Here in the Philippines, where I live, there are only two seasons in a year, the dry and wet seasons. In my opinion, I think they are the hot and warm seasons. So imagine my delight when I got sent to mainland United States for the first time (Hawaii was the first State that I visited and shared with you here, but it's so tropical, it felt like being in the Philippines still). To make this more exciting, I was scheduled to go during autumn, which would be my first cold-weather experience.
As you know, I've covered most of my experience in my New York series in five previous posts. In those posts, I dressed up in full autumn gear but the surroundings were not that... well, autumn-y. Here, somewhere near Olney, MD, I saw the countryside and the autumn sights and colors that I was craving for.
The best thing about being here in Maryland is being with my cousins, nieces, and nephew. We haven't seen each other in years! They knew I wanted to experience something "American" and so took me to a pick-your-own apple farm.
In this particular farm, you can eat as much apples as you want for free but you have to pay for those you take home.
This photo below is proof of what I'm saying. Hyperbolic-ally speaking, there's nothing more satisfying than taking a bite of an apple you picked yourself.
There were many kinds of apples other than the red ones and green ones, so I've been told. Fuji apples are still the most delicious ones. I should know, I tried them all. Fuji apples are the reddish ones I took a picture with above. But I did have a penchant for picking the green ones, or the granny smiths kind, only because my favorite color is green.
This was probably the itty-bitty Braeburn apple. I finished it in three bites.
To know more about the kinds of apples, I found this page very helpful.
Here we are paying for our "to-go" apples. Thank you cousins, for this unique American experience! It made me sort of reminisce our childhood (well, my childhood and your teenhood :)) when we picked Indian mangoes each summer and ate them with soy sauce or bagoong. Good times.
Marching back, mission accomplished.
But that doesn't end there. Autumn, after all, is also the Halloween season.
Here I was taking a picture with soon-to-become jack-o-laterns or pies. Either way, pumpkins represent Halloween as much as candy and ghosts do.
I was having so much fun with all the weirdly shaped and sized pumpkins. Some were cute, some were gargantuan. And this one was outright peculiar.
Inside the red barn were more fresh market produce.
Rainbow-colored licorice sticks at the check-out counter.
What an amazing autumn experience that was! I loved that it's not something I can do or try here in the Philippines. It might not be a typical tourist activity but it was unique and it's like an immersion in the Western culture that we're already so familiar with.
Want to pick your own apples? Here is the list of farms within Maryland. Pickyourown.org/MD.
