Blue Ridge is up in Georgia’s apple country. Mercier Orchards has been growing apples here since 1943. Starting with 27 acres, the Mercier family and the farm has expanded, planting almost 300 acres now with 45 varieties of apples.

Friends in Blue Ridge suggested a visit to the orchard for lunch one day. The dining room has sandwiches, soups and their “famous” pecan chicken salad – but you have to go through the bakery to place your order. Here breads from cheese bread to apple bread sit cooling, tantalizingly releasing their aromas. Scones, fudge, muffins and pastries wink at you from the glass cases.

But the pies are in charge here. Traditionally baked pies or fried pies. There are plenty of flavors – blueberry, strawberry, peach, sweet potato. And apple. Regular apple, sugar-free apple, apple dipped in chocolate. The locals will tell you that these are the pies that the Varsity sells. Mercier coyly confirms that they do make an apple pie for the Varsity. It’s pretty tough to leave without tasting those famous fried pies. My friend scoffed when I only bought two – he bought a box. And other people were lining up for their boxes. Three days after my visit, I polished off the second one and wished I had bought a box.

There’s a large store here with rooms of sauces, jellies, juice and other canned produce. They have fresh produce in season, and run a good mail-order business. But you’ll want to visit the store. A room in the back offers tastes – from dip to cider to jams. One room is dedicated to children and toys. Another has bird feeders, bird seed and bird paraphernalia, as well as advice on which seed to buy depending on what kind of bird you want to attract.

Mercier Orchards is located on Highway 5 just west of Blue Ridge. Its open year-round, seven days a week.