I grew up in Michigan, where fall is all about the cider house, orchards, and cider donuts! I looked for something similar now that I'm living in New Hampshire, since my kids (being Florida born) have not experienced such a thing. I really wanted to follow this family tradition, and based on reviews I really thought Applecrest would fit the bill.

We waited until the weekend to visit since we also wanted to catch their harvest festival weekend. Their web site advertised "free admission," and all sorts of activities for kids, so we were excited. We brought a small amount of cash just in case.

When we arrived, the parking lot was easily navigated and parking assistants directed us to available parking. They had a walkway roped off which was helpful for showing people exactly where to go.

As we approached the big, beautiful modern barn that serves as a grocery store and restaurant, we were hopeful that the cash wouldn't be an issue. Sure enough, visitors were able to use plastic to pay for their purchases inside.

We walked through the shop and out onto the festival staging area where there were stations set up for scarecrow building ($15,) face painting ($3-$7 depending on the design) and food ($1.25-$6 for cider donuts, $2 for drinks, cash only, with a convenient fee-collecting ATM nearby). The food shack was the only thing that had prices clearly labeled. The scarecrow didn't have a price sign, and the face painting only showed the cost written lightly in small pencil numbers in a binder they let the kids look through. Of course, people start their kids into these activities before knowing there's an associated cost (face painting especially tends to be free, as a draw for families with kids...?) and before you know it, the cash is nearly gone.

We walked over to the farm part of the property to see what else was around. There was a petting zoo style area set up where kids could touch ($1 per person) and feed (+$2) sheep. Of course kids are going to be accompanied in to this area by an adult, so that's just extra dollars. The pens were walled in by another fence so there was absolutely no way anyone could get around paying $1 just to touch a sheep. (The $1 was access to be able to reach through a fence to touch the animals, not to be able to actually go in the pen with them.)

Apple picking was one of the main draws, so while I kept the kids busy my husband went to inquire about that. The options were $25 or $40 to pick apples. Ouch! I'm all about supporting local businesses, and I understand that an operation this big sometimes needs to charge a little more than a grocery chain. But $25 for what would amount to maybe 3-4lbs of apples? No thanks. Instead, we opted to blow the rest of our cash (because they didn't take cards for this activity either) to pay $7 for a pint of raspberries we picked ourselves.

Overall, the property is lovely. The selection of products is quite vast, both in the store and on the field. It's easily walkable, stroller friendly, and the staff do a really good job at running things. The folks at the scarecrow booth and the face painting were great with the kids. I would have loved to give five stars, but they needed to be more friendly to those paying with plastic (I don't care if you get a kickback from those ATM fees, get a Square reader and you'll have much more business! I never did get my cider donutsince I ran out of cash!) and absolutely needed to be more clear with their pricing for activities at the festival part. Put signs up indicating that these things cost money (and how much) and maybe even put that information on the web site so visitors can come prepared with the right amount of cash. Don't advertise the farm/festival as "free admission" when the only things that are free will be to take pictures in front of the pumpkin patch, and to watch the animals from behind an extra gate so you can't even get a kiss from a goat.