Boston, MA | Apple Picking at Honey Pot Hill Orchards

Hi, friends! I’m back after a lovely visit to Boston. It was my first time there and I can see why everyone loves that city so much! We had great weather, got to see all the beautiful fall foliage, and packed a lot of sightseeing into the four days we had there. I am feeling a bit overstimulated and people’d out, to be honest, so I plan on taking it easy over the next few days to recuperate and recharge my batteries. (V thankful to have a massage scheduled for Friday!)

Today, I’m starting my Boston recaps so prepare yourselves for lots of pictures that scream, “FALL!”

We got to Boston late on Thursday night (landed around 11:30PM and didn’t get to sleep until 2AM), so on our first day, we opted for a slow morning before our apple-picking adventure.

I woke up around 8:30, took a shower and got ready for the day, and then we were out the door for breakfast. We found a cute little diner walking distance from our Airbnb that served up a pretty decent breakfast.

After that, it was off to Honey Pot Hill Orchards for apple picking! It was a beautiful fall day – just cold enough that we got to wear our boots, scarves, and coats but not so cold that it was uncomfortable. We bought a 1/2 bushel bag from the stand out front and were given a map of where all the different types of apples were, and then we were off!

Most of our time in the apple orchard was spent taking photos of each other, haha. Sorry not sorry? There were just so many beautiful photo opps – from candid photos of us climbing up a ladder to pick an apple to selfies in front of the fall leaves to group shots galore.

We did pick apples, though. Don’t you worry! We filled up our entire bushel bag and I brought home maybe a dozen apples for myself. Not mad about that! We picked Golden Delicious, Mutsu, Empire, and maybe one or two other varieties. And, of course, we inhaled many apples along the way! At a certain point, I had to cut myself off because I didn’t want to have a stomachache! I probably ate two full apples throughout the course of our adventure. (And, to be honest, apples are one of my least-favorite fruits but apples at an orchard are vastly different than the apples I find at Publix.)

After we filled up our bag and then dropped it off at our car, we walked over to the farm stand for apple cider donuts! Y’ALL. I really wish I had gotten a half-dozen bag of donuts rather than just one because it was the best donut I’ve ever had (and this is coming from a girl who doesn’t really like donuts!) Warm and cake-like and so flavorful… mmm! I’ll be dreaming of apple cider donuts for a long time now.

We left the orchard around 2pm, stopped at a cafe for a light lunch, and then headed back to our Airbnb to chill out and plan out what we wanted to do that night.

We opted for pizza at Regina’s Pizzeria in the North End of Boston, also known as Little Italy. We took the T into the city (my first-ever subway ride!) and there was a line out the door for a table. Thankfully, it wasn’t too cold and the line moved fairly quickly. Once we got to the front of the line, we engaged the security guard standing outside in conversation and he had the most delightful Boston accent. (I loved all the Boston accents! Pops was from Boston and never lost his accent, so a Boston accent is so beloved to me.)

Regina’s is an establishment in Boston, having been around since 1926 and they still use the original oven! They do crazy business, between the people eating in the restaurant and those who are ordering takeout. We saw so many people leaving with two or three boxes of pizza!

And the pizza itself? Phenomenal! While they have lots of unique varieties of pizza, I opted for pepperoni since I am not much of an adventurous eater, heh. The pepperoni tasted fresh and delicious, the cheese was so gooey and perfect, and the crust was floury goodness. I thoroughly enjoyed it and it will make my list of all-time favorite pizzas. So good!

After our meal, we ventured over to Mike’s Pastry for dessert! It was insane inside the bakery – the kind of insane where I nearly had to walk out because I was so overstimulated, but I hung in there for the pastries. I ordered a mint chocolate chip cannoli and a chocolate chip cookie. I’ve only had one other cannoli in my life and it was just okay – nothing life-changing – but I knew I had to try these famous cannolis and see what all the fuss was about!

Verdict? I can 100% understand why Mike’s Pastry is so famous – the cannoli was out-of-this-world amazing. So, so good! I ate half of it on Friday night and saved the second half for breakfast on Sunday, which was a very good decision. The chocolate chip cookie was also as delicious – if not more! – as the cannoli, soft and chewy and filled with great flavor. Yum, yum, yum. Mike’s is a must-visit in Boston, my friends!

We couldn’t take the subway back to the Airbnb because the line we wanted to ride was down, so we Ubered back to Southie, ate our yummy pastries, and got ready for bed. It was a very full day but it was only the beginning of our Boston adventure!