The drive back went pretty well. It was cloudy for the first half of the trip, so by the time it was clear, the sun had gone far enough that I wasn't driving directly into it. I decided that I'd take a little extra time on the way back, though, and stop at a place called Emma Krumbee's in the town of Belle Plaine, Minnesota.
I've driven past it for the past 6 years, and I've always wondered what it was all about. Their huge billboards all along highways 60 and 169 in Minnesota promote fresh-baked apple pies. This place is big -- two main buildings plus a hotel on the "campus" -- and the billboards promote a restaurant, bakery, general store, floral shop, farmer's market AND -- almost as an afterthought -- an apple orchard. When you try to drive through Belle Plaine on the weekends in the fall, cars are lined up along the shoulders of the road trying to get in.
Unfortunately, I decided to check the place out in the late winter. Although their website promotes "year-round family fun," I can't imagine most families having a great time there at the moment.
I started my visit in the General Store and Bakery area, where there were 2 women chatting behind the mostly-empty Bakery counter where, I'm assuming, they bake a ton of pies and pastries when they're busy. Yesterday, though, there were just a few lonely pastries and a bunch of pies and crumbles in the Bakery's freezer case. There was no one in the "General Store" (although I did find a nice stash of Minnesota postcards), and the one young woman who seemed to be minding the entire place was helping out some people in the Flower Shop. And... Well... I'm not sure where the Farmer's Market is supposed to be, but I'm guessing that's only there when the farmers have something to market.
In a continuted effort to find something to bring back to Christopher, I figured I'd try the shop connected to the Restaurant, but only found a small, completely generic Gift Shop, next to an even smaller bakery case. Nothing there to bring home. And I didn't take the time to check out the restaurant menu, since I was on my way home to dinner with Christopher.
I don't want to give the place too bad a rap. I know people who really like Emma Krumbee's and stop there on almost every trip through that area. If you're looking for a consistent restaurant stop, it's probably a good place to stop.
On the other hand, there are a good half-dozen apple orchards along that same general stretch of road, and I've had a great time poking around in some of the smaller ones (especially Jim's Apple Farm in Jordan, MN) with much better results. Granted, those orchard-based shops are only open during the growing season, not year-round. But maybe that's not such a bad thing...?
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