The 'Guide Me Home to San Jose' Blog

A Taste of Morgan Hill, sponsored by the Morgan Hill Chamber of Commerce, will celebrate its 20th anniversary this year Saturday and Sunday, Sept. 26 and 27th, in the heart of Morgan Hill’s historic downtown. In addition to providing the community with a fun, family-friendly festival, the Taste of Morgan Hill supports the local Chamber of Commerce and its programs that support the businesses and residents of this Silicon Valley small town.

Just 30 minutes from downtown San Jose, yet a world apart, Morgan Hill is “the countryside of Silicon Valley” and home to producers of everything from mushrooms to wine! This year’s festival will feature local food and wine, a Custom Classic car show, a Quilt Show, Arts and Crafts, live entertainment, a MicroBrew Beer Garden and much more!

Although you may not think of Morgan Hill and Gilroy as “wine country,” the area is home to numerous local vintners, many dating back to pre-prohibition days and early Italian immigrant families. Although 1510 acres of wine grapes were harvested in the area last year, mushrooms and garlic are probably still its better-known agricultural products.

In recent years a new generation of wine growers has brought new life to this valuable regional resource.

First among Morgan Hill’s wineries is Guglielmo (Goo-yell-mo) Winery. Founded in 1925, now run by a third generation of the same family, this winery has won gold medals for many of it cabernet, sangiovese, and zinfandel wines. Guglielmo, Sycamore Creek and other local vintners can be found at the Wine Tent during the festival. More about other wineries in the Morgan Hill and Gilroy area of southern Santa Clara County in future posts! In the meantime, you can check out the Santa Clara Valley appellation for yourself any lovely Fall weekend, or go to SantaClaraWines.com for more information.

Posted By: Colleen Badagliacco

Nearly every community in the lush Santa Clara Valley can trace its heritage - literally roots - back to the days when we were called “The Valley of Hearts Delight.” Sunnyvale was known for its cherries, and has a park with cherry trees in the middle of town to remind us of that; San Jose was home to prunes, apricots, and other fruit trees, and has acres of tract homes with legacy fruit trees in their yards! Gilroy, in the mostly flat, warmer, south end of the valley area (Gilroy is about 30 miles south of San Jose), while having its share of other crops, has become known worldwide as the self-described garlic capital of the world. No matter that more garlic now grows in China, Gilroy’s Garlic Festival (GilroyGarlicFestival.com) is the premier event for those loving all things garlic.

Garlic ice cream? Yes, even garlic ice cream. This year’s winning recipe was - believe it or not - for garlic cookies, Spicy Garlic Butter cookies to be exact. About 4,000 volunteers have over the years grown the dream of Rudy Melone and Don Christopher into a multi-day event which this year drew over 108,000 people to sample garlic’s many culinary uses. Many local charities and non-profits benefit from this foodie extravaganza including the American Red Cross, Hospice of Hollister, and Gilroy Gators Swim Club. In 2008 the Garlic Festival raised about $1.72 million for more than 150 local charities and non-profits.

Interested in Gilroy or the Garlic Festival? Go to the website for the city of Gilroy, CityofGilroy.org, and GilroyGarlicFestival.com for more facts, figures, and information. Go to our website, AlteraSV.com, for more property and local community information.

Photos of the Garlic Festival included in this post by Bill Strange, Official Festival Photographer.

Posted By: Colleen Badagliacco

Schoolchildren staunchly sing “It’s a Grand Old Flag, a high-flying flag, and forever in peace may she wave!” all year round. Public buildings everywhere fly the stars and stripes; flags adorn countless homes, libraries, fire stations and capitols around the country, but somehow, around the 4th of July red, white, and blue are everywhere; for a few days at least, the country unites around its flag, its values, its hometowns.

Morgan Hill, one of Silicon Valley’s most charming small towns, does the 4th of July in a big way. Named after an early land-owner, who was actually named Hiram Morgan Hill, present-day Morgan Hill is a community of about 39,000 about 30 minutes south of downtown San Jose and a world apart with its suburban meets rural, neighborhood meets vineyard meets ranch lifestyle. The one reasonably high hill in town is not called “Morgan,” but “El Toro.”

This past Saturday more than 45,000 people turned out for Morgan Hill’s 115th Independence Day Parade, featuring marching bands, children’s groups, bands on floats, and horses as well as the usual complement of local officials. I am not sure which is more fun: marching in the parade and waving a flag, or standing along the parade route, waving, of course, a flag.

Nestled in a valley between the Santa Cruz and Diablo range, and only about 15 miles inland from the Pacific Coast, Morgan Hill is blessed with the perfect climate for a parade, tending a garden, raising a family, or just decompressing from a Silicon Valley life.

For more information about the community of Morgan Hill, please visit our website , www.AlteraSV.com, and explore the community links.

Posted By: Colleen Badagliacco