Saturday, May 17, 2008

Southern California Memorial Day things to do: Garden Grove Strawberry Festival

Garden Grove Strawberry Festival
Once a year on Memorial Day weekend thousands of people head to Garden Grove for the annual Strawberry Festival. This year the festival celebrates it's 50th anniversary. Fifty years ago Garden Grove was a sleepy little farming town in rural Orange County. Today there are only a few acres of farm land left but the city still takes time out to remember it's farming heritage.

The Celebrity Grand Marshal is Oscar Award-Winning actor Martin Landau. The four-day event, which is the second largest city festival in the Western United States, will be held at the Village Green between Main Street and Euclid Avenue in downtown Garden Grove. Last year’s attendance was over 250,000.

Highlights include the official giant strawberry cake cutting ceremony at 6:00 p.m. Friday evening and Saturday’s parade which starts at 10 a.m. with floats, bands and equestrians. Celebrities scheduled to be in the parade are film and television stars Rhonda Fleming and Dick Van Patten, Young and the Restless star Kate Linder, KOCE Real Orange news anchor Ed Arnold, Chris Warren, Jr. who plays Zeke in High School Musical, Jennette McCurdy from Nickelodeon's iCarly, Sammi Hanratty from ABC's Pushing Daisies, and the Suite Life of Zack and Cody, Field Cate from ABC's Pushing Daisies,Zane Huett from Desperate Housewives, and Mike Conway, the grandson of Francis X. Bushman, silent film star and the very first Garden Grove Strawberry Festival parade grand marshal. Many will stay after the parade to sign autographs.

The 50th Annual Garden Grove Strawberry Festival will be held Memorial Day Weekend Friday, May 23 through Monday, May 26, 2008. Friday hours are 1 p.m. to 10 p.m.; Saturday and Sunday from 10 a.m. to 10 p.m. and Monday from 10 a.m. to 8:30 p.m. The festival is held on the village green at the corner of Garden Grove Blvd and Euclid street in Garden Grove, California. Admission is free.

Wednesday, May 14, 2008

McDonald's Museum San Bernardino

The location of the first McDonalds, right on Route 66, was instrumental in the success of this new concept in food service. People driving cross country were happy to find quick and cheap meals. The outside of the McDonalds museum is decorated with many pieces of nostalgic Route 66 signs. inside you will find McDonalds memorabilia of every size, shape and form. The museum is has been restored by Albert Okura, who also owns the Juan Pollo restaurant chain. Admission to the museum is free and it is open 10am to 5 pm daily. McDonald's Museum 1398 N E Street San Bernardino, CA 92405


Monday, May 12, 2008

Glamis Sand Dunes

Glamis Sand Dunes
The Glamis Sand Dunes are the most popular off-road destination in Southern California. Hundreds of thousands of visitors arrive on various holiday weekends, often grouping in popular areas during specific times of the day, such as Oldsmobile Hill in the afternoon and Gecko Road in the afternoon. The BLM estimates that over 1.4 million visitors come to these sand dunes each year for day-use riding or to camp over weekends and ride in the dunes.
The Glamis Sand Dunes, also known as Imperial Sand Dunes Recreation Area, are located southeast of the Salton Sea in southern California at the border with Arizona and Baja California del Norte, Mexico. The field is approximately 45 miles long by 6 miles wide and extends along a northwest-southeast line that correlates to the prevailing northerly and westerly wind directions. The dunefield is a wilderness area, with the only significant human structures being the All-American Canal that cuts across the southern portion from west to east and the Coachella Canal on the eastern border of the dunefield. The name "Algodones Dunes" refers to the entire geographic feature, while the administrative designation for that portion managed by the Bureau of Land Management [1] is the Imperial Sand Dunes Recreation Area.
The Imperial Sand Dunes are the largest mass of sand dunes in California, with over 118,000 acres of land. OHV activities are permitted on some of the sand dunes, while other areas are permanently or temporarily closed. A camping permit is required upon arrival.