We are drawn to unique treasures found in almost all cities. This beacon calls all Highway 99 drivers to this hub of Dala horses and lingonberry jam... Kingsburg's 60,000-gallon Swedish folk art-painted coffee pot that rises 122 feet into the sky. The roadside attraction is actually the city's water tower, and was remade into its current aesthetic 30+ years ago. We love it.

While Danish-founded Solvang may be the first place many SoCal travelers visit to satisfy Scandinavian cravings, just a few hours east in Fresno County lies Kingsburg, a small town with a big Swedish background. Less than a century ago, almost one hundred percent of the town's population was Swedish-American, a result of a nineteenth-century migration of Swedish immigrants from Michigan, and their descendents keep that legacy alive today by designing buildings in Swedish-style architecture, painting them bright colors (also a Swedish convention), and taking pride in serving some of the best Swedish pancakes in Southern or Central California (the biscuits and gravy weren't bad either).

What a darling place to stretch our legs and feel like we were somewhere other than California.

As we continued on the road-less-traveled (by us) the farm stands, along the our route in the Sacramento Delta region, called to us.