An Al Story™

Everybody sing along with Lynyrd Skynyrd!

Ooooh that smell - Can't you smell that smell?

Do you use all of your senses when you're traveling? Of course you look around and take in the sights. But do you also sniff around and take in the smells?

An email from my colleague Rebecca prompted me to write this story. No, she doesn't smell, but she does have an aversion to a particular pungent plant. Rebecca and garlic do not get along. (Don't you know that garlic is good for you?)

I don't know if it's the odor, the taste, the concept of cloves, a combination of these or something else, but when it comes to garlic, she resembles a vampire. (Maybe it would help if she'd follow Julia Child's garlic handling tips?)

Because of this you will probably never run into her in Gilroy, California. Located about 20 miles south of San Jose (Dionne asks, Do you know the way to San Jose?), Gilroy is the garlic capital of the world.

During harvest time you'll know when you've arrived in town because the lovely smell of garlic permeates the air. Allicin a.k.a. 2-propene-1-sulfinothioc acid S-2-propenyl ester; thio-2-propene-1-sulfinic acid S-allyl ester.2 is the culprit behind both the taste and the smell of garlic. (if you keep reading I'll promise to stop the chemistry lesson)

Rightfully so, Gilroy is very proud of their garlic capital status. Every year on the last full weekend of July they host the annual Gilroy Garlic Festival. It's definitely a taste treat as you'll have the opportunity to sample a cornucopia of gastronomic delights from garlic wine to garlic ice cream.

Do you have a great garlic recipe? Then enter their contest. The 2001 winner prepared Garlic Marnier Duck Potstickers. Hungry yet?

You'll also find a wide variety of concerts to attend as well as an arts and crafts festival. You might even meet the Garlic Festival Queen! She's known as the belle of the bulb (sorry, their pun, not mine)

If you're not in Gilroy during the time of the Garlic Festival, you'll still find plenty to do. Stop by the Gilroy Premium Outlets if you have a yen for bargain hunting. Over 140 outlet stores including Ann Taylor, Brooks Brothers, Anne Klein, J. Crew, Ralph Lauren, Nike and Versace await you and your credit cards.

If you've brought the kids along, or if you're feeling young at heart you may want to pay a visit to Bonfante Gardens Family Theme Park. While its name implies a botanical experience, Bonfante Gardens also has 22 rides including the Artichoke Dip, the Banana Split, the Mushroom Swing and the Garlic Twirl. (Do you sense some kind of theme here?)

The gardens at Bonfante Gardens are a sight to behold. Don't forget to check out the 25 Circus Trees that have been transplanted from the Santa Cruz mountains to the Park. Circus trees aren't a type of tree, but more like a living sculpture. Trees have been grafted together into some incredible shapes. You have to see them to believe them (which also belies their status as having been included in Ripley's Believe It or Not)

To continue with our olfactory tour, not to be confused with a factory tour, (by the way a future Al Story will focus on factory tours) we'll head to the east coast. Destination: Hershey, Pennsylvania.

In Gilroy the whole town smells like garlic. In Hershey the whole town smells like...... chocolate! (I'm so tempted to add the chemical formula for chocolate here, but alas I promised that there would be no more chemistry in this story)

In the town that chocolate built the street lamps are in the shape of Hershey Kisses and you'll find street names like Chocolate and Cocoa Avenues. Prepare your sweet tooth for a visit to town they call The Sweetest Place On Earth. (Yes, I'm sure you'll also find semi-sweet chocolate in The Sweetest Place On Earth.)

Unfortunately you can no longer tour the actual Hershey factory. The closest you'll get is the "simulated factory tour" at Hershey's Chocolate World. (I have fond memories from my youth of touring the real factory and standing next to vat after vat after vat of molten chocolate) While I haven't taken the "simulated factory tour" I have heard many good things about it. It describes the entire manufacturing process from picking the cocoa beans the making a Hershy's chocolate bar. Perhaps a free sample awaits you.

Are you a little hyper from indulging in so much chocolate? Then off you go to the renowned Spa at the Hotel Hershey for a little relief from the stresses of life. But fear not, at the Spa you won't be far from the product of the cocoa bean. Here are just some of the treatments that await you. You can take a whipped cocoa bath or indulge in the chocolate fondue wrap. If your muscles are a little tight then perhaps you need a cocoa massage. Maybe the chocolate mud hydrotherapy is the perfect prescription for relaxation. And last but not least, who can pass up a cocoa latte frothing exfoliation treatment. Your skin deserves nothing less.

Our next stop on the Aroma tour is Main Street USA. What a variety of smells to be savor. Don't you just want some of the peppermint that's wafting from the candy store? Or maybe the fresh baked cookies from the bakery, or a jumbo bucket of freshly popped popcorn? They all smell so good.

Getting hungry yet? I bet you are, but none of the smells that your brain is reacting to are real. That's because on Main Street USA, in the Magic Kingdom at Florida's Walt Disney World, all of these smells are courtesy of an intriguing device called a Smellitzer. The patented Smellitzer disperses man-made scents into the air outside their respective shops to make you want to go in and buy, buy, buy so you can eat, eat, eat. Ah, the psychology of retail sales.

Disney also uses the Smellitzer to fragrantly enhance some of their rides and attractions. We've sure come a long way since the 1960 release of Scent of Mystery, the world's first and only Smell-O-Vision movie.

Many an internet newsgroup discussion has rhapsodized on the orange scent that accompanied a model of a futuristic citrus grove in the now-defunct Horizons pavilion at the Epcot Center. While the demolition of Horizons has made way for the forthcoming Mission Space ride, online the memory of that orange smell lingers on.

So the next time you go on a trip close your eyes and let your nose be your tour guide, and when you return be sure to let us know about the smells that enhanced your trip.