Apples, Apple Cannons & Meeting the Parents: A Weekend in Hendersonville.

Four years ago, Daniel met my parents for the first time.

We had only been dating since July, so September 2022 was still very early in our relationship. But somehow, both of us seemed to have a pretty good feeling that this was going to be the last relationship either of us had to introduce to our parents. We just didn’t know yet how quickly everyone would start feeling like family.

For that first meeting, we decided to spend Labor Day weekend in Hendersonville, North Carolina, for the annual North Carolina Apple Festival.

It turned out to be a pretty excellent choice.

A first meeting in apple country

A coworker had recommended the North Carolina Apple Festival as one of those quintessential North Carolina events worth experiencing at least once. It takes over downtown Hendersonville over Labor Day weekend, but we quickly discovered there was plenty to explore beyond the festival itself.

My parents rented their own Airbnb, while Daniel and I stayed in a small Airbnb nearby. Since this was their first time meeting, having separate places to stay seemed like a good idea.

We met up during the day and spent the weekend exploring Hendersonville and the surrounding apple country.

One of our first stops was the Dugout for lunch. I don’t remember what we ate, but I do remember Daniel and me exchanging amused looks over the screaming children nearby. My dad found this hilarious, which was probably one of the first signs that Daniel was going to fit in just fine.

It didn’t take long for us to find something everyone could agree on: apple cannons.

Shooting apples at the orchards

We spent time at both Stepp’s Hillcrest Orchard and Grandad’s Apples. Between the apples, grapevines, sunflowers, and farm animals, there was plenty to photograph even when we weren’t picking anything.

At Stepp’s, we took turns behind the big tan apple cannons. At Grandad’s, we tried the green, apple-painted cannon aimed out over a pond.

There was something deeply satisfying about standing around with my parents and Daniel, taking turns launching apples. We all loved it, and somehow this ridiculous activity helped everyone relax around each other.

Four years later, I still have videos of us shooting those cannons.

We picked apples at Grandad’s and spent the rest of the weekend eating them. My parents eventually took some home for my grandmother, so those apples ended up traveling a little farther than Hendersonville.

There was apple cider and apple donuts, too, because a trip to apple country without both would feel incomplete.

But the cannons were going to be hard to beat.

A lesson in North Carolina barbecue

By the time we made it to Hubba Hubba Smokehouse, we had discovered that my dad and Daniel had something important in common: a serious appreciation for barbecue.

Daniel grew up in North Carolina and gave us a lesson in the state’s eastern and western barbecue traditions. We are still working our way through barbecue restaurants across North Carolina, so apparently that first weekend was the beginning of a much larger research project.

At Hubba Hubba, there were chickens wandering around, and the restaurant was celebrating its 15th year in business. The atmosphere has stayed with me much longer than the details of what we ordered.

The apple festival & a town full of bears

Downtown, we wandered among the North Carolina Apple Festival’s vendors and crowds. We tried to arrive early to beat the busiest part of the day. We didn’t come away with a pile of souvenirs, although the handmade and craft items gave us plenty of reasons to stop.

We also discovered one of the things Hendersonville does particularly well: bears.

We knew about the bear statues before arriving, but actually finding them around town was another matter. Every few blocks seemed to bring another bear.

We stopped for coffee at Black Bear Coffee Company, which felt like a fitting choice given our growing awareness of Hendersonville’s bear obsession.

Cider, wine & mountain views

We visited Appalachian Ridge for a tasting, and cider ended up being our favorite of the drinks we tried that weekend. Wallace Cider was a particular favorite.

We also tried the wine at nearby Saint Paul Mountain Vineyards, part of the same family of businesses. We absolutely adored the tasting tubes, which reminded me of chemistry classes.

Three years later, I would return for Jordan’s bachelorette weekend and stay at Wallace House, across from the vineyard. A stop from the weekend Daniel met my parents had become part of another important trip.

We also made our way to Stone Ashe Vineyards. It felt more polished and a little fancier, with another beautiful mountain backdrop. We tasted wine, admired the scenery, and somehow managed to fit another vineyard into an already full weekend.

Four years later

What I remember most clearly isn’t a particular wine or apple variety. It’s my dad laughing at the Dugout, everyone taking turns at the cannons, and realizing that the person I’d been dating for only a couple of months was getting along remarkably well with my parents.

Somewhere underneath the apple picking, barbecue, and wine tasting, it felt like the beginning of something.

I’ve since returned to Hendersonville for Jordan’s bachelorette weekend and, most recently, another trip with my parents. This time, Daniel stayed home and our puppy, Viktor, came along.

Some places become special because of one particular trip. Hendersonville seems to have become special because we keep finding reasons to return.

Not bad for a weekend that started with apples and an apple cannon.