Lyman Orchards Adventures

PLEASE NOTE: This post was written in 2011. While this post should still give you a great idea of the overall experience, it is also possible that it may contain some outdated information. Please be sure to check the Lyman Orchards website for the most current information, especially about things like hours and pricing.

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2011 Post:

Though the temperature gauge is reading 80 degrees, I promise you that fall is here in Connecticut!

With the fall season, comes thoughts of pumpkin spice lattes from Starbucks, the beauty of changing leaves, and a visit to one of the state’s many orchards.  On this particular Sunday, I decided to head over to Lyman Orchards in Middlefield, Connecticut.  I have never been to Lyman Orchards, so this was definitely going to be an adventure.

Living in West Hartford, I know there are probably orchards much closer to me that I could visit, but Lyman Orchards has always been on my must see list.  I think the plethora of Lyman Orchards advertising was having a strong effect on me.  Every time this apple pie addict saw the Big Y commercial discussing how delicious the Lyman Orchards pies are, I would make a mental note of my need to go.  Then, recently, I have been seeing advertising for the Lyman Orchards corn maze.  This I had to see for myself.

So I convinced my friend (and her 14 month old little girl) to meet us at the orchard.  I loaded up Bruiser and Sparkles (and all their accessories) and we were on our way.  From West Hartford, you basically take 91 South for most of the way.  Once off the interstate, it is back roads all the way to your destination.  Fortunately, both my friend and I have GPS in our car or we would surely have gotten ourselves lost.  There is minimal signage directing you towards the orchard and there are a lot of twists and turns along the way.  There are directions on their website {here}, so I would strongly suggest using navigation, a map, or their directions.  This is not an adventure where you should go empty-handed and expect to easily find your way.

Once there, I wasn’t quite sure where to park.  I saw a sign for the “Apple Barrel” and decided to park there and figure out a game plan.  It ended up that this was a great place to park for those wanting to visit the corn maze.

We parked our cars, loaded up the kids in strollers, and headed towards the Apple Barrel to use the restroom (which does have a baby changing table) and finalize the plan.

Once inside, we really wanted to start buying some goodies, but we knew we needed to wait until we were ready to leave for a shopping frenzy.  Our plan was to do the corn maze (website said it could take up to an hour), then grab lunch at the Apple Barrel, then head home.

We were ready to head to the corn maze, but weren’t quite sure where to go (especially with our big strollers).  A nice gentlemen finally pointed us in the right direction.  We just needed to head out the back of the Apple Barrel onto their deck and could make our way to the maze.

The views from the deck are very pretty.

And the smells from the deck were amazing!  We quickly realized that one of the key activities while at Lyman Orchards would be lots and lots of eating.  There were tons of items for tasting in the Apple Barrel and on the deck there was a grilling station (hamburgers, hot dogs, and garden burgers), an apple cobbler station, and a coffee/donut station.

I headed straight to the coffee/donut station.  Now, a donut is probably not the best option for a person trying to make her postpartum body presentable for her sister’s wedding in two months, but I just had to do a tasting.  It is for the good of the blog, right?

So I grabbed a coffee and cider donut from the little stand.  The verdict:  Deliciousness!

We then started to make our way down the hill towards the maze.  On our way we saw a petting zoo and pony rides.  We had to stop.

The petting zoo was free and the pony rides were $4.  The sign said that the rides were available from 11-3, but I had seen on Lyman Orchards’ Facebook page that the pony rides would only be going until 2 that day, so we decided to do this first before heading in the maze.

As a sidenote, Lyman Orchards does a great job of consistently updating their Facebook page with the latest and greatest info on what is going on at the orchard.  Not only can you find out about changes in activity times but they also post about food being offered in the apple barrel, what is available for picking and any closings or activity changes.  For example, with all of the heavy rains in recent weeks, the corn maze was closed for a few days.  Basically, it would be worthwhile to check their page before going.

So we tried out the mini petting zoo.

And our friends tried out the pony rides.

For kids under 6 years of age, an adult needs to walk with them while they are on the pony.  I wasn’t interested in taking my 8 month olds on the pony ride, but the operator did say she has seen kids as young as 6 months “ride”.  That seems a bit young from my perspective, but our 14 month old friend definitely enjoyed it.

There was also a wagon ride run by Foxglove Farm near the pony ride area.  The cost to ride was as follows:

• Adults $4
• Ages 3-12 $3
• Ages 0-2 FREE

We didn’t try out the wagon ride, but it looked like a nice way to see more of the orchard.  It might have been a tough option for us given that we had our strollers and two non-walkers and a new walker.  Might be something fun for someone with older children.

Also in this area there was lots of yummy food to try.  Kettlecorn caught my eye, but I decided to hold off until after the corn maze for my next food tasting.

We then made our way to the corn maze entrance.  The ticket prices are as follows:

• Adults: $10
• Children 4-12: $5
• Children 0-3: FREE

We actually paid $9 to get in because we used a coupon from their website {found here}.  They also donate $1 from each admissions ticket to the American Cancer Society.

With our tickets in hand we made our way towards the entrance.  We grabbed a map of the maze and a list of clues.  We choose the kids clues {which we were thankful for later} but there were many different options (sports, current events, history, etc.).

We entered the maze.

Then proceeded to try to make our way through.  Basically, there is a map, but it was challenging to follow while also watching our kids.  There are also posts along the way with numbers that correlate to the numbers on your clue sheet.  Based on the answer to the clue, you figure out which way to go next {this is why I was thankful we chose the kiddie clues!}

We were having a lot of fun at the beginning.  The kids were happy to ride in their strollers and we seemed to be making progress and did not have to turn around too often.

We even made it through the first detour for those requiring wheelchair or stroller access.  With these needs, you won’t be able to go over the two overlook bridges and will need help from the Corn Maze “Cops” to take the detour.

About 30 minutes into our adventure, though, we passed the midpoint of the maze which offered an option to head out early.  Given that we had little ones, {mine were starting to get hungry and my friend’s wasn’t happy riding in her stroller any longer} we probably should have bowed out gracefully at this point.  But, we decided to continue on.  In hindsight, that may not have been the best choice.

After another 10 minutes, the kids were done and we were too.  We soldiered on and made it to the end.  I did feel a bit better when I received my “I survived the corn maze” sticker.  Bruiser liked his too.

Based on our experience in the corn maze, here are my suggestions for making it a fun experience (which it can be):

• Bring all of your supplies with you (food, drink, toys, etc.)
• Know that there isn’t a bathroom in the maze
• If you must bring a stroller, bring one that can manage rougher terrain.
• If you can carry your child in a baby bjorn or backback carrier, that would work well also.
• Ask for help from the corn maze “cops” if you need it
• If you have really little ones, plan to do half of the maze (leave when you see the mid-point gate)
• If you have older children, let them read the clues and lead you through the maze (the families doing this seemed to be having a lot of fun)
• Bring a pen/pencil and track your progress in the maze on your map
• Most importantly, have fun!  It is a challenging maze, but that is the point.  You will definitely feel rewarded when you complete it successfully.

After the maze, we headed back to the Apple Barrel and grabbed lunch.  It was about 2 at this point and the place had really become crowded.  Though I really wanted to try one of their sandwiches available inside, it seemed like the easiest process would be to get a burger from the outside grill.  My friend stood in line for the food while I watched the kids and held our seats.

My cheeseburger was surprisingly good and we also tried the mac n’ cheese which was tasty as well.

We then took our pictures in the fun sunflower maze display.

Then it was back in the Apple Barrel for some shopping.  The place was packed, but I was able to manuever my double stroller in there.  I purchased an apple pie (of course) and some more cider donuts (for my husband of course).  There was everything you could imagine there, though.  So much to choose from.

 

The lines to check out were long, but they moved very quickly.  I was unable to fit my double stroller through the checkout lane, so I had to let my kids hang out outside the checkout while I paid and then we exited through the entrance.  It worked out fine, but it sure would have been nice if they could have made it through.

After collecting our goodies, we headed back to the car to load up for our ride home.  I got the kids settled in their seats, said goodbye to our friends, and then headed out of the parking lot.  Before I headed back to West Hartford, though, I wanted to take a quick ride past the apple picking area just to check it out (maybe for our next trip).

I followed the signs to the “Pick Your Own” section.

There were plenty of signs along the way leading you to the right orchards for the type of fruit you wanted.  There were also plenty of people available to answer questions and direct traffic to the parking areas.

I pulled into one of the parking areas to take a closer look.  Here you could pick peaches, raspberries, pumpkins and apples.  They provide you with the bags, you go pick the food, and then they weigh your pickings and you pay before leaving.  They even offered some recipes for you to take with you.  I wish we had time to do it all.  We will certainly have to come back to try this out.

After checking out the picking area, we decided to really head home.  It was an easy and beautiful drive back to West Hartford and my worn out babies slept the whole way (happy mommy dance).

Overall, it was a very fun day at Lyman Orchards.  We were able to get a lay of the land, eat great food, take a pony ride and we made it through a challenging corn maze.  I really can’t wait to go back and try out more activities.  There is just so much to do there.  My husband is also really wanting to go, but I think he just wants to play a round at the golf course (only if you can take two 8 month old twins with you while I shop at the Apple Barrel!)

THE MOMSENSE:

Lyman Orchards

Information also available on their Facebook Page and Twitter Feed.

Located at the Junction of Routes 147 & 157 in Middlefield, CT 06455

Main Phone: 860-349-1793

Get directions here:

Enter your starting address:

 

Operating Hours:

Apple Barrel Hours: Open 7 days a week | Sept/Oct: 9am -7pm. | Remainder of year: 9am – 6pm.

Corn Maze Hours:  Open September 3, 2011 – October 30th, 2011; Wed – Fri 3pm – 6pm; Sat and Sun 10am – 6pm; ticket sales close at 5:30pm; check the site for holiday hours.

Pony Ride Hours:  11am – 3pm Weekends Only

Wagon Ride Hours:  Weekends Only

Cost:

Parking:  Free

Pony Rides:  $4

Wagon Rides: $4 adults, $3 children, under 2 Free

Corn Maze:  $10 adults, $5 children, under 3 Free ($1 off coupon found on the Lyman Orchards website)

Restrooms:  Bathrooms with baby changing area available in the Apple Barrel

Restroom: yes

Changing station: yes

Stroller accessible:  yes

Discounts:  $1 off corn maze coupon available here.

DO BRING:

A stroller and/or infant carrier for non-walkers

Walkers should be ok to roam free.  There is plenty of open space.

Sanitizer if you want some extra hand washing protection after touching the animals.

Comfortable shoes and clothes (you’re on an orchard, don’t wear anything you don’t want to get dirty)

COMING UP:

We have the perfect spot to “fritter” away an afternoon.  Check back this Thursday.

SITE UPDATE:

Just a reminder that you can now get our latest post direct to your email.  Just go to our home page and enter your email address on the right-hand side.  We also have options to follow us through an RSS feed (just select the big orange button at the top right of the screen).  Check it out!