My Town Monday: Gilroy Garlic Festival
Travis Erwin, who is off gambling away the family's Texan fortune, put me in charge of My Town Monday this week. I will try not to let the power go to my head.
BUT since I AM the current big kahuna, I'm making an EXECUTIVE decision and allowing my post to highlight a location in NORTHERN California. Just call me a major rule breaker. Confession: I've never even been to this location, although I have smelled it with the car windows down.
It's the Gilroy Garlic Festival!
The Gilroy Garlic Festival is held annually on the last full weekend of July. Gilroy is about 26 miles south of San Jose, in the Santa Clara Valley. 2008 marks the festival's 30 year anniversary. The Garlic Festival is probably California's best attended food festival with a weekend crowd of around 100,000 people. This is because, in California, we know fun when we see it. Or, rather, when we smell it.
I am determined to make it to the Gilroy Garlic Festival one of these years. With or without the dh who favors sporting stuff. While there, I will check out Miss Gilroy Garlic, the garlic cook-off, various demonstrations, the arts and crafts' tables.
And I will definitely try some of this:
And some of these:
After the Festival, I'll visit the Gilroy Yamato Hot Springs and the Mission San Juan Bautista (depending on how far away the mission is).
Now, onto some exciting posts from other Mondayers, including Travis who got his post organized before hightailing it out of Amarillo:
Travis Erwin--Amarillo, TX
Barbara Martin--Toronto, Ontario, Canada
The Education of a Pulp Writer--Rayne, Louisianna
PreTzel's Place--mostly places in Iowa
Clair Dickson--Kensington, Michigan
Women of Mystery--Setauket, New York
SUV Mama--Columbia River Gorge
Word Vixen--Lancaster, Pennsylvania
Shauna Roberts--Riverside, California
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dang barrie, that sounds like a winner!
ReplyDeletebeing some 5k + miles away from me, even as the crow flies, i must partake vicariously, but that's not the worst thing to befall an old wuff ;)
Ooh if I was in the vicinity I'd deffo give it a try. I do love garlic! (Although it does make me....shhh…gassy).
ReplyDeleteI have heard that garlic ice-cream is utterly disgusting though and that 's from a real garlic lover - you have been warned!!! But garlic fries - yummy!
I have heard of the garlic festival and have always wanted to attend. I love garlic. Those garlic fries made me very hungry. Thanks for breaking my diet. LOL
ReplyDeleteMmmmm....garlic.....mmmmmm
ReplyDeleteFun post, Barrie, though I think I'd pass on the garlic ice cream. Those fries looked good, though. The DH and I have driven through Gilroy before and you smell the town before you see it. My DH isn't particularly fond of the smell and did nothing but complain. Glad we didn't have to spend the night there, LOL.
ReplyDeleteLinda
Thanks for stopping by to comment! I feel like I know you already from "Just a Plane Ride Away"'s blog. :)
ReplyDeleteBarrie, I'd like to try those garlic fries.
ReplyDeleteMy own My Town Monday post is up.
Garlic ice cream. I can't imagine it. Mine is up. http://pattinase.blogspot.com
ReplyDeleteThanks for giving Travis a rest.
I've never been to the festival either but have definitely smelled the town as we drove by. My cousin married a man from Gilroy, ironically he doesn't like garlic. Go figure!
ReplyDeleteIt's probably bad that this post made me want ice cream
ReplyDeleteWow, garlic ice cream? That's pretty disgusting. Blech...
ReplyDeleteI love me some garlic but don't mess with the ice cream. Yuck. Garlic on Ice Cream just sounds gross LOL! I'd love to visit that place. Garlic Fries are delicious and absolutely easy to make. :D
ReplyDeleteMy post is up: http://www.pretzelplace.net/2008/07/my-town-monday_13.html Like you I deviated from the "rules" LOL!
We have a garlic festival near us and it ROCKS! Such cool items to try.
ReplyDeleteThanks for sharing!
I'm in favor of garlic chocolate ice cream. The two spices I use on every piece of meat that comes my way are garlic and onion. They go together like chocolate and peanut butter!
ReplyDeleteGreat Monday post. Hope you'll visit us at WomenOfMystery.net!
Have a great weak.
Write On!
Nan
Seems like there's a festival for everything!
ReplyDeleteI've got my My Town Monday post up now.
Now this is a festival I could get into, but I think I would take janeyv's advice and skip the garlic ice cream!
ReplyDeleteI want the garlic fries! Passing on the garlic ice cream though.
ReplyDeleteOkay, you come up and we'll go. I live 30 minutes away and have never gone because of the crowds, but we'll brave it together! I've probably driven past Gilroy 100,000 times (barely exaggerating) and LOVE that smell.
ReplyDeleteSomewhere along that route, you can pass a Schilling factory, too, and get ALL the spice smells.
Having grown up a few miles from where the festival is held...I can honestly say I've never been.
ReplyDeleteBut I HAVE had garlic ice cream. And it rocks. Don't knock it until you try it!
Add me please... Columbia River Gorge.
:)
Yum, those garlic fries look awesome!
ReplyDeleteI've got my post up: http://questtowrite.blogspot.com/2008/07/lancaster-pennsylvania-stauffer-mansion.html
The garlic chips look delish! Mmmmm.
ReplyDeleteThis is my neck of the woods! Well, not now, but growing up. That festival was always such a big deal. I wish I could put my hand through the computer right now and grab some of those lovely garlic fries! Yumm!!
ReplyDeleteThere is a restaurant here that does everything with garlic including garlic ice cream.
ReplyDeleteMmmmm, those fries look really yummy.
ReplyDeleteWe went to the festival a few years back. Garlic fries, garlic mushrooms, garlic ice cream.... it was all WONDERFUL! It was kind of like the county fair, trying to plan out how you're going to stuff all that food in your belly when you're only going to be there a few hours.
ReplyDeleteThere were games too. I don't remember exactly what it was, but it had something to do with running in a pen surrounded by hay and yanking garlic bulbs away from kids who didn't really want it to begin with... you know, the things I can't really do unless it's in the context of a game at a festival. I collected enough garlic to last us for years.
Cameron, you have all the fun! And I wouldn't want to stand between you and a bunch of garlic bulbs. :)
ReplyDeleteI LOVE Garlic and that would be a festival I would like to go to. And those frys??? YUMMY!
ReplyDeletei was with you until you said "garlic ice cream"... :)
ReplyDeleteit's just about lunchtime here...those fries need to be in mah belly!
ReplyDeleteI am determined to go to several festivals myself, including the Luling Watermelon Festival, where they crown a Thump Queen!
ReplyDeleteI don't think I could go for garlic ice cream.
I've never had garlic ice cream. I love garlic. And I love ice cream, but I just can't see them together. Have any of you ever tried it?
ReplyDeleteHi Sheri! No, I've never tried garlic ice cream. But I would. However....I don't really like ice cream. ;)
ReplyDeleteI just put up my "My Town Wednesday" post about Riverside, CA, at http://ShaunaRoberts.blogspot.com. Thanks, Barrie, for taking care of MTM this week. Like you, I'd love to try out the Garlic Fest one day.
ReplyDeleteI've seen the Garlic festival on the Food Network or Travel channel. Can't remember which. Thanks again for taking the helm this week.
ReplyDelete