BANANAS ARE HEARTY, as far as our best-known fruits go, and yet they're a staple of summertime, thanks to frosty-cold banana splits and tropical drinks and the kinds of cool-down delights we seek out when the sun is high and hot. And yet? The peelable favorite could work well in a host of wintertime meals and desserts, and while bananas Foster is still seen on some menus, finding a 'nana-nice sweet when the temperature is chilly out remains a bit of a challenge. Let's call the banana, then, just right for all times of the year, for the banana-yummy bridge between summer, when the fruit is king, and winter, when its hearty nature should truly shine. It's an edible that would be well-served as fall begins, and if you can make your way to Port Hueneme on the final Saturday in September, and the first full Saturday of autumn, then you'll be able to revel in all sorts of banana-beautiful high jinks. It's the...
PORT HUENEME BANANA FESTIVAL, a free-to-park, free-to-enter lark that celebrates the popular, potassium-packed snack. Do show with dollars for banana empanadas and chocolate-dipped frozen bananas and margaritas featuring, you guessed it, bananas. And if you're a super big into bananas, there are two pie-eating contests to choose from, but make sure you enter one when you first arrive at the festival information booth. There are kid crafts to admire (yep, bananas are a theme), vendors to peruse, and tours of the port, too. Indeed, you're right at the water, making this a sublime day out for lovers of early fall, of water-close festivals that are free, and, yep, bananas. The hours are 10 a.m. to 6 p.m., so arrive early and celebrate this year-round fruit that's substantial enough for winter's rib-sticking meals, but just right for summer's more tropical tastes.
THE 2018 DATE... is Saturday, Sept. 29.
