Golden Gate Kennel Club Dog Show - 01/25/14 - 01/26/14

Such discipline!  The dog, too!

Golden Gate Kennel Club Dog Show
Daly City, CA

Well-behaved dogs are fascinating to me, considering mine craps whenever (and wherever) he wants, and will hump any same-sex pooch small enough for him to dominate.

Dog shows like these are proof that a kinship between man and bitch can truly exist.  With more breeds you can count from A (Affenpinschers) to Y (Yorkshire Terriers), you’ll soon be able to distinguish between potential BFFs for your toddlers (Smooth Fox Terrier, perhaps?) and those breeds you may want to reconsider (sorry, English Mastiff).

Highlights of the Show include flyball demonstrations, Best Puppy in Show awards, and the All-Breed Fashion Show, where you’re virtually guaranteed to find at least one dachshund in that dreaded hot dog costume.  Hmmph.

Santa Cruz Fungus Fair - 01/10/14 - 01/12/14

Are you a fungi, too?

Santa Cruz Fungus Fair

Santa Cruz, CA

The Fungus Fair is another one of those unique Santa Cruz traditions like “kissing banana slugs” or “questioning gravity in highly specific wooded areas”.

Attendees will enjoy lectures by prominent mycologists and herbalists, culinary demonstrations and discussions surrounding current developments in mushroom poisonings.  Handy, right?

The fair is sponsored by the Fungus Federation of Santa Cruz, which holds periodic Mushroom Identification Classes perfect for those idiots who like to separate from their groups and traverse the woods alone with no other means of sustenance or a phone with 4G.  Study carefully!

Cornish Christmas - 12/20/13

Santa?

Cornish Christmas
Grass Valley, CA

A good friend and former Grass Valley native used to attend this event each year, which she jokingly dubbed “Corny Crapness” as a result of the disappearance of her favorite vendor, a bacon biscuit stand.

That does sound disappointing, when you think about it.

Never fear, there remain a number of delights to satisfy the palate such a Cornish pasties and miniature pies; if you’ve left your snowsuit at home and find yourself shivering half to death like one particular ponytailed writer, you’ll find no shortage of hot chocolate and apple cider.  Steaming pulled pork sandwiches can be equally effective.

Strolling along Mills and Main Streets may seem like a journey into the past.  Carolers sing in unison dressed in Victorian garb.  Magicians perform tricks with cards and ropes.  A charming character in a top hat roasts chestnuts on an open fire and sings a particular song lyric ad nauseum.  Numerous other vendors peddle scarves, jams and jellies and homemade soaps.  Were it not for the occasional teenager haphazardly running over the elderly, you’d think you’d been transported to a simpler, gentler time.

Don’t forget to spin the wheel at the Towers Casino booth for your chance to win a blackmatch match play coupon.  This is the 21^st century, after all.

San Diego Bay Wine & Food Festival - 11/18/13 - 11/24/13

Don't forget to replenish after the 5K!

San Diego Bay Wine & Food Festival
San Diego, CA

This event provides a great opportunity to stretch those stomach muscles in time for Thanksgiving.

Now in its 10^th year, the festival is the area’s premiere destination for food and wine aficionados to attend cooking classes and wine tasting seminars, meet chefs and winemakers, and sample morsels from gourmet food companies.  Bid on a celebrity chef luncheon, then watch chefs compete for $50,000 in the Chef of the Fest competition.  Turn the event into a vacation with a Wine Weekend Getaway package including hotel accommodations and VIP experiences.

Crepes, sushi, gourmet chocolates and more can all be yours.  Enjoy an array of international cuisine before hunkering down with (at least) a week of turkey, turkey sandwiches, turkey enchiladas, turkey soup…catch my drift?

Nimbus Fish Hatchery

They make swimming uphill
look easy.

Nimbus Fish Hatchery

Rancho Cordova, CA

I hate to admit that I rely on my GPS far too much.  Even when I return to my hometown, I rely on it to get from point A to point B.  So imagine my disbelief when I learned at the Nimbus Fish Hatchery that salmon and steelhead trout are able to miraculously find their way back to the river of their birth…from the freaking ocean!  That’s impressive.

Visitors to the hatchery can witness this phenomenon first-hand.  When the fish ladders are open, salmon and steelhead swim through the gate at the base and instinctively jump up each step, making their way towards the hatchery.  At the top, they enter holding ponds and, if they are mature, move on to the tranquilizing tank in the spawning deck.  What happens next during the egg-taking process is covered during the informative video shown in the visitor’s center…I won’t ruin the excitement for you!

Multiple raceways hold growing salmon until they are ocean-ready.  25 cents gets you a palmfull of pellets you can use to feed the fish (or get your friends splashed).  Netting covers the area to keep out prey.

Before leaving the site, take some time to learn about all about river clean-up and conservation efforts, salmon and steelhead record weights, and many other facts that will make you further appreciate your next sushi dinner.

Winchester Mystery House

Lovely and creepy at the same time!

Winchester Mystery House

San Jose, CA

The Winchester Mystery House in San Jose is a lot of things: a mecca for tourists, a destination for the architecturally curious, a probable location for paranormal activity, and a place I wouldn’t touch with a ten foot pole while I was in my twenties.  Now that I’m slightly more mature (ha!), I decided to book a Mansion Tour to see what the hype is all about.

Sarah Winchester, heiress to the Winchester Rifle fortune, experienced the great misfortune of losing both her husband and young daughter; legend has it that a medium told her she must build a house…and never cease construction.  If she did, the spirits of those who lost their lives to Winchester rifles would come after her.

Sarah inherited millions of dollars upon her husband’s death.  Those funds, coupled with roughly $1000 a day she received through partial ownership of the Winchester Repeating Arms Company, afforded her the ability to construct a sprawling mansion with over 150 rooms and provide room and board to her extensive staff.

Tours offer a fascinating behind-the-scenes look at Winchester’s eclectic taste in color, design and materials of the highest quality.  You’ll learn why there are staircases leading to the ceiling and why doors open to reveal brick walls.  Tackle your claustrophobia as you’re guided through narrow passageways leading you past guestrooms, staff quarters, and even a séance room.

Don’t bring strollers, and more importantly, don’t stray from your tour group; even experienced guides admit it’s easy to get lost in this labyrinth.  If just the thought of spirits gives you the creeps, why would you want to?

National Yo-Yo Contest - 10/05/13

Good luck with this one.

National Yo-Yo Contest
Chico, CA

If you want to see a Thumb Grind, attend this event.  If you want to see an Iron Whip, attend this event.  If you want to see a Boingy Boing, attend this event.

They’re all legal, entertaining, and typically performed by children and young adults.  They’re YO-YO TRICKS.

If you wind up (ha!) in Chico for this annual championship, expect to be amazed.  Competition is split into several divisions; tricks are performed using both single and double yo-yos, and “offstring” competitors wow crowds with yo-yos not even attached to their strings!  Now, that’s impressive.

Awards are also presented annually to individuals who best represent and promote the sport as well as those who innovate new tricks.  I’m going for Most Embarrassing Yo-Yo Attempt at a National Contest.