Guest Author - Louise Aiello
Half Moon Bay is a cozy little California seacoast town that thinks really BIG.
It is world renown for both its annual Art and Pumpkin Festival and the annual Mavericks Surf Contest.
This year Half Moon Bay celebrates the 40th anniversary of its Art and Pumpkin Festival. Pumpkin farmers from around the country bring in enormous gords the size of Volkswagon beetles to participate in the pumpkin weigh-in. Last year, a farmer from Des Moines, Iowa won the $20,000 plus $6 per pound 1st place prize for his 1,658 pound pumpkin. Now that’s big!
Autumn is a beautiful time along the fertile coast around Half Moon Bay. The seaside farm country is dotted with vast fields of pumpkins of every kind and color and pick-your-own pumpkin patches. Pony and train rides are available at local nurseries along with fall and Halloween handicrafts for sale by local artisans. Visitors can enjoy creamy pumpkin pie, a variety of entertainment venues, contests for the whole family, and, of course, the home-spun pumpkin parade.
The Art and Pumpkin Festival began in 1970 as both a way to celebrate the bounty of the fall season and to raise money for downtown beautification projects. Over the past 40 years the Festival has raised more than $2.6 million for preservation and restoration efforts.
Between November 1st and March 31st each year, on just 24 hours' notice, top surfers from around the world descend upon the cold waters of Half Moon Bay to compete in the Mavericks Surf Contest. The Mavericks takes place about a half mile offshore where surfers ride gigantic waves reaching 40 to 50 feet in height—that’s the same height as a five story building. These are BIG waves.
Many of the surfers will tell you that the Mavericks are among the most dangerous waves on the planet. During the winter months strong North Pacific storms generate large, long-period waves that break over the bedrock and deep troughs created offshore by the shifting action of the San Gregorio Fault. The abrupt topography causes waves to rapidly slow down, shorten in length and substantially increase in height. This interaction of the geology and oceanography is what makes the waves at Mavericks so dangerous—and so spectacular.
Half Moon Bay’s big events attract thousands of tourists. Reservations to stay at one of the many Bed and Breakfasts or hotels in or near town is recommended if you are planning to attend these events.
If you prefer a more laid back experience, Half Moon Bay holds a Farmers’ Market every Saturday from May to December and a Flower Market on the third Saturday of every month from May through September. But even at these events, Half Moon Bay gives visitors great deals for BIG bargains.
