COM APPLE-PICKING ADVENTURE AT CONNORS FARM | The Communicator

Story for Boston University's COMmunicator, 2015. Originally published here. As the crisp Boston air made its way around the city, Boston University’s COM Grad students made their way to Connors Farm (Danvers, MA) for a day of apple-picking, exploring, and indulging in farmland shenanigans. Arriving a little before noon, we made our way through the gorgeous market that served as the entrance to the farm—but not before an impromptu picture session. As we walked through those doors, we entered a world tinted in orange—pumpkins covered every bare spot of the market, while also hosting a variety of delectable goodies we were all only too eager to sink our teeth into. Kicking off the morning with some fresh cider and hot donuts, we made our way around the farm, scattered as we explored all that Connors had to offer. Before hitting the apple orchards, we were greeted by more orange as we walked out onto the pumpkin patch, crowded with countless potential jack-o-lanterns in all shapes and sizes. As we went about fawning over the adorable tiny pumpkins and gazed in awe at the monstrous ones, we took in the green, brown and russet hues of fall that surrounded us. We strolled through the activity area, a flurry of pedal cart races, mechanical bull rides, and barnyard animals all driving the attention of excited visitors. During our quest, we chanced upon the corn maze and decided to give it a go, map in hand and bad navigation skills in tow. After 20 minutes of aimlessly zipping through the maze and running into other members of the group, our little pack of three sneaked its way out around the fence, too rebellious to figure the right way out. Following the maddening maze, we continued on our quest for apples, and found ourselves walking around a friendly shooting range before we came full circle and entered the activity area once again. Still in pursuit of apples, we headed back to the activity area and found ourselves petting and feeding the farm’s animals. After our little tête-à-tête with the friendly creatures, we finally stumbled across the apple orchard and walked through only too eagerly. Away from the busyness of the farm, we picked fresh, juicy apples in the quiet of the orchard before heading back out, just in time for a round of pig racing! In my humble opinion, nothing comes close to being as adorable as watching little pigs rush through a track, squealing their way to the “finish line”. After a successful round of apple-picking and pig racing, we made our way to the barbeque area, ravenous and in the mood for some barnyard grub. Burgers, ribs, corn bread and fries in tow, we enjoyed a leisurely meal in the warmth of afternoon sun before making our way back into the market for some cider to wash down the grease of our lunch. With still a little time left to kill, we headed back into the pumpkin patch for more pictures and picking viable candidates for our jack-o-lanterns. Nearly four hours, a ton of apples, and a few pumpkins later, we finally made our way back to COM, weary from the journey but satisfied with the experience. If there was any way to bring in fall, this would be it!