Autumn in the NJ Countryside

Last Saturday, on a gorgeous, warm autumn day, Josh and I decided to go for a country drive about an hour and a half west and a little bit south of Jersey City to the Frenchtown area (this is alsowhere we went tubing with the Marstons in August).  It was the most lovely fall day and we didn't really have plans other than to enjoy the country and the weather.  I really wanted to go apple picking because I had never actually done that before (picking crabapples on the farm isn't really the same thing) so I looked up a place called Valley Crest Farm.  They have a U-Pick orchard in the fall along with a farmers market with vegetable and fruit grown right there, a learn how to wood carve booth and a stable.

josh and I were both pretty happy, they had our favorite kinds of apples; Pink Lady and Gala.  Here's me picking and enjoying some Pink Ladies.   These are probably the best apples I have ever had! 

When we had finished picking we took a little walk around the farm.  Such a beautiful place.  

We had seen on the way in that there was a park just down the road, we didn't know what to expect, but I thought I could get some pretty foliage pictures.  Round Valley  Reservoir was absolutely gorgeous!  The actual lake is huge and the views are breathtaking.  It is actually the largest reservoir in New Jersey and is known as the Bermuda Triangle of New Jersey because of the unusually high amount of drownings that occur.  

Back on the road we continued to make our way toward Frenchtown and we were ready for lunch.  I snapped this beauty on the way there.  Those colors!

We somehow managed to find a parking spot in town when we got there (small town, major tourist area) and we walked out on the bridge that connects to Pennsylvania to take some pictures of the River.  

By this time we were starving so we grabbed a delicious little lunch at the Frenchtown Inn, a lovely centuries old building with a few rooms and a great cafe.  I got the swordfish and josh got the steak flatbread, followed by a pumpkin remoulade.  Yum!

I really wanted to check out the little giftshops and specialty shops that line the main street of town.  Not sure what this horse is doing, but he's pretty!

Town was also decorated very well for halloween and the zombie walk that was going to happen there later in the day. I stopped for tea with the town skeleton.

Frenchtown was also having it's annual scarecrow contest.  Some of them were cute and very well done, unfortunately I think that the heavy rain a couple days prior really took its tole on the paper mache.

After wandering around for a couple hours, we decided to head into PA to check out the Sand Castle Winery only a short drive out of Frenchtown.

When we got there it was packed!  Apparently a popular place, and a good sign!  We did a wine tasting, of about 10 wines, all which were great and then took a walk around the grounds.  Wineries are so pretty and this one had a fantastic fall background too.

We bought a couple bottles and got back on the road.  Just one last stop before we headed home completely, a roadside farm stand for some pumpkins and gourds.  How cute is that?  I've never bought my pumpkins like that before and it felt great to support a young family who came out to great us with their dogs.

our haul from the day... not too shabby!

When we got home, we went to a new restaurant by our place in Jersey City, Taphaus.  Really great food and the service was fantastic.  A perfect end to a lovely autumn day!