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Sunday, October 07, 2007

AvoFest

Every year Honey and I travel north 80 miles or so to Carpinteria. Carpinteria is a nice beach town north of Ventura and south of Santa Barbara. In other words, it exists in a zone far enough away from Los Angeles to feel different. Away.

I like going places that feel away. Oh, don't get me wrong, I like our house and our space. I like them despite the asshole neighbors who had a couch dumped in front of their house and, rather than calling the city, moved it in front of our house. Like we wouldn't notice that it had been across the street until last night and now, had, by some miracle, just up and WALKED itself in front of our fence. Sometimes, therefore, I need to get away.

My favorite getaways are fundamental but not hard to achieve. It may be why I like Catalina Island so much. Drive to San Pedro, get on a boat, and you are SO away. But they still have a Vons and my cell phone still works. Hell, you haven't even left Los Angeles County on Catalina.

Anyway, we go to Carpinteria every year. Early October. Why? Well, why else? The Avocado festival!

I'm sure that some of you now have visions of something grand, indeed. Festival! Avocados! They go every year! There must be magic there.

Eh. It's pretty much the same every year.

Here's an overview:

There's a giant inflatable avocado with sunglasses.

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It's right outside the official California Avocado tent. Inside, there are illustrations of avocado type...

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Signs for your own avocado orchards to deter thieves...

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My favorite part of the tent is the avocado costume contest. The kids at the Carpinteria Elementary school make quite the effort.

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That's Carmen Miravo and a Golfer Avo, if you couldn't tell. Both prize winners, I should note.

Outside the tent, there are a couple of blocks of fair. Get a henna tattoo, buy some silver jewelry or those weird psychedelic spinning things.

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There are two stages, one with "guac n' roll" and the other more eclectic. I noted with some (ok, a lot) of dismay that the first band yesterday on the guac n' roll stage was signing Christian rock. As is befitting a festival based on food, there are lots of avocado choices, many of them tasty. We usually go for tacos with guacamole, though this year I did contemplate a guacamole and tri-tip sandwich. We also get some guacamole and chips, though have yet to try the guacamole made by the high school cheerleaders in the kiddie pool. I've yet to try to avocado ice cream.

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We wander the fair and look at the t-shirts. One year we bought a poster and one year an avocado themed napkin-holder.

Once we've had lunch and picked out a Reed avocado to make guacamole with later in the week, we're done. (This year we got a Nabal instead. Such rebels!)

Is it fun? Sure. The fun, though, is found in the familiar. We do the same thing, we eat the same food. We wander past the same booths (for the most part). Things change a little. Last year we bought a rug shaped like a surfboard. This year I bought a bracelet made out of old forks.

On the way home this year, we stopped at the outlet mall. Last year, we took the train. So there is a little variety. Just a little. I guess that's the way I want it.

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3 comments:

Teresa said...

Hmm, it's about time to visit Catalina again.

My favorite moment from this year's fest: We were in the California Avocado Commission tent while a film crew was shooting for some news segment or cable show or something. During a break from filming, a CAC official came over to admonish the on-camera expert guy, "Be sure to talk about how avocados are the good fat. They're the good fat!"

The Misanthrope said...

A short get away is indeed what is needed. We haven't been up to Santa Barbara in a while. It seems that the weekends are too short because you turnaround and it's Sunday morning and then the dreaded Monday.

SassyFemme said...

Avacado theft? Hmm, never heard of it, and never would have thought it existed!

Avacado Fest looks like fun, even though I'm not really big on avacados.