Searching for Autumn - 1,600 Miles North of Sarasota!

Mid-May to mid-October is the summer season in Florida. That means five months of hot and humid weather, with daily thunderstorms in the afternoon. Our reward for enduring that stretch of unfortunate weather is seven months of perfection – sun, 70’s, and low humidity! The seasons are already changing here, but Laurie and I needed a taste of fall to get some relief from the heat, so we headed up to Minnesota for a week to remind ourselves what cooler weather feels like. Here’s a short travelogue of our trip!

Fall foliage at Lone Lake in Eden Prairie, MN – photo by Laurie Geis

Friends and family don’t believe me, but there really are seasons in Florida – they just aren’t as extreme as elsewhere in the country! Someone recently joked that you know fall has arrived in Florida when the license plate colors begin to change (a snarky reference to all of the snowbirds from out of state that start invading Florida in late October for the winter months). But in reality, the change in seasons is pretty noticeable and happens quite suddenly. Once mid-October arrives, it’s kind of like a switch is flipped and all of a sudden, the humidity recedes, low temperatures in the morning dip down into the 60’s, highs dip into the low 80’s, and the rain comes once a week instead of once a day. The same thing happens in reverse once mid-May arrives.

In between, we experience seven glorious months of fantastic weather, with chilly mornings that require sweatshirts, sunny skies, mild 70-degree temperatures during the day, and no humidity. Evenings consist of cocktails out on the lanai while we watch the sun set and dining al fresco most evenings. So, as you can imagine, when the summer comes to an end, we can’t wait for the cooler temperatures to arrive. To scratch that itch, we began a tradition of heading north in search of autumn and cooler weather, and to spend time with my brother Ken, sister-in-law Lisa, and our amazing nieces Sara and Stephanie!

As usual, the weather, scenery, and company didn’t disappoint! The leaves changing color were absolutely stunning, and the air was crisp and cool most of the time we were there. We were actually excited to wear sweatshirts and sweatpants for the first time in half-a-year! We explored the fantastic Minneapolis/St. Paul food scene of course – tasty fried chicken (Tennessee Hot style of course!) at Revival in St. Louis Park; homemade sausages (chicken enchilada, Wagyu beef bulgogi, and smoked pork and cheddar) at The Butcher’s Tale in downtown Minneapolis; and wonderful and eclectic wines at the Vine Room in Hopkins.

We also spent a morning apple picking at Minnetonka Orchard – what could be more “Minnesotan” than that?! I was looking forward to the fresh apple cider donuts, homemade bratwursts, and handmade apple cider. Alas, the donuts and bratwursts were only available on the weekends, so we settled for apple cider and bags and bags of hand-picked honey crisp apples, a uniquely Minnesota cultivated variety apple that was developed at the Minnesota Agricultural Experiment Station's Horticultural Research Center at the University of Minnesota in the 70’s. It also happens to be my favorite variety of apple! Apparently, it's advantageous to have a 6 ft. 5 in. tall person in your apple picking group – I was called on frequently to reach the best apples on the highest branches of the trees throughout our apple-picking adventure!

Honeycrisp apples ready to be picked in Minnetonka, MN – photo by Laurie Geis

I wasn’t surprised to see a few offerings of hard cider made with apples from the orchard in the on-site store, but I was shocked to see a variety of different white, red, and pink wines produced and bottled at the orchard (along with some grape vines on the property as well). You might recall an earlier blog post where I was seeking out a good Minnesota wine and the salesman at the wine store told me in no uncertain terms that the three words – good, Minnesota, and wine – don’t ever go together, and my quest to find one would be futile since they simply don’t exist.

Well, I couldn’t pass up the chance to try one of these wines, so I bought a bottle of the Itasca white wine, which is a cold-hearty grape developed – you guessed it – at the University of Minnesota and introduced in 2017. And you know what? It wasn’t half bad! In fact, it was actually pretty good wine! Here are my tasting notes for both the cider and wine:

• Everly Farms Itasca White Wine, Minnesota (2022): Light yellow in color, this wine is medium bodied with scents of pear, lemon peel, and white pepper on the nose. Zesty acidity balances the ripe fruit flavors of pear, honeydew melon, and green apple. While the wine was described to me as semi-sweet, it was actually completely dry with little to no discernible residual sugar. A wonderfully pleasant surprise, this wine was actually quite good – a simple wine perfect for sipping alone on the deck on a cool fall day!

• Easton Hard Cider Orchard Blend, Minnesota: This hard cider is made with a blend of apples grown on-site at the orchard (they also have a hard cider flavored with blueberries that I didn’t have a chance to try). The cider was unfiltered with a satisfying tartness playing well off the sweet apple flavor. I noted a hint of baking spice on the finish as well, and light effervesce. This cider was fruity in character, and semi-sweet. I absolutely loved it – a great example of a high-quality Minnesota hard cider. I can’t wait to try more during our next visit to MN!

We returned to Sarasota after our wonderful visit to Minnesota just in time to experience summer’s last gasp. Hurricane Ian had swept out the heat and humidity with it before we left for our trip, but muggy, warm and wet weather returned for a brief spell. Thankfully, cooler, drier air has finally arrived in Sarasota, and it couldn’t come too soon!