Our Fall Road Trip to Evans Orchard and Cider Mill (they have pumpkins, too)

 

We took an impromptu road trip this weekend to Evans Orchard and Cider Mill in Georgetown, Kentucky, and discovered that a pumpkin patch is no longer just a pumpkin patch.

My mother says we used to get our pumpkins every year from a man who set a bunch he’d picked from his field on his front porch next to a coffee can where you stuck your cash to pay for the pumpkins you took home.

There was no pay-by-the-pound, there was no trudging through fields of pumpkins still on the vines. There certainly was no corn maze, obstacle course, petting zoo, camel ride, apple orchard or live music.

Apparently, pumpkin patches have come a long way.

At Evans Orchard this weekend, we found all of the above and more. We picked our pumpkins, indulged in lunch from the Sweet Apple Cafe and sipped our apple cider while listening to a lovely rendition of “My Girl.” We bought six or seven mini pumpkins, coming to about $7 and then spent a collective $50 in the gift shop on fried apple pies, apple donuts, candy apples, pecan apple butter, peanut butter fudge and cartons of apple cider. What pumpkins?

We didn’t set foot in the dirt fields, but we could’ve if we wanted to pick our own pumpkin. We didn’t walk up and down the rows of apple trees with baskets in hand, but we could’ve if we wanted to pick our own apples. Just like we could’ve taken a hay ride, we could’ve walked in circles atop a very perturbed looking camel, and we could’ve participated in the pet costume contest — but we couldn’t even coax Bows into posing for a picture. There was so much to do we couldn’t take it all in.

But we left happy with pumpkins in hand and fried apple pies stuffed in our mouths. A pumpkin patch is no longer just a pumpkin patch … it’s way better.

Check out Bows in all of her googly-eyed glory. (No wonder she didn’t want to be in our pictures).

  

What it’s going to cost you:

Not a thing just to go and walk around. You’ll pay by the pound for big pumpkins and gourds, and $1-$2 for the small ornamental varieties. Visit the gift shop to spend even more cash on some delicious desserts and fun decorations. Kids activities including camel rides, the petting zoo and the corn maze are also going to cost you. Find a full list of activities and prices on Evans Orchard’s website. 

Hours and Directions:

Evans Orchard and Cider Mill is open Tuesday through Saturday from 9:30 a.m. to 6 p.m. And it’s not just a pumpkin patch and apple orchard! In the spring time, you can pick strawberries and in the summer months you’ll find peaches and pears. The orchard grows We grow 15 acres of peaches, apples and pears, two more acres of small fruit, and more than 20 acres of farm-fresh vegetables.

From Lexington, you’ll travel eight miles north of the I-75 bridge (exit 115) on Newtown Pike (Highway 922). Take a right onto Stone Road and the orchard is the third drive on the left.

To see a map and find other directions, visit Evans Orchard’s website.