Will Travel For Food: Pacific Northwest Cherries

Juicy, sweet, delicious. A ripe cherry can be a foodies dream. For eight to ten weeks in the summer, Eastern Washington abounds with them. From dark, sumptuous Bings to sun-kissed Rainiers and countless other lesser-known varieties, there is a cherry for everyone. If you're someone who travels for food and are a fan of the cherry, you may want to plan your next trip to Seattle and it's environs. Just make sure it's between June and August, and you'll be sure to find your cherry bliss.

Some of the best cherries in the world come from the Pacific Northwest. They are renowned for their size and sweetness, so much so that they are exported all over the globe. The next time that you are at your local supermarket, take a peek and see where your cherries come from. But you don't have to just enjoy them from afar, in fact they taste even sweeter at the source. I had the opportunity to spend a day observing the cherry industry in Yakima Valley with Northwest Cherries. I learned how to make cherry pie, visited with a cherry farmer, and got a behind-the-scenes tour of a cherry packing plant. What's a packing plant, you ask? Check out a quick video clip of my tour below. It's a noisy, mesmerizing whirlwind of machines and people all working to get those little red orbs from tree to table. I found it fascinating.

After a long day of cherry watching, picking and tasting, I knew I had to go back. So the very next weekend, Austin and I jumped in the car to spent three days in cherry land. A short, three hour drive from Seattle, we discovered that there are plenty of ways for you to get out there and experience cherries for yourself.

I love picking fruit, probably more than someone who actually has to do it for a living. When a local waitress asked me what we had done fun that day and I said "picking cherries, it was so much fun." She quipped "that's not fun, that's how I paid for my wedding." Point taken. But I'm going to guess that you're like me and would enjoy playing farmhand for the day.

Our first stop was at Barrett Orchards in Yakima for their annual cherry festival. We set out to pick Rainiers, the yellow and blush colored cherries that are the darlings of the Pacific Northwest. Fun fact, those red colored spots are bits of sunburn the cherry picks up as it grows. Many farmers now put down a reflective ground covering that helps get more sunshine to the cherries, hence more redness.

We filled our bucket and moved onto the Bings and searched for the deepest, ripest shades of burgundy. Once we had our fill (both in our buckets and bellies,) we decided it was time for a break. We stopped for some lemonade at the store and overheard the calls for a cherry pit spitting contest. Austin couldn't resist and joined the adults to wait his turn.

The kids matchup was adorable in that they were simultaneously super serious, yet lighthearted in their spitting techniques. When they failed, they did so with grace and the boy that won, well I had never seen someone so proud of themselves.

Fast forward to the adult heat, and there was yet another boy that won who was quite proud of himself, in this case, it was Austin. While his technique was far from pretty, it won him a prize, so we stuck around just a little while longer so he could enjoy his cone of maple cookie dough ice cream.

Later in the day, we went to Bill's Berry Farm who was having a blueberry festival, but also had plenty of cherries to spare. We wandered through their orchards, which provided excellent shade from the hot sun. The festival had the feeling of a fair with vendors, music, blueberry donuts and plenty of space to spread out on the lawn. If you've got kids, there were plenty of activities including a petting zoo, hay ride and an adorable barnyard train, where each child rides in an animal-shaped car pulled through the fields.

These two farms just happened to have events going on the weekend that we were visiting. There are plenty of others to choose from and the Visit Yakima website has a great map. Be sure to stop by and pick up a copy when you get in the valley. U-Pick is not only a fun way to pass the day, but you'll get your cherries for a song and save a few dollars per pound.

If you didn't get enough cherries from picking them yourself or want to skip the few hours out in the sun, there are a few other ways to get your cherry fix. Fruit stands are abundant, in fact, you'll find one at almost every exit from the highway. Visit Yakima also has a great map to local produce stands that helps you in your search for instant cherry satisfaction. Many of the larger roadside stands sell antiques, as well. I picked up a few vintage pyrex pieces to add to my collection, in addition to adding to our cherry collection.

If you wanted to pick up something that is a little more travel-ready, Chukar Cherries in Prosser has a wide selection of dried cherries and preserves. As well as other excellent snacks, including a bag of Chocolate Honey Pecans that didn't survive the trip back to Seattle.

There's only so much cherry one can take in a day and after a long day in the hot sun, we were ready for a cold drink. We were able to visit two of the local breweries, which seemed fitting in what might be called the hop growing capital of the world. Our first visit was to Snipes Mountain Brewery, which has a proper restaurant in Sunnyside, WA. Like most brewpubs, the food left much to be desired, but the brews were tasty and the selection vast. We tried two of their lighter beers with dinner the Sunnyside Pale and a Lavender Wheat. Like most beers in this part of the country, they were hoppier lights, but tasty and refreshing after a long day in the sun. Post-dinner we went for the darker beers, which included a taste of their IPA. All-in-all, it was a satisfying beer tasting and the fried asparagus spears were the highlight of the meal.

On a quiet Sunday, it was tough to find much to do in the area, but one shining star is Whitstran Brewing in Prosser. Open for long hours (11-9, every day) and a friendly staff, it's a place you could spend some time. We settled for a plate of fried snacks and while Austin tried a sampling of six beers, I settled for an unblended lambic (no fruits added) called the Friars Wild Ride. Austin favored the Horse Heave Hefeweizen and the Highlander, a Scottish-style ale from his beer sampling and well, I liked my lambic so much that we bought a growler to bring home.

There are plenty of other breweries to try, but we didn't luck out so much in the timing department, especially given that it was a holiday weekend. If you're in the area, be sure to check out Yakima Craft Brewing in Yakima, Horse Heave Hills Brewery in Prosser, as well as Atomic Ale Brew Pub, and Ice Harbor Brewing in the Tri-Cities area.

And, wine, let's not forget about the other popular draw for tourists in the area. The wine scene is strong and warrants another trip (or several, for that matter.) We decided to save it for another time, but while on my first trip, I did get a chance to stop at Cultura Winery in Zillah and taste their selection of wines. The owners, Sarah and Tad Fewel, are charming and their passion for wine flows. Reds are their specialty and they have an excellent 2008 Cabernet Franc that won me over.

If you like scenery, this is the drive for you. While on the most direct route on I-90, you'll be able to watch the scenery morph from the rainy western side to the snowy peaks of the Cascades and down into the dry valley.

When you head back, however, I highly suggest you do what we did and take the longer route through Chinook Pass to catch a peek at Mount Rainier. It's absolutely stunning and while I didn't realize it, making a snowball in the middle of the summer was definitely on my bucket list.

After all of our adventures, I can tell you that the hunt for cherries was a great excuse to head east of the Cascades from Seattle. With so many great things to do, see, and eat in the Yakima Valley, a little red fruit is just the start of a great trip.