The Pacific Northwest (Chapter 16)

In Chapter 16, we learned about the Pacific Northwest region, which in many ways is very different from the Antelope Valley in terms of its physical and cultural geography. But these two regions do share a few similarities, as outlined below.

The Pacific Northwest is well-known for its farmers' markets, such as Seattle's Pike Place Market shown on page 311 of the text. Similarly, the Antelope Valley is home to a few farmers' markets, including one located on Lancaster Boulevard called the Blvd Farmers' Market. This market is organized by the City of Lancaster in partnership with Raw Inspiration, a non-profit operator of California Certified Farmers Markets. It is hosted every week, as shown in the poster below:



A picture of the Blvd Farmers' Market

(Source: http://www.cityoflancasterca.org/index.aspx?page=1160)

Also, the town of Littlerock, which is known as the "fruit basket of the Antelope Valley", is home to Charlie Brown Farms on Pearblossom Highway, which originated as a local fruit stand and has since grown into a well-known tourist attraction. Locals and tourists alike can visit the store and buy locally grown fruit, honey, and wine, as well as candy and other delicacies. I have personally visited this store with my family many times; it is pictured below:


(Source: http://www.charliebrownfarms.com/index.html) 

As noted on page 312, in the 1970's the Pacific Northwest became the center of  the craft beer movement with microbrews. The Antelope Valley has likewise begun to open microbrew facilities with two popular locations in Lancaster. The first microbrewery is Kinetic Brewery, shown below:


(Source: http://www.kineticbrewing.com/)

The interior of the second microbrewery, Bravery Brewery, is shown below:


Finally, just as the economy of the Pacific Northwest has depended on aircraft manufacturing in many areas, the Antelope Valley's economy is also highly dependent on the aerospace industry as well. As mentioned in previous blog posts, the AV is home to several aerospace manufacturing companies. Just as a Boeing 747 is shown on page 314 in the text, which is manufactured in Seattle, below is a picture of the Global Hawk, which is manufactured in Palmdale by Northrop Grumman: