Some Famous Writer Once Lived Here is where we check out cities or towns that--you guessed it--a famous writer once lived. Picture the illegitimate lovechild between the US Census report and a tourist pamphlet from a local chamber of commerce. What's it like there today? Here's where we find out.
Today: John Steinbeck once lived in Salinas, California:
If you've eaten a salad at some point in your life, there's a reasonable chance the lettuce came from Salinas. Thirty percent of the word's lettuce comes from Salinas and the Salinas Valley, along with untold numbers of peppers, spinach, broccoli, strawberries, etc., etc. That $9 seasonal salad you buy at Panera? Rabbits eat it for free here.
While Salinas hitches its economy to lettuce, it hitches its history to John Steinbeck. Steinbeck was born and raised locally and incorporated the nearby agricultural lifestyle into many of his works. When Lennie needed to accidentally kill a small, soft animal in Of Mice and Men, he probably found it running in a field like the one above.
The basics of Salinas, California:
Location:
Nearly 100 miles south of San Francisco, it'll take roughly two hours for you to get to a city worth visiting, assuming we all agree San Jose isn't a real city.
2010 Census:
Population: 150,441, a decrease of 501 from the 2000 Census. Lennie's on a rampage!
Listen up single women: For every 100 female citizens, there are 102.1 males. It's great if you're single and don't mind your date smelling like fertilizer. Oooh, the ambiance!
As for wealth, Steinbeck wasn't jerking around about poverty. Today's statistics have 16.7% of Salinas's population under the poverty line, including 20.1% of individuals under the age of 18. The Joads? Yeah, they apparently never left.
What to see, what to do in Salinas:
 |
| What an adobe!! |
Do you like adobes? Do you think adobes are computer software? Do you even know what an adobe is? There's the Boronda Adobe History Center, which has a restored adobe from 1848 that looks like, well...uhh...a modern day American home in suburban California. Change comes slowly.
If you're in Salinas and hate Steinbeck, well, why not drop into the National Steinbeck Center and realize why you're misguided? They're forgiving there.
Good news for everyone who loves them some hot rodeo action: Salinas is a stop on the Professional Rodeo Cowboys Association tour of America, which showcases everything that's special of seeing clowns gored and violently flung forty feet in the air by a pissed off bull.
Where to eat in Salinas:
It wouldn't be America unless Salinas had a restaurant named after their most famous resident. The Steinbeck House (yes, he lived there) is not only a museum and National Historic Monument, but also a restaurant which serves such delightful Steinbeck-themed offerings like East of Eden Pasta, Steinbeck Tea, and...Heineken.
Or hit up First Awakenings, whose menu, while totally lacking in Cannery Row references, does have a salad named after Popeye and a burger called The Blue Lagoon--neither of which has anything to do with Steinbeck, but, meh.
Ellie's Great American Restaurant's menu eschews all pop culture references, but still reads like a J. Peterman catalogue entry on Himalayan sheepskin boots.
Wasn't Sammy Hagar, formerly of Van Halen, born in Salinas?
Yes. But Salinas wants a paternity test.
John Steinbeck's thoughts on his hometown:
"If the city of my birth should wish to perpetuate my name clearly and harmlessly, let it name a bowling alley after me or a dog track or a medium price, low-church brothel. But a school?"
No comments:
Post a Comment