Last Saturday morning, I grabbed my camera and shades, and drove south on PCH towards Huntington Beach and their 6th Annual Chili and Salsa cook-off. With the windows down, the wind tussling my hair, infinite blue sky above, and the Pacific on my right, I had a real Cinderella moment: Freida’s old hunter-green Bonneville with peeling paint, rusty rims, dents, and scratches became in my mind a sleek, red, and most definitely Italian convertible, and every movie I ever saw that featured southern California coast started playing in the background.
Not a Lamborghini, but I’ll take it!
Look at all those beautiful chiles from my friends at Melissa’s Produce!
I like the reckless and adventurous feel of Huntington Beach, but I always seem to just past through it on my way somewhere else. And every time I promise myself that I will allot at least a day to roam around this town that keeps on fascinating me. So Saturday June 15th I spent a few hours exploring downtown area where the annual street fair is held.
Redhot Redneck salsa from Killarney’s was wickedly good.
Main Street was closed to the traffic and filled with booths selling street fair food, t-shirts, custom jewelry, candles, Oriental art, home-made preserves, purses, and even beach cruiser bikes. There was a stage on each end with bands playing one after the other throughout the afternoon. A side street held an enormous blow-up play area for the kids and several information booths placed along the Main Street offered details about the fair, parking, downtown events, and Chili and Salsa tasting.
I loved this chili! Lots of cumin and cilantro.
Mariachi in front of Aloha Grill booth
I strolled in the rhythm of the music, took pictures, talked to the vendors, spun the wheel at a couple of booths (I won a wine bag from the OC Fair booth:) and bought two leather hippie bracelets for my teens. I tasted a lot of chili and a lot of salsa, and my big water bottle proved to be my best friend.
The winners of the 6th annual Chili and Salsa Tasting, Chili Ahumada from Shenanigans
It felt good just to be outside in the warm California sunshine, stealing a few worry-free hours from a really busy week. I only regretted not bringing my girls along. But the fun in Huntington Beach does not end with this event; the community has planned many happenings throughout the summer, and next time I head south on PCH for Surf City Nights on Tuesdays, my girls are coming with me. Blow-up slides and funnel cakes for them, farmers market for me, loud singing in the car with windows down for all three of us – summer just got a whole lot better!
I thought about attending this. I wish I had now. GREG