This weekend Jon and I attended the annual Apple Festival on Saltspring Island. As usual we had an awesome time. Last year we camped at Ruckle Park but this year we decided to stay in a little cabana on St. Mary's Lake. The day we arrived was beautiful fall weather, it was almost hot! It almost made me regret not camping. We spent Saturday visiting the island. We stopped by the weekly market in Ganges Harbor.
Then we spent most of the afternoon exploring the property at our little resort we were staying out (and indulged in an afternoon nap). We did take the time to drive out to Fulford Harbour and check out the beaches there. What we found was a ton of dead jellyfish.
I think the one above looks a little like a placenta. It was kind of neat to check them out and marvel at what a cool species jellyfish are but I was really sad to see how many were washed up on the shore. We also got to watch a few otters out in the bay just playing around.
St. Mary's Lake is actually nice quiet spot on the north part of the island. We had never bothered stopping by before this weekend. We stayed in a little cabana that was just fine for our short stay. The place was crawling with spiders though. Yuck....it was pretty bad.
It would be a great place to come in the summer. The lake is small and they have boats and a nice little dock.
The next day was the apple festival. The weather wasn't great but it didn't actually rain. We started at Fulford Hall and checked out all the varieties of apples grown on Saltspring Island. Then headed out on the tour. This year was a bit of a disappointment. There were half the participants of last year. Apparently most people on Saltspring didn't get enough apples this year (if they got any).We've had the same problem (we got maybe 5 apples this year) so I felt for the farmers.
We did visit Mistaken Identity vineyard again this year. Jon sampled their new desert wine made with apples grown on the property. They haven't had any apple troubles. Three thousand pounds of apples went into the making of that wine!
Again we visit Saltspring Cheese. My favorite spot! I love goats cheese. And if you look to the left you will see a picture of one of the goats that gives her milk for the making of that fine cheese. Cheese has been the one thing this entire pregnancy that I've loved. I was a little disappointed though that I couldn't try the mold-ripened cheeses.
We ended the trip with a visit to Harry Burton's fine farm. Apple Luscious is apple heaven! He has the most amazing orchard and is so dedicated to diversity and high-quality, natural product. We munched on some delicious gluten-free goodies from the Laughing Daughter Bakery while we strolled through the apple trees. It was lovely! I can't wait to go to next year's festival with my new baby! Remember the apple festival is the first weekend of October every year on Saltspring Island!
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