Hollister, CA, is not your typical tourist attraction either. It is a mainly agricultural town of slightly over 30,000 people. It serves as the county seat San Benito County in the central valley. It is a city with wide streets and strip malls. There isn’t much for a tourist to do either.
It’s a different story just outside of the city, however. A few miles north of the town, celebrating its 100th anniversary, the Casa de Fruta fruit stand is now Casa de Empire. Conveniently located at the intersection of two county highways, it became a convenient watering hole for weary travelers. The orchards and nut trees of the farm supplied the refreshments to this day. It soon expanded to Casa de Diesel, Casa de Restaurant, and so on. Casa de Sweets and Casa de Zoo has made it into a must stop for kids while Casa de Wine and Casa de Coffee made it essential for adults. As for their latest addition, Casa de Burrito, well, you get the idea.
In the other direction, Pinnacles National Park offers a completely different experience. Born 23 million years ago after an ancient volcano erupted, it is now a rock climber’s delight with its many crags and peaks. The hot and dry conditions that reached over 100 oF were interrupted by frequent caves one had to walk through. A short hike later, one came to a reservoir where many dragonflies of different colors chased each other in circles.
The best part, after a long hike, was returning to the campsite to chilled, sparkling pomegranate wine. It was snacking on a variety of dried fruit – kiwi, papaya, strawberry-flavored pineapple, nectarines and apricots. It was munching on six different flavors of roasted pistachios. It was chilling at the campsite pool. It was sleeping under the stars.
Now that’s a tourist attraction.
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