Blueberries

This past weekend, we decided to check out the North Carolina Blueberry Festival in Burgaw, NC. Located in Pender County North Carolina, the city is currently celebrating its 10th year of hosting the blueberry festival.

With live bands, carnival rides, a car show, and over 120 vendors, the festival is a fun way to celebrate the little blueberry. One of my favorite parts about the festival was the many different recipes created from the blueberry.

Blueberry Ice cream Sandwich

Blueberry Iced Tea

Blueberry Punch

Blueberry Cider Slush

There was also blueberry crumble, blueberry cake, blueberry pie, blueberry desert pizza, and blueberry wine among other things. Who knew the blueberry could be used in so many ways?

The car show was also fun to walk through. There were many different types of cars proudly on display. 

1935 Chevy Truck

I liked this one.

Of course, a blueberry festival wouldn't be complete without buying blueberries.

I was very happy to find organic blueberries.

The blueberry festival was a fun day trip. I was actually surprised I didn't grow tired of eating so many blueberry themed foods and drinks. In fact, we enjoyed the blueberry iced tea so much that we made our own as soon as we got home. 

Refreshing

~A.E. Keener

Interested in the festival?

http://www.ncblueberryfestival.com/

Here's the recipe we used to make blueberry iced tea:

http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/blueberry-iced-tea-recipe/index.html

A side note: we added an extra cup of blueberries. Also, we wanted it sweet so add 3/4 cup to 1 and 1/4 cup depending on how sweet you desire your tea.

Cambria

For this week, I decided to write about a trip I took a couple months back to the little town of Cambria, Ca. Cambria is a little town about 3 hours north of L.A. Cambria is mainly known for two things, their elephant seals and Hearst Castle.

Hearst Castle was the home of William Randolph Hearst, the newspaper magnate. Also known as La Cuesta Encantada, The Enchanted Hill, the castle-like mansion sits a top a hill over looking San Simeon. It was designed by architect Julie Morgan and Hearst and was constantly being expanded throughout Hearst's life. It was never completed, but Hearst Castle has 56 bedrooms, 61 bathrooms, 19 sitting rooms, 127 acres of gardens, indoor and outdoor pools, and a movie theater. There used to be a zoo on the grounds during Hearst's time. In fact, zebras still roam the grounds.  

The front of Hearst Castle

The view from the top.

A famous reproduction of the Three Graces

The tours take up most of the day but the architecture, history, and beauty of Hearst Castle is well worth it. The rooms are guided tours, but you can roam the grounds by yourself. At Hearst Castle, you feel as if you are on top of the world.

After Hearst Castle, we drove a couple minutes down the road to where the elephant seals were hanging out. Their names come from the huge nose the males have. The noses are used to make loud roaring noises. 

That's a lot of elephant seals

They were very vocal when we went to visit.

I just love their noses. 

Roaring again.

A couple of fun facts about elephant seals. They can hold their breath for more than 100 minutes and spend 80% of their lives in the ocean.  While we were there, the elephant seals were extremely vocal and were fun to watch. 

This was a fun trip that is often overlooked when people come to visit California. It shows a different part of California that also is a big part of California's history. 

~A. E. Keener

Interested in my trip?

Hearst Castle: http://www.hearstcastle.org/
Elephant Seals: http://www.elephantseal.org/