A few weeks ago, I chronicled a trip south of the city to the Fog Festival. This time, I travel further south to Half Moon Bay. With Halloween and autumn rolling in, they hold an annual street festival to celebrate the iconic gourd of the season. This time of year, a person's fancy turns to pumpkin spice and Halloween. Around HMB are a number of botanical green houses, tree farms, and produce growers. Located right off the coast, foggy mornings can be advantageous for some plant life. The quick drive from the city would be to travel south via US route 101 or Interstate 280 then head to the coast on 92. The scenic route, that I took, hugs the coast along Highway 1. I opted to take the festival at its soutern end early Sunday as the "main" festivities on Main St were officially opening at 9am.
All throughout, a number of artists and purveyors have their wares on sale in their individual little tents
A bed and breakfast right on the "main" drag in downtown
Part of the early events that occured on the previous Monday was the giant pumpkin weigh off. These are the runner ups. The winner tips the scales at over 2,500 pounds
Pumpkin carving artist Farmer John has been sitting here all weekend long taking blade to gourd and cutting out anything that is not in his vision
A waterfall from a set of pumpkins helped to highlight that this is the 50th anniversary of the event
Still early, yes barely past 9am. Walking along the route is easy taking in the whole site
Noting the artists, foods, and activities while making the rounds several times up and down Main St
A number of sponsors made their names know here and there
One of the artist had is carved surfboards available for purchase. Some are fiberglass and some wood
The parking lot was the hub for alot of family friendly activities and events from pumpkin carving for the kids to the pumpkin pie eating contest
The winner of largest pumpkin is put on display for pictures like a celebrity
The grower came from Minnesota with a days long drive to get his baby to HMB. He was also enlisted as a judge for the pie eating competition
A pancake breakfast help raised money for the local high school baseball team. Ran from 7am to noon and offered pumpkin pancakes in addition to regular pancakes. Included were sausages and juice or coffee/tea
I made it closer to the north end of Main where it flows in from State Route 92
Many of the restaurants that make their home on Main were open in addition to the food stalls
Jump onto Main from 92, cross the bridge and you have hit down town. Closed for the celebration so parking must be found elsewhere. Streets to the west of Main had free street parking. Otherwise paid lots were a plenty
Plenty of places to get your dose of pumpkin
Prefer them raw and not round or orange?
Alcohol and wine available at a number of locations so you dont have to walk far. But, drinks to not leave the designated grounds
I could not spend the day here and not get anything to eat. I spotted this at the largest concentration of food stalls at the food court.
Artichoke hearts sauteed with olive oil and italian seasoning
A decent amount of chokes to start my day. Soft and tastey but the kind of loses its punch after a couple of forkfulls
I believe it would have been enhanced with some kind of dip or sauce. Maybe ranch dressing or marinara like those served with deep fried chokes.
You can get your pumpkin almost any way you like including breads/rolls, milkshake, pies, etc. I resisted the urge. Its like going to Japan and not eating sushi. Yes, I am that guy!
The number of people increases as the day marched towards the noon hour.
Grilled linquica on a roll accompanied by ketchup, mustard, and onions
The coarse ground pork in a thick casing enjoyed near some live music at one of the many stages peppered around the location
A number of pumpkin patches have popped up along the roads to HMB. A short walk from Main are 2 that are side by side.
The first was Andreotti's with an old truck and a Monster Truck corn maze
The other is Farmer John's. I think there is a relation to the pumpkin carver
No corn maze and no touching of the corn. But a teepee playhouse amongst the pumpkins
The corn is immature and not ready for picking.
A small patch of sunflowers at Farmer John's. Andreotti's also advertised the same but I didnt investigate
Yellow flowers surrounded by sun flowers
The green one on the left is the finished gourd that was started earlier in the day. A waterfall was built into the three in the middle.
I did not order those pies. Those are the sacrificial pies intended for the eating contest. Topped with a dollop of whipped cream, they are ready for their fate.
Contestants literally dove headlong into the desserts some with gusto while some more timid
The 2 minute dash to devour yielded an official winner. A finale for my day
Rounding out the post with a video, including the gory details of the pie contest
