Apple Picking

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There are so many New Englandy things to do in the Fall. We have been so lucky to have the chance to move our family to Massachusetts and settle into a calmer way of life. I have dreamed of Fall and having a chance to share all of those crisp sweater weather activities with our daughter and this was the year! Our first Fall activity back in Massachusetts was apple picking.

The Big Apple Farm in Wrentham,Ma has an amazing collection of apple trees where you can drive up or take a hayride and pick a bushel for yourself. The apple varieties are plentiful and the type variety available for picking changes from week to week so make sure you check their website to find out which varieties are available during your visit.

You are able to drive straight up to the orchard and purchase bags for picking before entering into the fields. I cannot begin to tell you how breathtaking it is to be in an apple orchard looking out onto a mountain.

 

You can mix and match which apple varieties you pick as you fill you bushel.

 

Once done make sure you drive back down the hill to their farm stand store.

 

Everything available in the store is grown locally on the farm. This includes cider, baked goods and fruits and veggies. I highly recommend the apple cider donuts.

 

You can also sneak a peek at the apple sorter!

 

Apple picking is a not to be missed bucket list item on your New England Fall Family Trip! Need help planning a New England trip? Visit me at Callie at Fairy Godmother Travel so I can help make New England magical for you.

 

Ruby Falls/Rock City/Incline Railway Tennessee

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Our family travel took us to Tennessee recently and among our adventures there we stopped at several amazing attractions that are not to be missed. We landed in Nashville and made our way around the western part of the state. On our second day we drove from Nashville to Chattanooga and on our drive stopped first at Ruby Falls.

Ruby Falls is an amazing underground waterfall. Upon arrival make sure you have shoes that don’t slip due to the underground water the walkways can become slippery. You should also bring a sweatshirt or jacket since it can be a little chilly. If you have an infant you should definitely baby wear but the tour is doable.

You can purchase a ticket for Ruby Falls at the gate-ask about AAA discounts and many of the local gas stations also had coupons. You can also buy a group discounted ticket which includes Ruby Falls, Rock City and the Incline Railway-it’s a great deal but…..it’s all day and a ton of walking so make sure you’re up for it. Make sure you also use the restroom since the tour is about an hour underground and no bathrooms are available.

You then wait for your tour and are whisked down and elevator into the cave and wait for your tour guide. They also take a professional picture for purchase later. You can take pictures during the tour though. It’s about an hour of guided walking-both ways. They have all kinds of fun lighting and an area where you can touch the stalagmites. Only touch the one in the specific area so no damage come to others. It was so much fun.

The crowning glory at the end was the actual falls which is pretty amazing!

 

The end has a playground a quick serve food in case you’re hungry oh and that picure they took. I’m actually a sucker for these-but bring your money they are super expensive!

 

Once we were done at Ruby Falls we headed over to the Incline Railway-to give us a little sit down break. We started at the top of Lookout Mountain instead of the bottom. This was by far my favorite part of the day. The railway goes directly down the mountain and is the steepest railway in the world. It can be a little scary for the littles. There’s a fun pizza place and ice cream shop at the bottom.

 

We then made our way to Rock City-I was exhausted so I took a sitter and let the two of them run amuck. We didn’t start early enough in the day and only made it to Rock City an hour before they closed. It was so beautiful.

Rock City has every kind of plant you can think of and a trail which leads to Lookout Mountain where you can see several states at a time.

 

If you’re in the Nashville/Chattanooga area these are not to be missed! #Takethetrip

Tennessee Family Travel

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Fifty Nifty Unites States from 13 original colonies….we are at it again and racking in some states on our most recent family trip. We jumped in the old family truckster and battled pouring rain and early hours to make it to the airport late for this one. So late that we missed the next two flights since they were full so we decided to camp it out in the airport for awhile and enjoy ourselves.

I have been making family travel a priority and we are working on all fifty states before our girl leaves our nest. I have been using Southwest deals to get us to some fun places so if you’d love to make this happen for you family then sign up for the emails. They run deals I would say every three months and for this one Nashville came up and I snagged it.

Tennessee has a ton to offer families traveling so come along with us and see a snapshot of our trip. I will be doing follow up posts with more details on each attraction. How do I plan these trips? Honestly it takes time…and I heavily rely on fellow bloggers who have gone places. Bloggers are such a great resource. They give honest opinions and find things trip advisor just can’t.

Our trip lasted 4 nights and 5 days and we started off in Nashville!

Nashville-Day 1-well we missed our flight so yay-I had to scrap our plans pretty much for the whole day but….I was able to make our planned dinner at The Oprayland Gaylord.

This hotel is amazing!!! It’s basically a complex. You have to pay a hefty price to park and basically get lost doing it but once you’re in the parking lot head on over through the conservatory doors. You will enter right into the hotels amazing conservatory with plants and waterfalls, streaming lights and several restaurants. We chose American Cafe because it was right by the jumping water and it also had the most kid friendly menu. You can also order sushi if you like. The meals are amazing and a complete splurge-so bring the money. Or you can pay to park and walk through several areas,the lobby-not to be missed and ride the glass elevator up and down-oh yes we did. Don’t drive by this one-go in.

 

Chattanooga Day 2-We made the trek from Nashville to Chattanooga. Our destination was the Historic Chattanooga Choo Choo Hotel but we had plans to stop at Ruby Falls, The Incline Railway, and Rock City which technically is in Georgia so number 8 check!. We stopped at the Falls first since it was actually on the way to the hotel. After walking our feet off we headed to our hotel.

Oh MY Word-you must stay here! It’s amazing. We opted for the train car room-you can also get a regular room and it was worth it!

Tons of posh eating all around the area-seems to becoming hipsterish. It was quite nice to have a variety of dining in walking distance.

 

Pigeon Forge-Day 3-We started our day with breakfast and a car ride to Pigeon Forge. Our hotel was the Christmas Inn and it did not disappoint. As you can see I like to do all the things. We got out of our car and walked into Christmas music!

Our day was spent at the Titanic Museum-yes it was awesome.

 

And the Old Mill for dinner-so good. I had no idea Pigeon Forge was so awesome and we will be adding this for another trip in the teen years-so much to do!

Great Smoky Mountains-Day 4 We stayed two nights at the Christmas Inn due to the fact that there is no lodging inside the national park. We drove through the entire park-as quick as we could and headed over to the Great Smoky Mountain National Railroad in North Carolina-number 9 if you’re counting. We did a four hour train ride through the Smokys and while it was a bit pricey this was a once in a lifetime thing! We also drove through the Cherokee Nation which was really interesting.

 

Back to Nashville and Home Day 5-I made a late flight ressie since it’s a 3.5 drive back to Nashville but you can do it! I was actually able to squeeze in one more thing that we missed on our initial day. Andrew Jackson’s Hermitage-yes I am a history geek. It was pouring and we were so wet but we went and did it and it was so worth it.

 

 

This was one of our best trips yet and I never realized how much fun was in Nashville!!! More posts in details to come. Come on-fill up your book-make your memories-they’re not too young or too old. All we will have left is love and memories so get out there!