The Berry I Had Never Heard Of
We’ve been in San Francisco, California, for the past few days.
As part of our welcome pack, we received some water, snacks and a few little goodies.
Among them was a packet of cookies.
I looked at the back of the packet to understand more.
Boysenberry.
I knew strawberries.
Blueberries.
Raspberries.
But boysenberry?
What on earth was that? 😄
The packet told the story of Knott’s Berry Farm in Buena Park, California, which began as a roadside berry stand in 1920.
And then there was the boysenberry.
It turns out Rudolph Boysen developed the hybrid berry, while Walter Knott later helped cultivate it successfully and made it an important part of the family’s berry business.
Eventually, the little berry became so closely associated with Knott’s Berry Farm that it even has its own festival today.
So here I am in California, eating a California cookie and discovering a California berry I had never heard of.
And suddenly, a welcome pack had taken me from:
San Francisco → Buena Park → berries → Knott’s Berry Farm.
Not bad for a little packet of cookies. 😄
It also reminded me of something I’ve noticed about travelling.
You can arrive somewhere looking for the big things. Famous places, landmarks, spectacular views.
And then a little thing catches your attention.
A cookie.
A strange word.
A berry.
And suddenly, there’s a whole story behind it.
I came to California to see a little of the place.
Apparently, California had other plans. 😄
Sometimes you don’t have to go looking for a story.
Sometimes the story is already waiting inside the welcome pack.
