Per my wise brother's advice, I ended up in Applacres a few Saturdays ago. He recommended their delicious peaches and he was right on mark. Wow. Like melt-in-your-mouth 'wow'. Anyhow, stepping foot into Applacres always floods my mind with a whole host of fond memories. Visits with my mom, field trips, old fashioned candy, gooey caramel apples, and who can forget the apple cider? I am sure the owner would cast a thankful eye to Heaven each time he saw my mom enter the store. Everything is so stinkin' tempting in that store! Golden delicious apples, caramel apples, apple cider, candy canes, cinnamon balls, Brach's Jelly Nougats, pears, peaches... you get the picture. In fact, it happened to me when I was there just a few weeks ago. I purchased far more than I originally intended.
I had my camera with me so I threw it over my shoulder and walked in for some shopping. I had my 50mm f/1.8 on the D800. I snapped an occasional image as I was walking throughout the store. Stores like Applacres take you back in time.
As I was shopping and taking pictures (as inconspicuously as possible) I noticed a couple of the workers checking me out. An older gentleman with an Applacres hat walked up to me and asked why I was taking so many pictures. I told him photography was a hobby of mine and that I was taking the pictures just for personal use.
He seemed a bit relieved and then explained that he was the owner (or proprietor as he called it) of Applacres. He thought I was taking the images as part of an inspection for the FDA or some other agency. He said they usually get a warning before these inspections happen and was concerned that this was an undercover inspection of sorts. I apologized and told him of all of my fond memories of the place. Oops! Lesson learned :)
Those Brach's Jelly Nougats are deadly. I used to just pick out the jelly things and eat them. I now eat the whole thing like a mature adult.
This image sums up Applacres in my opinion. I had to act like I was taking a picture of something else so the 'ol boys wouldn't notice.
I didn't leave without grabbing an assortment of hard candy. That would be wrong.
The fresh, sweet corn was so good. It didn't need butter, salt or anything. Just plain good.
After I paid for all of my items, I decided to try to find the owner again and see if he would let me take his picture. He was too neat of a guy to pass up. I went around to the back of the store and found him. I asked if I could take his picture and he obliged. He walked over to my cart and gave me this little smirk/smile and I snapped one shot. I love it. Seemed like a pretty interesting guy. I am making a 5x7 print of the image and plan on delivering it to Applacres next time I make it down there.
If you haven't been to Applacres, you should make it a point to visit sometime this summer. The lack of rain has caused some issues with their local orchard, but they still have local/fresh fruits and vegetables. Get some apple cider if nothing else!
