Get These One-of-a-Kind Items in San Joaquin Valley

Added: 07/16/2006

Seventy-five miles east of the Golden Gate Bridge is an area of California that offers the traveler some unique experiences. Nestled in the watershed formed by the Delta's Ship Channel is the section of land called the San Joaquin Valley. The Valley's one-of-a-kind offerings are described in the following article. The Valley can feed both the meat-lover and the vegetarian.

If you are in search of what has been described as the "best deep fried asparagus found
anywhere," then you should go to the San Joaquin Valley in California. Stockton, a town in San Joaquin County, is the site of the Valley's annual Asparagus Festival. That 3-day event brings huge crowds into the San Joaquin Valley on the 4th weekend in April.

If you then find the fried asparagus to your liking, and if you would like to get the recipe, then you can purchase the Festival Cookbook. All of the asparagus dishes sold along "Asparagus Alley" at the Festival have their ingredients and preparation methods revealed in that Cookbook. Those individuals who fail to purchase the Cookbook at the Festival can order it by going online.

A look at the web site for the Asparagus Festival underlines the unique character of San Joaquin Valley. For example, the Family Stage at the Festival promises performances by a barbershop quartet. That same web site also mentions appearance at the Festival of the Dragon Knights stilt theater, a strolling troupe of entertainers.

If you would like to go to the Asparagus Festival, but if you are worried about available transportation, do not dwell on that problem any longer. You can park your car at San Joaquin Delta College and take an AsparaBus to the Festival. One word of warning: if you are a hungry vegetarian, please do not try eating a part of the AsparaBus.

While the Asparagus Festival concentrates on only one of the industries in the San Joaquin Valley, the County Fair varies the industry that is in the Fair's limelight. Like the Asparagus Festival, the County Fair takes place in Stockton, California. In 2006 the Fair had a theme that called attention to the beef cattle industries and the landscape nursery industries. Both of those industries bring substantial money into San Joaquin County.

All of the present-day industries in the San Joaquin Valley underscore the vast changes that have taken place in the region of land next to the San Joaquin Delta Waterway. The first industry in the Valley appeared in the late 1940's. That was when the area's first gold miners established the town of Pollardville.

Now in the 21ar Century, Pollardville has become a ghost town, although a very different sort of ghost town. Pollardville contains the entire set for the 1957 movie named The Big Country. Tour guides take travelers through the streets of Pollardville, providing a glimpse of what remains of the Valley's first real industry.

The water link between Stockton and the Golden Gate Bridge has also served to motivate the establishment of industry in the County. Stockton's Waterfront Warehouse has assumed the character of a commercial and retail center. The Waterfront's business interests on the Waterfront co-mingle with various forms of local entertainment.

Residents of Lodi, Tracy and Manteca, all County towns, flock to Stockton at night. Their presence in Stockton illustrates the degree to which Stockton has become the area's entertainment center.

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