Just in time at harvest season
Hi, friends, can you believe it’s officially autumn now?
hehe, aside from the rare harvest moon up in the sky, I hope you enjoyed my mooncakes recipe from the previous post about mid-autumn Taiwanese celebrations. Mooncakes are one of the best things to start the autumn in our house, do you have any celebration of your own?
Where does the time go? I hardly remember the season changes, summer is over, and now the sweet autumn is in full swing.
Surely we did quite a lot of traveling, as our adventure of exploring the world is on full speed and I am currently working on lots of pictures and posts for the London guide! It’s nice to do this, but meanwhile, we are also longing for some nature, something we should see around us therefore we took a day off, and went on a road trip to Julian.
It’s not our first time to Julian, but we always back to him. 🙂 This nice little town at SoCal has it’s own charm, and it’s definitely worth the drive, especially for what it is famous for- cider!
The traffic from downtown San Diego to Julian is about an hour, and in good condition in general, you will also find some fun shops and nature reserve parks on the way. We always take our time, eat, rest, and look around the antique shops! I have this thing with antique shops now: since you may know I love to shoot for my American history food project, I always look for some antique tableware. And so glad I did find two nice antique spoons! do you have this thing with antique shops? and what is your gem you are always looking for?
Julian is a tiny town and you may only take 10 mins to finish the whole town center. However, from apple pies shops to quirky boutiques and restaurants, it’s so lovely to just wander around. I admit that I was born and raised in a big city, but I like the feel of the small town, the simplicity, and friendly attitude.
What you shouldn’t miss when in Julian?
- Cider
- Apple pie
- Farms, winery and nature reserve parks
Cider is one of our favorite drinks during summer, and we noticed that seems the cider trend is back, from London to California, we’ve seen cider bars are thriving, such good news! with cider in mind, we went to Apple Lane Orchard Estate just right after we had brunch, yes… I know it’s early, hehe. It is a beautiful apple farm and provides nice cider, also “you pick” activity that you can get the apple just right in the harvest season, how romantic, isn’t?
I was really happy to visit the apple farm, I’ve always loved apples, but cider is a different level! from raw cider to infused cider, you can do the cider tasting with the cherry bomb, black, and blueberries, pine …etc. we both agree that cherry bomb is our new favorite!
Apart from the cider, the whole farm is so pretty, we got many good shoots at here. Just the two of us enjoyed the harvest season. I have a good feeling that this year is better than ever!
You can also see Julian as a portal to the other fun activities, such as fishing and hiking at Cuyamaca rancho state park, Cleveland national forest, or further east to the biggest state park of California- Anza-Borrego desert state park.
We had a good memory at Anza-Borrego years ago, caught the incredible super bloom in spring. Also, Cuyamaca is the best fishing location in SoCal we know; it’s pleasant to rent a boat and fish in the lake. But we feel like to explore a new location, therefore this time we chose to go to the local’s favorite spot to see the desert – Mt. Laguna. we drove there with ease, not far at all and see the scenes change so much as we climbed up. we couldn’t stop saying how beautiful and be so grateful to catch these views at that moment. Indeed, it’s awe-inspiring just by looking at it, thinking how tough in the Old West, people ride the horse across the desert to pursue their California dream. Is that worth it? I believe it is.
Although I may not be well-prepared for my hiking dress up, we still went on a small hiking trail. there are many trails you can choose from, so pick one that you are ready for it, it’s so worth it, everything you see it’s pretty photogenic, so don’t miss it!
P.S. I got questions about my dress frequently, so I take note here if you are interested.
Dress: Bardot Mae Swiss-dot dress, Hat: Anthropologie Blanche Rancher
it’s been a while since we’ve done a road trip, but every time we do it, we couldn’t be happier and appreciate more how America is beautiful. I believe this will be my first post of sharing American nature beauty.
I hope you enjoyed the post today, and feel free to share with me your favorite hiking or fishing places, we will be so happy to explore too!
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XO,
Gabrielle
Good job!
love you! <3 thank you mom!