A couple of days after J got back from deployment (read: after the jetlag was basically over), we decided to start exploring beyond our neighborhood. For our first foray, we chose the quaint town of Julian.

Julian is up in the mountains, and was originally a gold mining town (as so many places were), but now is famous for one thing in particular:

Apple pies.

There is still a small town feel to the place, though, with plenty of little shops and restaurants, so J and I decided to spend an afternoon up there.

As we drove up into the mountains, though, the temperature kept dropping… and as we rounded the bend and saw the sign for Julian, we started catching glimpses of something along the roadside.

Once we passed a certain elevation, we knew for sure: Snow.

It certainly made for a pretty drive, and it was just old enough that the roads were clear. I was very glad of my coat, though; at home it was in the 70s that day! It was lunch time when we arrived, so we went into the first restaurant we saw, which happened to be a soda shop. I treated myself to a fountain vanilla coke, and watched them stir the vanilla and soda syrup together, then add the carbonated water and ice. Very cool and very tasty. After lunch, we visited their pioneer museum, made mostly of donations from people in the town and containing all sorts of interesting bits and bobs. Then it was time for pies!

There are multiple bakeries on the main street, many of them with windows like these where you can walk up and order. Having never been to Julian, J and I decided to try a couple of places, and split the slices of pie.

Another problem is choosing which type of pie to try! We settled on a plain apple crumble with cheese on top first. Then another apple crumble with vanilla ice cream.

Yes, we had ice cream in the cold. But it was worth it with the fresh-from-the-oven pie.

Y’know, plus coffee. We got a pastry crust pie to take home (which turned out to be very good as well– we ate it over the next week or so). Julian has more than just apple pies, though. You can also get apple butter, apple cider and apple blossom honey! All of which also came home with us. ^_^

(Julian photos start here, so you can  just click through them.)