy in a pumpkin patch. Babies napped in strollers while parents sipped wine on the patio. We didn't mind. The weather was perfect for patio wine sipping. I think it was my favorite part of the day. Light cool breeze. Not bad live music. A cool crisp Riesling. Perfection.