Strawberry Festival in Watsonville, CA + Casa de Fruta in Los Banos, CA

Any place where you go regardless how small it is has some sort of attractions. Yesterday I ventured out to the strawberry festival in the city of Watsonville,California. We started our day with a breakfast in Los Banos, CA at The Black Bear Diner. Since I had breakfast at home, I only got some water. The other members of my group ordered full hearty breakfasts with hash browns, eggs and bacon. The portions seemed gianormous, and they had to take some home. The atmosphere of the diner was really cool. Besides the black bear theme, the diner was decorated with multiple photos of some italian family from 1920's and pictures from graduating class of 1929. I am sure there was a reason to it, but I did not have the time to explore further.

Located about two hours away from Fresno, Watsonville is a town with some serious cloudy weather, similar to many towns along the West Coast at this time of the year. It was surprising how two hours of driving time could make a difference in temperature. From 100°F in Fresno to 65°F in Watsonville, it was certainly a fresh start to the day. Interestingly enough, the weather did not warm up at all. In fact, I had to borrow a sweater from a fellow Meetup member who I attended the festival with. The air was much fresher, cleaner than in Fresno, which makes me think of the number of asthma cases and respiratory diseases prevalent in Fresno. It is not only the burning fires that cause air pollution but also the extensive variety of farming especially with pesticides. This makes me think whether I would consider staying in Central California or eventually move closer to the shoreline. 

Going back to the strawberry festival, regardless how cold it was, I enjoyed the variety of strawberry desserts. Starting with strawberry popcorn and ending with strawberry parfait, all deserts where truly delicious. Surprisingly, they did not serve any coffee or tea of higher than icy temperature. I guess people are used to being cold there... 

Grilled chicken, tacos, try steak sandwiches were among the variety of food offered at the festival. Not too many vegetarian choices unfortunately. 

At the end of our stay at the festival a few members of my group bought a flat of strawberries consisting of eight 1 lbs plastic containers of delicious strawberries for only eight dollars. I decided not to buy any because they were not organic, yet the price was still shocking. 

On the way back to Fresno, we decided to stop at Casa de Fruta, which was an amazing find for me because it had wine tasting, chocolate, ice cream, fruits and vegetables, and a variety of nuts that I have never seen before in my life. A small park with a tiny lake and multiple turtles completed the picture. 

I also took advantage of the swing set and for the first time in a long long time I flew in the air not even thinking what the adults around me were thinking. Yeah, who cares I'm still a child.