Mercier has been in the same family since 1943 and is now the largest apple orchard in the Southeast, spread across the hills just north of town. It is the rare day out that genuinely works for every age in your group, which is exactly why we keep sending people here.
The market is the heart of it: fried apple pies made on site, jams and preserves, fresh cider, and a bakery that is difficult to walk past. There is a cider and wine bar for the grown-ups, a cafe for lunch, and a farm store big enough to lose an hour in. In season you can head out into the fields and pick your own, with strawberries in late spring, peaches through summer, and apples from roughly August into November.
Go in the morning, particularly on autumn weekends, when the car park fills fast and the u-pick fields are at their best. Check the website before you drive over to see what is ripe, since picking is weather-dependent and changes week to week. It is a short drive from the cabin, and the fried pies do not survive the journey home.
