Ooooooweeee – Ben and I have had the best day ever!! The plan was to go apple picking, but the weather had a different idea…RAIN! Undeterred, we headed out. Destination: Berry Patch Farm, about 30 minutes north of our house. Neither of us had ever been so we weren’t really sure what to expect.

Heading out…the rain is comin’ down…

About 30 minutes later it was still cloudy, but it least the rain had stopped! We drove along some unpaved roads for about 20 minutes, enjoying the scenery…

The we arrived!

Berry Patch Farm is seriously one the cutest little orchards/berry farms I have ever been to. It was absolutely gorgeous!

You were able to drive or walk all over the orchards and berry patches, picking from ~8 varieties of apples, luscious blackberries, raspberries, strawberries and blueberries! We started by picking some late-season strawberries…

 

And some beautiful, fuchsia raspberries…

Feeding the love of my life How romantic.

Then…it was HONEYCRISP time!! Can you imagine?? Rows upon rows of trees packed with my absolute favorite apple on earth!! You would have thought we were 10 and had just stepped into a candy shop…Ben and I were giddy with excitement!

Of course, we snacked on a couple of apples as we were picking…the juiciness & crunch factor were indescribable…

Actually – they aren’t…listen!

Ben got in on the HC action too!

 

LOOK. HEAVEN.

I seriously had 3 or 4 while we picked. I couldn’t get enough!

We filled our bag and headed back to the sales stand to pay.

This is Jack – the farm mascot. Such a sweetie!

 

And the owners of Barry Patch Farm.

“Judy has stolen my heart and refuses to give it back.” –Ben

Yep, it’s love.

We left with a jar of Fresh Raspberry Preserves

 

And 4.5 lbs of Honeycrisp apples! For $8.00!!!!

 

If you live in Central IA – get your behind out to Berry Patch Farm – ASAP!

So maybe you thought that the day would have ended there? Well, you’d be wrong. It just so happens that Barry Patch Farm is a stones-throw from one of Ben and I’s favorite BBQ restaurant – Hickory Park!

Hickory Park is an insanely delicious BBQ restaurant in Ames, IA that was voted Most Unexpected BBQ Brilliance by Maxim in their annual 2009 Maxim Food Awards!

The inside is like a giant barn with a very eclectic decor.

Hickory Park is so big that there is ~75 on staff for a typical lunch shift. THAT IS HUGE! There’s always a wait, but it doesn’t matter – I’d wait hours to eat here.

See – happy to just be there.

15 minutes later, our number was called!

I ordered the “Saucy Southerner” which is what I get every time I come.

 

YUM!!!!!!! To be honest, I wasn’t that hungry because I ate SO MANY APPLES at the orchard, so I had half my sandwich and a couple bites of mashed potatoes.

The Saucy Southerner was everything I remembered it to be – sweet, smoky, saucy deliciousness. This is what a BBQ sandwich should be!

Ben got his staple too – Open Faced Smoked Turkey Sandwich.

HE ATE THE ENTIRE THING.

Can you imagine?! We were both a little shocked…

Not too shocked to order dessert though! Ummm – this is the dessert menu… I know…ridiculous!

Sticking with the apple theme of the day, we ordered a small Hot Apple Crunch Sundae to split.

OMG!

That’s the warm, apple pie filling with streusel topping…

We ditched the whip cream and dug in.

 

Maybe two minutes later…we had crushed it, leaving only two small hills of vanilla ice cream in the dish. Let’s be real…we order the sundaes for the toppings!

The BEST part of Hickory Park?? The prices! We got all of our food for under $20. Unbelievable.

So as you can see, Ben and I spent our Saturday having some good, clean fun – and the best part was that we got to spend it together. I’m off to relax before I have to hear this all night long…that’s right…Miami is playing tonight! Have a great evening everyone!