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As someone who has largely taken train journeys rather than roadtrips, I don’t have any nostalgic memories of roadtrips in cars (simply because I’ve never lived somewhere where that was a thing. Driving 20 min meant leaving the country)
However, this giant artichoke in Castroville makes me want to go on a road trip to see it. First, I gotta learn how to drive a car
https://www.sfgate.com/food/article/ca-castroville-farm-town-artichoke-center-world-19553868.php
The next most tempting roadtrip journey: to follow the barbacoa trail
https://la.eater.com/22421212/california-barbacoa-mexican-tacos-los-angeles-bay-area-central-coast
@skinnylatte that seems like an honorable mission
@skinnylatte I will just jog behind the car on this trip to keep the pounds off.
@skinnylatte@hachyderm.io you could skip learning to drive and get a motorcycle instead
@pagrus was thinking about it, but I don’t feel I want to be on two wheels around California drivers somehow
@skinnylatte@hachyderm.io I don't blame you, we suck at driving
@skinnylatte@hachyderm.io just gotta go fast 
@skinnylatte I have been to see the Giant Artichoke, and enjoyed the good food (heavy on fried, be warned)!
I also had a *very* suspicious artichoke farmer almost pull a gun on me when I was photographing the countryside. Apparently artichoke piracy was (maybe still is) a thing, where you hire farmworkers to harvest someone else's fields. He thought I was casing the joint. (We had a friendly conversation when it became clear my cluelessness was genuine)
@mattblaze @skinnylatte sure he was only growing artichokes? Kind of like finding a clearing in a forest in California or in a sugar cane field in Hawaii.
I’m growing my own artichokes in New Zealand since they are otherwise non-existent here. Another couple of months until the first ones are ready this year.
@skinnylatte oh! I've been there. Hubs and I did a California road trip years ago -2009 I think. I posed in front of that thing. We ate the fried artichokes. I guess they were okay - I think I prefer them from a brine filled can thrown into a salad, or on a pizza...
I think we were most disappointed that they called themselves "the artichoke center of the world" instead of the obvious pun "the artichoke heart of the world"!
@skinnylatte Not only is the giant artichoke great, there are many great things a short drive from it. Sea otters and sea lions in Moss Landing! Cheap artichokes at Pezzini! Great thrift shopping at the Last Chance Mercantile (attached to the county dump - my partner got a $300 guitar pickup there for $1).
@skinnylatte Castroville also used to have an excellent Texan style BBQ place, so used to take frequent trips with friends there. The artichokes are huge in the area.
(Also I find I use roadtrip to imply a longer journey over 12 hours and less direct with many stops between you and the destination. Driving to San Diego for instance would just be going somewhere. A wandering route through the Central Valley over two days would be a roadtrip.)
@djcapelis hehe, by that definition a road trip would mean driving to Thailand at least, from Singapore. Will want to do that some day, though the trains are fine
@skinnylatte Yes! Roadtrips are usually either long distance or dedicated to meandering quite a lot for me. The best are both! :)
@skinnylatte also also, a future that may come: https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Castroville_station
@skinnylatte That said stitching Castroville as a stop along a Monterrey and Central Coast roadtrip is always a solid plan if you wanted to expand it out a bit. ;)
@skinnylatte Another stop nearby if you end up out that way with a car, there’s a good sausage place in Corralitos, CA, it’s also the town’s small little market: Corralitos Market & Sausage Co