off the beaten path – Catching Marbles

My mother told me recently she’d never been apple picking so I decided to take her today. She’s been super observant of social distancing and really needed to get out of the house. Apple picking seemed like the perfect outing after being cooped up for so long.

I looked at the reviews of local orchards and the one in Mason peaked my interest. It was an odd deja vu adventure that transpired from there. Imagine my surprise to find it was a farm I actually knew about and played on when I was a small child. I couldn’t have been more than four or five when I spent at least one day there playing with the little boy who lived there. I don’t even remember his name now.

Everything was as I remembered. This place was down a long dirt road smack dab in the middle of nowhere, surrounded by forest, with a few shady paddocks where some horses happily loitered.

I had to follow signs to get to the orchard. The Prius already wasn’t happy with me driving it down a dirt road. It was even less pleased when the parking turned out to be a grassy patch of free space behind a stone wall and well off the road. Judging by the looks I was getting this may have been the first Prius to visit…

We were the only ones there besides the woman who owned the property. I knew it was the end of the season but I was still hopeful. She directed us towards the trees that were still fruiting. A few pear trees were present with a sparse smattering of fruit still left. Behind them was a row of Red Delicious. I’m not a fan of Red Delicious so I went towards the Golden Delicious that were still heavy with apples. The rows were marked with the types of apples – Mccoun, McIntosh, Golden Delicious, Red Delicious, Courtland, and Honeycrisp. However, being so late in the season most of the trees were bare. My mother picked some small Mccouns which she favored for being so hard. I filled my bag with Golden Delicious before she found three or so Honeycrisp trees that still had some apples. Score! I was happy! Now I got the apples and the Mason jars I am going to be making apple butter for Christmas!

This orchard was perfect for someone looking for a little known place with few people. Their prices were VERY decent too – cheaper than their competition for sure! And I was told that had we come at the end of September we would have also found peaches to pick. This is unusual for New England. All and all it was a lovely little adventure off the beaten track, well worth the visit!

When I heard a friend of mine would be visiting Maine from overseas I decided to head up there and spend a little time. I had a few things I wanted to get done up there (including doing a photoshoot of a deer farm) so I headed up a few days early.

Sadly I wasn’t in the best of condition so I didn’t get nearly as much as I would have liked to done – but I did at one point stop at a boat launching site in Stetson and the Madawaska Bog in Palmyra to take a few nature shots. I had passed by the bog many times but never stopped to see what it was. Well!

I drove in, parked, took out my camera and ambled up to a sweet little bridge overlooking the bog (which is another word for wetland or swamp) and two drainage tunnels. There was a trail at the end of the bridge but it was almost completely overgrown with vegetation. Did I dare? Eh, I had already taken an adventure earlier when my GPS decided to take the Prius off-roading. THANKS A LOT GPS! I decided trying this path couldn’t be any worse than that… so off I went… alone into the woods once again.

The plant life here was crazy. It was like walking into a rain forest. Everything was wet and covered in moss which made it look a bit magical to me… well, except for that one discarded condom (unopened!) and an empty can of beer. Guess whatever chicka ended up here didn’t agree with her loser boyfriend that a bog was the most romantic place ever to shag. Go figure! Also to this same admirable young lady, if you’re reading this – sweetie, you can do better!

The path abruptly stopped about 250 feet in. This was just as well because a recently shredded tree suggested that there was either a moose or bear around… My curiosity satiated I left.

***I apologize for any missing photos and galleries as I continue to work getting Catching Marbles fully migrated to a new host. Please come back soon for restored photos and thank you for your patience!***

If you are enjoying Catching Marbles please consider adding a dollar or two to my limited gas money fund so I can continue going on adventures and sharing them with you! Thank you!

Tag: off the beaten path

Birchwood Orchard Apple Picking – Mason NH

Madawaska Bog – Palmyra Maine