This fall has been a struggle for me. I feel like I enjoyed this summer to its fullest, but I haven’t been willing to let it go, as those of you who read my sudden, unexplainable outburst directed at maple trees can attest. A Lake Geneva summer is like a drug to me, and unfortunately, the more I taste it, the more I want it. There is no acceptable portion size of summer for me, and like an offensive lineman at the Old Country Buffet, I can devour as much as you can put on my plate. I’m probably going to go to counseling as a result. This much, I am not proud of. So today, at least one week too late, I’m going to embrace fall. The truth is, my love of summer has clouded my view of fall, but there’s no reason it has to be that way. I’m going to start loving the fall of 2010, and I was going to say “starting today”, but the truth is, I cheated on my own loosely defined summer a bit and started enjoying fall last weekend. When it’s fall, and it’s Lake Geneva, I’m a very easy guy to find. If I’m not at my office and I’m not walking the shore path or captaining a boat, I’ll probably be at the Royal Oak Farm Orchard.
I can see some of you rolling your eyes at that statement. What kind of grown man feels like going to a silly orchard? This grown man. I love the orchard, and fall wouldn’t be complete without several stomach stretching trips to my orchard of choice. I believe that Lake Geneva is a town, first and foremost, made for summer. But fall is a close second. Lake Geneva combines the best of all fall worlds in one concise geographic location. A location, I might add, that’s probably no more than 90 minutes from your home. It’s like Door County without all the bike riding Brewers fans and the six hour drive. And it’s like Michigan without all the economic obsolescence and gimmicky advertising. It’s Lake Geneva, and it’s a vacation destination that shines in the fall. While Door County is busy preparing for a six month hibernation, and Michigan prepares for another bout of layoffs, Lake Geneva cruises from summer to fall and into winter with grace and ease. It’s fall, Lake Geneva style.
Part of the fall experience involves Pearce’s Farm Stand and Schofield’s Orchard for sure, and leaf crunching walks down the shore path are can’t miss in my leather bound book. Boat rides are also part of the quintessential fall weekend here, but I understand that such aquatic pleasures are not available for everyone. Trips to the Royal Oak Farm Orchard, however, are easily accomplished by everyone and anyone that finds rolling terrain and juicy apples to their liking. The farm has only been on my radar for the past several years, and my children begin squawking about trips there long before Labor Day arrives and makes such trips socially acceptable.
The farm is located due south of Walworth. It’s an easy trip down Ridge Road (by Sentry) to Stateline Road to Hebron Road to the orchard. From my office in Williams Bay I can be there in no more than 18 minutes. It’s a nice trip too, through the rolling fields of southern Wisconsin. Readers with cars that thrive on curvy roads would do well to explore this intertwined maze of roads that lead from the lake to the orchard. The drive is rewarding, but the apple cider donuts that are fresh made throughout the day are far more rewarding than an internal combustion engine ever could be. It’s not just the drive to the orchard, or the fresh apples that easily overwhelm my tastebuds, or the donuts or the local honey, or the rides for the kids that make this place special. It’s the combination of all of the above that make it a rare treat, and make the orchard worthy of the moniker that I hefted upon its shoulders last year. This is, without hesitation, the Alpha Orchard.
No other orchard comes close. The Elegant Farmer, where Bobby Flay visited last year for a throwdown (and lost), is a fine place. There’s the East Troy Electric Railroad that can take you from the old train station to the orchard, but it’s not the same. The Elegant Farmer is more a retail operation. A great place to go buy a few pies and eat some apples, and drive home. The Royal Oak Farm Orchard is a complete retreat. Like an apple spa. Fully willing to take you from your every day boring life and catapult you into a world where rows and rows of apple trees, John Deere tractors, and rolling fields of pumpkins provide you with a glimpse at your inner Andy Farmer. While kids do have a great time here, with the petting zoo and rides and apple picking, I sense that couples and individuals will have just as good of time.
There’s a quote by Bill Watterson that I’m quite fond of. He once said, “I like these cold, gray winter days. Days like these let you savor a bad mood”. I do like to savor a bad mood, so the quote resonates with me on dim fall and winter days. While bright fall days are wonderful to spend at the orchard, picking apples and placing every other apple into your mouth, chilly gray days are sublime when spent at Royal Oaks. Gray days at an orchard make me want to dress like Tommy Hilfiger and drive a Jeep Wagoneer. They make me want to eat apples and dust off my corduroy jacket with the leather elbow patches. They make me want to buy a coffee from their gift shop and sit on a bale of hay. They make me feel like owning a farm. Abandoning my computers and rear wheel drive cars and turning off the world around me in favor of my own world where my only worries are finding enough logs to stoke my roaring fire. They make me want to throw a stick to the dog that I don’t own and walk with it on the edge where my apple grove meets a golden pre-harvest soybean field. These are the sorts of things the orchard makes me want to do, and if you’ve never been to Royal Oak, don’t judge me.
The good news about the Orchard is that it’s open through October 31st, so you have plenty of time to get there. The bad news about the Orchard is that it’s not open on Sundays, so you’ll need to plan your Saturdays accordingly. I was there last Saturday, savoring my bad mood and dreaming of the above described life that I don’t lead, and found that by noon the crowds were quite intense. Royal Oak Farm opens at 9:30 in the morning, so it’s best to get there either in the morning, or on a weekday if possible. I shot loads and loads of pictures last Saturday, and was quite excited to share them with you. Excited, that was, until I noticed an annoying little display on the LCD screen about two hours into our visit that flashed “CF Empty”. I took about 90 pictures without the memory card in the camera. Classy, David. So yesterday afternoon I went again. With CF card in hand and a burning desire to eat some apples. Needless to say I accomplished both with tremendous ease, though I’m better at eating apples than taking pictures.
Do yourself a favor this fall and spend it in Lake Geneva. When you’re here, crunch some leaves on the shore path, and put an old sweater on for a walk through town with a coffee in one hand and a shopping bag in the other. And take a trip a few minutes south to the Royal Oak Farm Orchard. Ride on a wagon and pick some apples. Eat a few donuts and walk down row after row of apple laden-ed trees while trying to pretend that moving to the country and living like Andy Farmer doesn’t tempt you. See you at the lake, and if it’s fall, I’ll see you at the alpha orchard.