After a quick stop to Redlands Market night and the Pirate Adventure Dinner Experience in Buena Park my weekend was very full including a double shot of local festivities and Micheal Jackson impersonators. I started out in the city of Victorville at the San Bernardino County Fair. This annual fair features all types of activities for kids and adults alike. As royalty with Desert Pageants, my daughter Bianca (Desert Pageants Tiny Overall Queen), attended the fair with her sister queens for her first appearance and of course mommy (better known as Ms Earth 2011) got to tag along. Bianca worked in the toddler play area where they have lots of fun stuff for the kids to do and play with to help keep them entertained while giving them a chance to burn off some of that excess energy that little one's always seem to have.
After her shift was over we had a chance to walk around and tour the fairgrounds. The highlight of my night was seeing The Legend Continues: Jeffery Perez: A Tribute to Micheal Jackson. Now let me tell you this guy was A-MAZ-ING! I think he really embodied the true spirit of MJ. Not only did he dress, dance, and look like him but he sounded just like him too. He had 4 back-up singers/dancers that were just as entertaining. I couldn't help myself but to sing and dance along with him, especially when they did the choreography from the Beat It video (which I still have memorized from watching it a million times). I was not expecting him to be as awesome as he was so I was pleasantly surprised and very entertained. Now of course I tried to go backstage and take a picture with him but nowadays I tell you beauty queens get no love! The bouncer told me a big fat NO, so here is a picture of him on stage, the best that I could get.
On our way out of the fair we made one more stop at the Kona Shaved Ice Truck. I am really loving this new gourmet food truck revolution and one of my favorite things about fairs is of course the food. The San Bernardino County Fair did have a nice display of variety for foodies like me to munch on including deliciously flavor shaved ice. The workers on this truck are definitely a cheery and colorful bunch, I wonder if is has anything to do with all the treats they have on board.
My next adventure was up the coast of California on to the city of Oxnard for the 28th annual Strawberry Festival. This is one of my favorite festivals, despite the fact that i get sick there every year (I'm allergic to something but I don't know what). This festival not only celebrates my favorite fruit, but it's also a fundraising tribute to the region's agricultural industry. Over the years the festival has garnered more than $3.5 million for various south land charities. Some of the money raised goes for college scholarships to the underprivileged children of the immigrant workers who actually work out in the fields picking fruit. Many charities such as the United Way, Make-A-Wish Foundation, Rotary Clubs, Churches, and school sports/booster clubs set up booths at the event selling food or special strawberry dishes that hundreds of folks line up to eat. Some of my favorites are the strawberry pizza, strawberry smoothies (the best I've ever had), and strawberry nachos. Other's strawberry menu items include strawberry popcorn, strawberry funnel cakes, strawberry crepes, deep fried strawberries (these weren't very good), strawberry shortcake, taquitos with guacamole and strawberries, and of course your regular festival foods deep fried and grilled. I want to say that my biggest joy of this event was having the chance to pig out but there was so much more to see and do. There was shopping, story time for kids, arts and crafts, interactive booths to learn about being green, food and cooking contests and demonstrations, concerts, bungee jumping, free carnival rides and more. They also have strawberries for sale and you can buy as many as you can carry home. My daughter, my little sister and I decided to dress in the theme for the day in our newest Strawberry Shortcake dud's. My daughter even had two Strawberry Shortcake outfits to change into throughout the day along with her Strawberry Shortcake socks and Strawberry Shortcake light up tennis shoes. We were hoping we would have a chance to take a picture in our outfits with Strawberry Shortcake herself who always makes an appearance at the festival every year, but unfortunately she was not there this time. Oh well, now try explaining that to a two year old obsessed with her, yikes!
After we were full to the brim with strawberries we decided to go to a concert from none other than guess who.....Moonwalker: The Micheal Jackson Experience. Yep another impersonator although this one has his own live band instead of background tracks played over the sound system. He still did not compare to the one we saw the day before at the San Bernardino Fair. This guy looked a little more like Micheal, his dancing was okay but his vocals were awful he didn't sound anything like MJ and he was straining his voice. Although, the crowd did seem to love him and what a crowd it was. I'm not sure exactly how many people were there but I can tell you it was super duper crowded with barely any standing room. The strawberry council estimates that 1.5 million strawberries were consumed at the event. The entire festival is only two days long, can you imagine what it would be like if it were extended to a whole week!
Farewell Strawberry Festival but thanks for the doggie bag or should I say box
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