#fall festivals

Excelsior Apple Day Festival

Head to Excelsior this weekend for Excelsior Apple Day, a fall festival the lakeside city has celebrated since 1935. Apple Day was created to celebrate the development of the famous Wealthy apple, a variety developed in 1868 by horticulturalist and early Excelsior resident Peter Gideon. The cultivar was the earliest to thrive in the harsh Minnesota climate, where previously only crab apples grew with success. The inaugural festival included free apple cider, a pie-eating contest, handicraft and canning displays, crowning of a royal Apple Day queen (19-year-old Dovey Johnson), and unveiling of a monument in memory of Mr. Gideon.

Since development of the Wealthy apple, Minnesota--the University in particular--has triumphed in the field of apple breeding with nationally renowned fan favorites including Honeycrisp, SweeTango, Zestar!, and Rave &First Kiss.

This year, the Apple Day fete will be merged with the Excelsior Art on the Lake event to form Art and Apples on the Lake, September 18-19, 2021.

Before and after:

Chili ➡️ chili mac

Old, tired deck ➡️ newly sanded & stained deck

Needless to say, I did the chili and B did the deck. 😁

I’ve been doing okay lately - dare I say even feeling a little better than I have been. Don’t wanna get my hopes up, and I’ve got a lot of doctor appointments this coming week, but I’ll take it for sure.

Yesterday morning I took pep over to a fall festival nearby. The weather was forecasted to be 60* when we arrived, so I was looking forward to brisk fall weather. The sun, however, was SO hot that it felt like 80*. Still eagerly anticipating those crisp autumn days!

Today there’s a festival nearby featuring a rubber ducky race down a local stream and so all 3 of us are headed over there soon. It’s been really refreshing getting outside and getting that fresh air. It makes a world of difference.

This is how you do a fall festival look! This would be super cute at Voodoo Fest in NoLa. I love that event, I can’t wait to go back sometime. 

The mesh bodysuit here allows for you to have a small layer incase weather is warmer, but the faux fur keeps you warm if it’s cool! I went with a muted color in the jacket to let the rest of the outfit allow for prints or patters. I chose earrings to wear in a different color to really make them pop!

What do you think? Would you rock this look?

Wishing you all a very happy Halloween, and a blessed Samhain to those who celebrate.

*** Editor’s Note: Susanna Farms closed after the 2014 season *** By now, most people in our area have probably heard of Susanna Farms, and many have visited since  the Heffernan’s quietly opened their family farm to the public in 2005 for “Family Harvest Days”.  In the years since they have continued to improve the property, offer new attractions, and have even added a few new four-legged…