So I am all set to go to the Stamp Convention in Carson on Sat and Sun. Then my Mom calls me and wants to know if I want to join her on a Walking Tour in Orange. It only goes until noon so I said, SURE! That sounds fun and then I could just go to the Convention afterwards.
This tour is one of the tours offered by Orange County Food Tours (www.orangefoodtours.com). We are friends of the family as well so on top of the fact that it should be fun, we are also hanging out with friends.
Our staging point for this tour (I am not sure if the staging points change or not) was at Ruby's Diner.WOW, even though I enjoyed all the stops, this one really was my favorite. The manager gave us a tour of the building. The building was the old Train Station built in the 1800's?? My memory is bad but he gave us all the dates and information about the station and what it is now as a restaurant. For example, the lounge is where the ticket booths were at. And in awesome Ruby's fashion, the food was DELICIOUS!!
Next major stop was at the Farmer's Market. I am not going to go into specific details about everything since I think you should do yourself a favor and go on the tour yourself. They really incorporate a lot of the history of Orange and California with the locations. I never seem to remember details enough without taking notes.
Anyway, back to the Farmer's Market, it was really cool! There was a Cooking Show going on that we got front row seats too. (Only downfall to that was that we were in direct sun. Maybe move that show into the shade???) This demonstration was for Francoli's Gourmet. I believe it was the owner Mr. Francoli and one of the Chef's there doing the demonstration. Both of them were very entertaining. The way they both said "extra virgin olive oil" made me chuckle.
At the Farmers Market there was lots to buy, but I limited myself to some fresh honey from a Guerilla Beekeepers farm in Silverado Canyon. I of course had to buy from them since my cousin Darlene who passed away a year ago lived in Silverado Canyon for about 20+ years. They didn't know her (how dare they!) but I still couldn't resist and it is honey that is worth it. I miss you Darlene!
On we went touring several other stops. The people were all very nice and very knowledgeable about their products. We went to a Garden/Trinket shop called "The Dragonfly" and most people wouldn't even know it was a store let alone as big as it was. They have some awesome stuff that any decorator would like to visit. Hopefully these tours will help them get more notice.
The Grinder was the next stop-delicious!! Then Plaza 1 Forty 9-YUM. This place is one I have got to take Robert to! Their "bestseller" is a Hotdog wrapped in bacon with pastrami!! We did not sample that thankfully but it is one that I know Robert is going to be excited to try! Next was The Bruery, which I had no clue there were even Beer Tasting places out there! We also got to ample some pastries and visited other shops. The tour really was a lot of fun. I loved learning about the city and the historical value of the area. Thank you Renee for a wonderful time and I look forward to going on another tour in the future.
