Some of you may or may not know it, but Beth and I lived in Michigan for about a year in 1995.  Well, to be more accurate, I lived there for about 11 months and Beth lived there for about 9 months.  She decided to leave early.  I was in training in Detroit, so she came back to Texas a couple months early to live with my parents until I got back.  We moved there in June of ‘95, and the weather was wonderful.  Of course everybody there was complaining about how hot it was, but we just laughed at them.  Another nice thing about Michigan summers is that the grass actually stays green all summer.  It doesn’t turn yellow like here in TX.  Then came fall, and fall is a beautiful time in Michigan.  It begins to get very cool too, but not too cold to enjoy being outdoors.  Some of our friends there said they wanted to take us to a cider mill.  I had no idea what a cider mill was, but it didn’t really sound like a place I’d want to spend my Saturday morning.  But then they told me they had donuts there too, so I figured, how bad could a place be if it has donuts.  So we drove about 30 minutes to a place called Uncle John’s Cider Mill.  They told me that is was a big apple orchard where they make fresh apple cider while you watch.  Still, not being a big fan of fruit in general, it didn’t sound near as exciting as a mexican food buffet (which did not exist in Michigan).  But I figured while we were in Michigan, we should try to experience everything we could.

We got there and it was a cool October morning, and the place was very inviting like a little country shop in the middle of a big apple orchard.  I went to check out the donuts, which was really the only thing I was looking forward to.  They were not like Texas donuts.  They were all the cake style donuts with different flavors sprinkled on them.  I think I tried all the flavors they had, and figured I’d get a glass of fresh cider to wash them down, and because they told me I had to.  You actually get to watch the apples come rolling in on the belt, and go into the machine that cuts them up, skin, stems, seeds and all, and then see them get pressed.  The cider comes draining out, and they put your cup under it and fill it up.  We decided to get ours hot since it was cool outside.   When I tried it, I was very surprised at how good it was.  I was expecting something similar to Welch’s apple juice, which I rarely drank as a kid.  But this is nothing like that.  I can’t explain it, but was one of the best things I’ve ever drank.  I drank all I had and got another before we left, and then bought a couple gallons to take home with us, which I enjoyed for the next few days.  I would love to be able to take the kids to a cider mill in the fall, but that can’t happen in Texas.  We’ve bought “Apple Cider” from the store here in Texas to try, but it’s not the same.

I did find a list HERE of 10 of the best cider mills in the US.  So if you are ever doing any travelling to the north during the fall, be sure to find a good cider mill to stop by.  Many of them have added a lot more than just cider, such as petting farms for the kids, bounce houses, apple picking, shops, cornfield mazes, wagon rides, pumpkin patches, and lots more, dedpending on which mill you go to.  I think one day, we’ll have to plan a trip north in the fall.