The Drive » Orchards,
orchards, everywhere! Go north
east on S McCall Ave and take a
right on E Manning Ave to enter
Reedley, an easy 10-minute
drive.5 Reedley
Just east of Selma’s
sleepy downtown is the
downright comatose
Reedley (‘the World’s
Fruit Basket’). Reedley
was the wheat transport
hub during the late
19th century and hasn’t
changed much since.
Strolling one end of the
sun-beaten downtown
to the other, past the
remodeled 1903 operahouse in the shadow of
the water tower, takes a
few minutes. Reedley is
the hub of the surprising
Japanese American
farm community, many
of whom moved here
after being interned
during WWII. Visit
http://www.reedley.com for an
interactive walking tour.The Drive » Go south on
County Rd J31 and then back
toward Hwy 99 on Ave 400.
This part of the drive – about 15
minutes – will pass one amazing
orchard after the next.6 Kingsburg
When you see the giant
Scandinavian teapot
water tower you’ll know
you’ve arrived in Little
Sweden. Kingsburg’s
adorable downtown is
done up in Swedish-
inspired architecture,
a testament to the
Swedish farmers who
settled here in the 1870s.
By the 1920s some
94% of the population
within a 3-mile radius
had Swedish ancestry.
Drop into the Svensk
Butik (www.svenskbutik.
net, 1465 Draper; h9am-5pmTRIP HIGHLIGHTBuck Owens’ Crystal Palace Statue of Hank Williams (left) by Bill RainsFELIX ADAMO/ZUMA PRESS/CORBIS ©