O is for Olive Festival

Big news, dear Take 25 Readers! The first Olive Festival is in the works.

Yep, an Olive Festival! Organizers have set it for October 19, 2013 at the Paicines Ranch in beautiful Paicines, just down the road, south of Hollister.  Save the Date!

Olive trees were first planted in the area at Mission San Juan Bautista by the Spanish padres.  The mission used the olive oil it produced for essential goods that it could not make.

Today, we have several local olive growers in San Benito County who produce award winning olive oils.  Many of which can be bought at local businesses, such as San Benito Bene and Bertuccio's/The Farm, as well as from the producers themselves.

Here are some of the local olive growers that you can check out online:

• Brigantino Olive Oil
• Guerra Vineyards and Groves
• Oil of Paicines 
• Pietra Santa Winery  
• Sons-of-Sicily
• Suncoast Organic Farm

I'm going through the alphabet this month as part of the A to Z Blogging Challenge.  Click here to check out  other A to Z Challenge participants.

N is for a New National Park

Just recently, the area got a new national park when the Pinnacles National Monument was redesignated as the Pinnacles National Park. Hurrah! A big thanks to Congressman Sam Farr for introducing the bill in Congress.

The 59th national park is home to condors, bats, and various other flora and fauna. It offers fun adventures for hikers, birders, rock climbers, naturalists, families, and everyone and anyone who enjoy being outdoors. The eastern entrance is about 30 miles south of Hollister, right off Highway 25. To learn more about the new national park, check out these links:

• Pinnacles National Park
• "Pinnacles Rocks: One of California's Best Kept Secrets" by Mike Sweeney
• Friends of Pinnacles
• Pinnacles Partnership

I've been participating in the 2013 A to Z Blogging Challenge, which goes through the month of April. You can check out other Challenge bloggers by clicking  here.

M is for Mustard

See all that yellow. That's wild mustard. It grows freely in the fields and orchards during Spring. Some historians say that the Franciscan padres scattered the seeds as they walked the El Camino Real to better see the road. I wonder if they also ate the wild growing vegetable. It tastes so much better than the mustard greens found in the supermarkets.

I'm going through the alphabet this month as part of the A to Z Blogging Challenge. This is the third week. To check out other A to Z participants, click here.

L is for Lido Hotel

Whenever I walk by Lido Hotel on East Street, I wonder what it looks like inside. Would I shudder in disgust or gasp a "Wow!" at a sight of ghostly splendor

I'm going through the alphabet this month as part of the A to Z Blogging Challenge.  Click here to check out some other A to Z Challenge participants.

K is for Knoll

I love this sight every spring—the oak trees dancing on the green knolls above Union Road.

I'm participating in the A to Z Blogging Challenge during the month of April.  Click here to check out some other A to Z Challenge participants.