Artichokes!

Dave and I are huge fans of a pretty weird vegetable-- Artichokes! We've loved them for a while and were excited to learn that the "Artichoke Capital of the World" is only 2 hours away on the coast. So, yesterday, with Jeff, Amy and Jonathan, we tried out the Artichoke Festival. Here were some good things about the festival: One, the food (we ate artichoke burritos, rings and soup, artichokes that were grilled and artichokes in special sauce with pasta-- we passed on the artichoke cupcakes). Two, this strange Artichoke Art, where people made sculptures out of the vegetable. Three, the Farmer's Market, where we could buy perfect artichokes right from the growers for so cheap! And four, we found swings for Ella. Here was the bad thing: The one attraction I was most looking forward to was a ride and guided tour though the fields and we couldn't do it. After waiting all day for this, we just couldn't fit on the bus-- it filled up one person before us. I was so disappointed.

Surprises of the day included a scenic route home that led us through a Coastal Redwood forest and right past the ocean where we got out to play. We also got to stop at some great outlets. So, we had a little bit of everything yesterday-- except an educational tour and ride though the artichoke fields. :(

To see a fun video of Ella getting knocked over by a wave on Jonathan's blog, click here.

To learn more about artichokes, click here.