Good Morning, Bakersfield!

We just read Marie's latest blog entry. We wanted to leave a comment, but we knew it would be too long, so we sat down together and wrote this blog. So basically, this is directed towards Marie (Sarah and Jana, too, really). Just a warning... this post is going to come off as very hateful and angry. And we are, but only a little. This will undoubtedly sound much more angry and hateful than we intended it to. But here we go.

We live in Bakersfield, California. We were both born at Memorial Hospital. And we will probably be buried at Greenlawn Southwest, where we already have some family buried. Some may think that it's pathetic that some people never venture away from home, but they should realize that not everyone feels the need to wander. Some people are content with how they are where they are. It's not pathetic: it's just a difference in personality. It could just as easily be said that a person who has to leave home to "find himself" is pathetic. Are you really so easily swayed that your personality is subject to your location? Some have said that we are lucky to live close to our parents. Luck has nothing to do with it. We chose to stay at home so that we could be close to them. We could have gone to school anywhere. It is strange to think that people leave places like Bakersfield for places like New York, supposedly because there will be more to do there, but then they spend most of their time in their apartment. Really, when you think about it, the only way that places will grow and get cool stuff is if people stay there! And contrary to popular belief, Bakersfield is not located in some other dimension. People think of Bakersfield as this awful place where people speak 3 words per minute, smoke 12 packs of cigarettes a day, and only listen to the likes of Buck Owens or Korn while they ride their horses to the saloon. This might come as a shock to some of you, but Bakersfield is actually located in the same dimension and on the same planet as all of you that are reading this. GASP!!

Now, we're not exactly fans of the fact that Jonathan Davis of the band Korn graduated from the same high school that Britney did. And we will never call 7th Standard Road Merle Haggard Hwy. Britney's dad LOVES Nickelback and Kid Rock. Her mom and sister love the Black Eyed Peas and Ke$ha and the t.v. show Glee. But for every Cecil in Bakersfield, there's an Uncle Matt in Utah. There are at least 21 million Nickelback fans in the US, and we promise you, not all of them are hiding out in their Meth labs here in Bakersfield. They are everywhere. And, contrarily, there are also hipsters everywhere. Back in 2004, Provo was not the hipster capital of the world like it is now because there were no hipsters in 2004 (yeah, yeah, I know... you were hipsters before it was a "thing"). And it's not like you can only get along with people who live in one place. It's not like all kinds of different people can't live in all kinds of different places. And the same thing goes for politics. I mean, you can't honestly argue that Bakersfield is more conservative than Utah. I think you're remembering political conversations with the Heywood family whereas there, you are used to political conversations with young adults. You should remember that people are notoriously liberal in their youth (especially if they're students) and conservative in their old age. So just remember, for every Grandpa Heywood in Bakersfield, there's a Grandma Chinn in Utah.

Anyway, we're not saying that Bakersfield is the greatest thing ever, but we're just sick of hearing how crappy it is. So, in response to the negative rap Bakersfield gets, we have compiled a list of redeeming qualities that Bakersfield possesses.

Entertainment:

FLICS http://www.flics.org/index.html
FLICS is a non-profit organization in Bakersfield that shows independent and foreign films at the Fox theater. Their season runs from September through the end of April. They show a film every other Friday. Admission is $5 per ticket and they sell snacks and sodas and stuff for cheaper than the movie theater, we hear.

Theater
There are several performing theaters that actually put on really great performances. One theater in particular, The Empty Space, puts on excellent performances and improv nights that are really hillarious and aren't even crass. They don't charge a set rate to see any of their performances, but instead they just ask for a donation. There is a CSU here with great music and theater programs. The Dore theater always has stuff going on. There's the Gaslight melodrama, the Spotlight Theater, the Starz Dinner Theater, and NOR puts on productions, too. And there are like 16 high schools that put on plays which you may think is retarded, but we have been to a couple and they were really good. Also, traveling broadway shows come to the convention center (some of the same ones that go to LA). We could go on and on.

Movies
We have 3 regular theaters, one of which is brand new, and another which has had fairly recent renovations. And there have been noises about the third being slated for an IMAX upgrade.
All three of them are nice theaters. We also have 2 dollar theaters.

Festivals

Kern County Fair. Rose Festival. Greek Food Festival. The Kern County Scottish Highland Games. Downtown street fairs and farmers' markets. There's always something to do.

Food:

Urbanspoon can testify that Bakersfield does, indeed, have delicious food. The Clemmons' favorite restaurant is Saigon, which is Vietnamese food. We have several delicious Japanese, sushi and Thai restaurants. We have some of the most authentic Mexican food (La Colonia, El Charro, Don Pericos, Loma Linda, Theresa's...) wonderful local Italian (Rosa's, Frugatti's, Uricchios, Joseph's...), great chinese (Great Castle, Bill Lee's, Lam's. etc.), several great Basque options (which Bakersfield is known for), and lots lots more. Though we have never eaten at any of the Indian places ranked on Urbanspoon, most of them have received very high marks. And we have two words for you that mean heaven on Earth: Sequoia Sandwich. So. Take. That.

Art:

Want art? There are always galleries set up downtown with local artists' work on display. Lindsay has showcased her artwork in several of them. The Bakersfield Museum of Art, the Arts Council of Kern, and the Bakersfield Art Association all host and participate in a variety of programs and events that they put on throughout the year that showcase local artists of all ages and from all walks of life, including one of our favorite annual activites, Via Arte, which takes place the first or second weekend in October. They set up at The Marketplace and sell different sized boxes of space on the asphalt or sidewalk for artists to create pieces of art using only chalk. Lindsay usually participates and does an amazing job everytime. And these are just the organizations and events that I am aware of. There are probably even more. Here are a couple of the displays from Via Arte in years past (none of these are Lindsay's, but I'll try to find some of them and post them later):


Nature:

http://hiking.meetup.com/cities/us/ca/bakersfield/

This site has a couple of hiking groups that meet up regularly to go on hikes in or close to Bakersfield.

http://alltrails.com/us/california/bakersfield

This site has camping sites and camping trails located in Kern County

Kern River Rafting http://www.kernrivertours.com/
Seriously, people travel to Bakersfield to raft down the Kern River. It's kind of awesome.

We don't even need to mention how close Bakersfield is to the Pacific Ocean, Magic Mountain, Disneyland, Yosemite, Sequoias, San Francisco, Los Angeles, San Diego, etc. There are beautiful and exciting places to see within a short roadtrip.

Thrift Stores:

Goodwill, RAD, D & M's Family Thrift Store, Timeless Furnishings, ReStore. These are just the ones I've been to. And I can think of at least 3 more that I've been to that I don't remember the names of.

People:

You have AMAZING family members who live here (not limited to, but including us (:). But seriously, do you think that we're lame? Do you think that we don't have--that we haven't had awesome friends for our entire lives? We both know amazing people that live here that have lived here their entire lives. We love the people of Bakersfield. We love the people of Wasco. If you can make friends in Provo, you can certainly make friends in Bakersfield. Amy makes some very good points about the attitudes that are out there about the people of Bakersfield, and I back her up 100%.

Just a few final points. It is a widespread misconception that Bakersfield is a small town. The Bakersfield metropolitan area has a population of 347,483 just within the city limits. It's bigger than New Orleans, Pittsburgh, Cincinnati, and Orlando, just to name a few. It's metropolitan area is over 800,000. Now, where there is a large population, there will be more options available for entertainment, food, etc., so that means that Bakersfield must not be too bad as far as those things go. If you look for entertainment, you will find it. Granted, the Salt Lake metropolitan area has a population 1,124,197, so naturally, Salt Lake is going to have more theaters and restaurants and a better music scene than Bakersfield, but still, Bakersfield is not that far off. Also, you have never lived in Bakersfield. You have only lived in Wasco, which is not Bakersfield. Anytime you ever wanted to go somewhere or do something, you had to drive at least 30 minutes to get there. But even in Wasco, I'm sure there are places you never went and things you never did. We went to eat at Hoyett's in Wasco last week with Mom and Dad. Dad had eaten there before when he was in high school, but it was the first time for the rest of us. And you know? It was pretty dang good. And the strawberry stand on Highway 43. Best. Strawberries. Ever.

At the Chinn Easter party this last weekend, we realized that we really are so lucky to live in Kern County. The uncles were so so impressed with the smell of the orange blossoms and the roses. They couldn't get enough of it. We live in the agricultural mecca of the world. We get to smell orange blossoms all the time. We look forward to the drive to Wasco every Sunday because we love to see the orchards and the rows of rose bushes and grapes along Highway 46 and along Kimberlina. Yes, we are moving to Fresno for school, but if CSUB offered Speech Pathology as a major, we would absolutely stay in Bakersfield for school. Either way, it doesn't matter because we have every intention of moving back to Bakersfield once we complete our Master's Degrees. And lately, we've even been thinking that we wouldn't even mind living in Wasco. We love the Wasco ward and it needs good families that will stay in one place. It would be nice to have a cute little house on a big property with a nice front yard with gindowsill gardens and a tree with a swing and a huge backyard full of fruit trees and flowers and a lovely little vegetable garden. Sigh.

Anyway, the real point we're trying to make here is this: Bakersfield only sucks because you think it sucks. Any given place, thing, or event is exactly what you make of it.

Once again, we're not angry, offended, bitter, etc. I (Britney) have said it before, and I'll say it again: I love love love my sisters-in-law. Seriously, I love those women like my own sisters. We are just so tired of people (not just the sisters) complaining about how lousy Bakersfield is, because it really isn't. Also, I'm getting pretty tired of having my hopes lifted and crushed, lifted and crushed with all the wishy-washy false hopes of "I'm moving home." quickly followed by "Oh yeah, I'm not moving home".

Sorry for the length (but aren't you glad we didn't leave this crap as a comment on your blog, Mer?). To all of our friends and family who actually read this novel, we love you all. And please don't take offense. We can be pretty dumb sometimes.