Roadside California: World’s Largest Artichoke

by Alison Brick on

What else are you going do when you come to the “Artichoke Capital of the World” (as the sign to Castroville, California boasts)?

Two things: take a photo next to the World’s Largest Artichoke and sample all-things-artichoke.

The giant artichoke sculpture is quickly visible once you get off Highway 156, just north of Monterey. Built in 1963, it’s made of concrete and rebar and stands 20 feet tall and 12 feet wide. It’s definitely popular, as far as vegetables go–on a recent stop there, kids hung from the sculpture’s protruding leaves, and a couple from LA posed for photos in front of it.

Next door at the Giant Artichoke Restaurant, a friend and I shared the giant artichoke platter: large steamed artichoke, fried artichoke hearts, and artichoke bread ($11.41). As someone who grew up enjoying playing with her food–and naturally loving artichokes–I was in heaven. Especially with those fried niblets.
And it turns out, it doesn’t matter what meal you’re there for–artichokes are always on the menu. Breakfast: artichoke eggs benedict ($9.99). Lunch: artichoke salad ($9.49). Dinner: artichoke pasta stir fry ($12.49).

Since 1959, Castroville has hosted an Artichoke Festival every May, but even before that it has crowned an Artichoke Queen. You might recognize the very first Artichoke Queen, crowned in 1947. Her name: Norma Jean, who went on to become Marilyn Monroe.

Appropriately, nearby Gilroy and Salinas have their own salad-inspiring monikers. Gilroy is the “Garlic Capital of the World” (and yes, you can smell it) and Salinas is the “Lettuce Capital of the World.”

SkyMall Monday: Leather Driving Gloves

by Mike Barish on

I love a good road trip. There’s nothing better than leaving the SkyMall Monday headquarters and exploring this great country of ours. But the rigors of a long car ride can often be too much for a man to handle. I’m not talking about my legs getting stiff or all the fast food I eat at rest stops. No, it’s the blisters. When I drive, it’s a white knuckle adventure and it wears out my silky smooth, heavily-moisturized skin. I’ve tried steering with my knees, my mouth and my mind, but nothing seems to provide the control and and stability that highway patrolman demand that I possess. What’s a dainty-handed man to do? Rather than loosen my grip or remove the sandpaper steering wheel cover, I’ve decided to learn a lesson from the past. You see, when automobiles first came on the scene, there was romance and style. Drivers were debonair and handsomely attired. They protected their eyes with goggles, necks with scarves and hands with gloves. Because you can’t just grip the wheel, shift the gears and text your mistress with unprotected hands. You need to be safe. You need a coating that only a dead animal hide can give you. You need SkyMall’s Leather Driving Gloves.

Why do you need driving gloves? Well, if you’re like me, even passive activities make you sweat like a pig. Simply getting out of bed in the morning causes me to glisten like a glazed donut. I can’t have the steering wheel slipping out of my hand while on another one of my wacky adventures in the SkyMall Monday Mobile. And speaking of donuts, who wants that mess all over their fingers while driving? Think I’m not fit to operate a motor vehicle or a Gadling post? Well, SkyMall disagrees:

Buttery soft… thin enough to tune the radio. So comfortable they feel like a second skin. Ventilation notches keep your palms dry, even in a tricky hairpin turn.

Finally, a glove that is thin enough to give me that precision radio control that I need. And everyone knows that 88% of palm sweat incidents occur during turns. It’s nice to see a glove that addresses that scourge of the road.

Look, you can drive naked if you want, but when your palms sweat and you crash your car into a tree, you’ll be embarrassed when the police have to use the jaws of life to cut your naked body out of your car. As for me, I’d rather have put on a pair of Leather Driving Gloves and arrive safely at my nudist colony weekend.

Drive safe, SkyMall Maniacs!

Check out all of the previous SkyMall Monday posts HERE.

Daily gear deals – “on the road” edition!

by Scott Carmichael on

Here are the hottest gear deals for today, Monday August 3rd 2009. Remember, these deals are often only valid for just one day, so act fast before they are gone.

Today’s first deal is a “must have” in any vehicle. The Eternity 10-153 emergency AM-FM radio/flashlight combines a radio (with emergency weatherband) with a bright LED flashlight. The unit has internal batteries and a hand crank for quick recharging. On sale at Newegg.com for just $19 for a two pack! Click here for this deal.

Over at Buy.com, you’ll find the Ezyflare emergency LED roadside warning light. This device takes the place of your old folding warning triangle, and can be seen up to two miles away. Best of all, it is on sale for just $6.99 with free shipping. Click here for this deal.

Keep the folks in the back of your car entertained with this 7″ Coby portable DVD player for just under $60! Click here for this deal.

This wouldn’t be a road trip edition without at least one GPS unit – so for today’s lineup why not check out the super popular Garmin Nuvi 250 for just $99.99! It is listed as “English/Spanish” version. Click here for this deal.

Hidden midwestern gem – Galena, Illinois

by Scott Carmichael on

Galena Illinois is one of those real undiscovered and hidden gems. Nestled in the north west corner of the state, it is right across the Mississippi river from Iowa. The National Trust for Historic Preservation added Galena to its 2004 list of America’s Dozen Distinctive Destinations.

The village is conveniently located “in the middle of nowhere” – about 20 miles from Dubuque, IA and 80 miles from Rockford, IL. Getting to Galena from the Chicagoland area takes you through some of the most scenic winding roads in Illinois, and folks from Chicago will probably be amazed to see that their state really does have some hills.
Things to do in Galena

Downtown Galena has a perfect balance between old charm and modern updates. You still get that old main street feeling, without feeling like things haven’t been updated in decades. Everything is well preserved. The main street stores offer something for everyone – from old fashioned candy stores to a fantastic variety of eateries and coffee shops.


Staying in Galena

Staying in Galena is the best way to enjoy the area past “daytrip”. In fact, given the 3 hour drive from Chicago, staying overnight may be the only way to really enjoy the scenery. Thankfully, Galena is home to some of the best places in the state to spend the night.

Galena has over 100 B&B’s, several chain hotels and 2 large resort hotels, including the award winning Eagle Ridge resort, with a 63 hole golf course, spa and 4 different restaurants.

During the winter months, the Chestnut Mountain resort is where you’ll find 19 different ski trails in a hotel overlooking the Upper Mississippi River. Its rooms are fairly basic, but the location can’t be beat.

Have you seen. . .The Thing?

by Sean McLachlan on

As you drive through the desert along I-10 you see them–garish signs beckoning you to explore the mystery of “The Thing?” The signs are everywhere, 247 of them stretching from Arizona to Texas. The journey is long and boring, punctuated only by bad country music and Born-Again preachers on the radio. Finally you make it to Exit 322 at Dragoon, Arizona, and see the cheap yellow, red, and blue facade inviting you to stop and see The Thing? itself.

How could you say no? I couldn’t. A long, long time ago, a much younger Museum Junkie felt the siren call of roadside America and pulled over in his 82 Nissan Stanza to find out what The Thing? really was.

Past a curio shop stuffed with plastic tomahawks and The Thing? shot glasses, I entered a back lot with three sheds. The first two were stuffed with dusty displays of fascinating junk, everything from a mock-up of a torture room to a 1937 Rolls Royce supposedly owned by Hitler. There were strange carvings made of roots and driftwood too, and random bits that looked like they were saved from a dumpster behind an antique mall.

But then I spied the yellow trail of Bigfoot prints leading to the third shed. I followed them and beheld in all it’s glory–THE THING?!!!

So what is it? A crashed UFO? A fifty-foot Eiffel Tower made out of jelly beans? J. Edgar Hoover’s drag queen outfits? No! It’s. . .it’s. . .

. . .well, it’s this. A dusty female mummy holding a baby mummy and shyly hiding her geriatric genitalia behind a Chinese hat.

Is it real? This former archaeologist made a thorough examination of it (by staring through the dirty glass) and came up with the professional diagnosis of “maybe”. The face looks pretty fake, making me suspect its a paper mache dummy with a few spare ribs from somebody’s barbecue added for effect, but something made me think twice. Dessicated human remains are fairly common in the Arizona desert, and were even more common back in 1950 when the museum opened.

As an archaeology student at the University of Arizona back in the day, I got to tour the state forensics lab and saw several of these mummies. Some were ancient native Americans, others dated to modern times and were what the lab attendants referred to as JPFROG (Just Plain F**cking Ran Out Of Gas).

Another roadside attraction, The Million Dollar Museum in New Mexico, had several of these things, but sadly they have closed. According to unverified reports (what else would you expect?) the FBI was sufficiently convinced the mummies were real that they hauled them away for DNA testing.

Ancient mummy, cheesy fake, or JPFROG? You be the judge. Go to. . .The Thing?

Or be lazy and watch this YouTube video narrated by Hunter S. Thompson (not really).