Charlottesville 365: Chile’s Peach Orchard

In our world of busy-ness it is often times difficult to spend real quality time with the ones you love. As a new Mom, who works a 9 – 5 job outside of the home, I hardly ever have non-working time that is without a scheduled obligation, grocery store trip, or general housecleaning/yard work. That’s why I made it my goal that on my husband’s first Father’s Day, we would forego any normal weekend ritual to take a day and celebrate our new family doing some of the things he truly enjoys. No easy task, given the fact that Father’s Day fell in a short 36 hour window we had to ourselves between Summer family visits.

My husband grew up in northern New York State, about an hour outside of the Adirondack Park. He spent his childhood in the midst of the outdoors, hunting, fishing and camping in the mountains. Thankfully, our piece of Central Virginia has some fabulous areas that if you close your eyes for just a minute – probably in the Summer- you could be in either place.

Enter my first of two selections for the day: Crozet and Chile’s Peach Orchard. We had heard tons about this

Chile’s Peach Orchard in Crozet, VA. Photo Courtesy of MJ Arquette (http://impressionscreative.com)

place from various friends – in particular a rumor about an out-of-this-world peach donut (which may have been the tipping point of my plans to travel there first). Just the drive there can put you in a relaxing mood. Driving 250 West, the further out of town and closer to the mountains you get, it’s like a different world, with thoughts of the to-dos you left behind fading away. We drove through Crozet onto Jarman’s Gap, and arrived at the Orchard.  We entered the store, which carries an assortment of the Chile’s produced items including various ciders and jams, a fudge counter and ice cream stand for treats. We gathered our bag for picking and headed out with our 6 month in tow (carrying him in his carseat as we, of course, forgot the all-important stroller).

That day, peaches could be picked from the first 5 rows, at a cost of $1.39/lb. There were a number of families also picking peaches and one had even brought a ladder  – a great idea, clearly we were first-timers. Our son woke up at one point, and we snapped some great photos of him “picking” peaches and a few of he and his dad with a gorgeous Blue Ridge backdrop.

Chile’s Peach Orchard in Crozet, VA. Photo Courtesy of MJ Arquette.

It was getting hot so we went back into the store to cool down (no A.C. but shade and large fans). It was time to try the thing we (I) had come there for: The peach donut sundae. Definitely big enough to split, and $3.99 if memory serves, it comes with the famous Chile’s peach donut on the bottom, home made soft-serve vanilla ice cream, fresh peach slices and whipped cream. Yum!

We ate outside on the covered wrap-around deck and enjoyed the breeze and mountain views. My husband loved it – I declared part 1 of Father’s Day a success.

Chile’s Peach Orchard Details

Visit Chile’s Peach Orchard on facebook!
Visit the Chile’s Peach Orchard website for more details here! web

Summer Hours:

Open Monday through Saturday 9-6, Sundays 10-5, Open until 8PM on Thursday!

Be sure to check out Part 2 of the Father’s Day Adventure, and an excellent end to a day in the sun: Devil’s Backbone Brewing Company.  These two Crozet experiences go great together back-to-back!