Ken "The Banana Man" Bannister (via the International Banana Club Museum site)
Brace yourself -- your potassium levels are about to take a hit. The International Banana Club and Museum, a Guinness Book-approved exhibit featuring 17,000 banana-themed artifacts and "the largest collection devoted to any one fruit," is being forced from its perch in Hesperia, California's park district, says NPR.
Owner Ken "The Banana Man" Bannister is taking the measure in stride:
"We increased the people coming into that facility by over 800 percent, so we did not lose our appeal," he tells NPR's Robert Siegel.I for one am glad that NPR italicized "appeal," because it means that Ken Bannister went much further out of his way to accentuate the pun than was truly necessary. This is a man serious about his work, and for a cool $45,000 you, Web surfer, can acquire the fruits of his labor -- his entire banana collection.
Where will go from here on your world fruit tour? We need to experience the sweet nectar of Earth in campy settings, half-eaten by television stars and shaped like characters from the Bible! Okay, there are edible parts too. Here's a list of leftovers, where you can get almost all that and more:
National Apple Museum
Biglerville, Pennsylvania
Open May thru October
Biglerville apples (by fauxto_dkp via Flickr)
No, Steve Jobs hasn't patented this name yet! (If there's probably a cease-and-desist letter on the way as we speak -- sorry, Biglerville). Learn how Americans have battled pests, climate change and cultivated new peeling technology since the salad days of apple farming.
Watermelon Museum
Daxing District, Beijing, China (near Beijing)
Watermelon man in China (via China Daily)
The crack engineering work of Monsanto has made roadside billboards for "World's Biggest (Insert Agricultural Product Here)" essentially obsolete. Regardless, Beijing's Watermelon Museum heads believe they have the true specimen, and there's much more knowledge to be gleaned from the inner-workings of this succulent, seedy fruit (that is, if you get one with seeds). The Watermelon Research Institute is still going strong, instructing our youth on over 170 types of watermelons and the history of its cultivation, which reportedly began in 10 A.D. in China. Check your sledgehammer at the door, Mr. Gallagher.
Oahu, Hawaii
The real Pineapple Express. (by uzvards via Flickr)
There might not be a more underrated plant in deliciousness quotient than the pineapple, though if I were an ancient hunter-gatherer I'd probably have thought it to be an angry carnivorous plant of some kind; some day I'll have to thank our ancestors and pay a visit to the Dole Pineapple Museum in Oahu. Unlike some of their peers, the curators here knew that planting demonstrations and seeding lectures were just barely enough to keep the attention of Miss McGillicuddy's third grade class, so they did their part by putting in a 1.7 mile maze that was recognized as the world's largest by Guinness Book in 1998.
DEAL: Stay at an incredible boutique Oahu hotel for just $99!
The Heritage Center and Indian River Citrus Museum
Vero Beach, FL
Open year-round
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| Fresh blueberries from Michigan (rocketlass via Flickr) |
47th National Blueberry Festival
South Haven, Michigan
August 12-15
It's tough keeping a fruit exhibit year-round -- just ask our pal Ken Bannister -- but fruit festivals have flourished for decades. A large one is South Haven, Michigan's Blueberry Festival, which features pie eating contests, a National Blueberry Queen Pageant, recipe demonstrations and freshly-picked high school entertainment productions for your pleasure.
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