Freaking summertime and Fresno we never got you know what it is. We always tell ourselves to mentally prepare for it because we've lived here for so you've lived here all your life. I've lived here for almost twenty years that we've dealt with this Every year when Fresno summers come, we know what's coming, but we never really get used to it. What I will say about this year is it came a lot later. Do you notice that it didn't really hit
until we got into July? And I know in previous years it always came in even June, But I mean just the recording of this podcast today at twenty two this weekend one fourteen one fourteen, Are you crazy? And then it's actually gonna be triple digits. Well, actually I'm just going through and I can only go for like two weeks and it's all triple digits, which again, see how we're saying it. We're almost saying it like we're shocked.
But it happens every year. We've seen one twenty year before the last years, and I guess that's what I mean by we try to mentally prepare for it, but when it comes, it's just brutal. What do you do to stay cool? Um during this time? I just stay indoors. So I think we brought this up before where we love just staying in the studio because it's free air conditioning here at work. Yeah, and we work at a radio station, so it's you know, it's like a social thing
for us here. Yeah. So yeah, a lot of the time spent here, but yeah, indoors. I just stay indoors the same here. I mean, I cranked my acs like up high at and when I get home, and I crank it here at work, and I don't really go outside. I hit to the gym, but the gym's indoors and they got the fans in the AC blowing in there too. So yeah, it's it's
definitely that time of year where we stay inside moost. I don't ever like go swimming lay anything like that, but I know the pools and all the you know, the pools around town get really packed around this time of year. Two. I'm surprised we have friends with pools, and I'm surprised they haven't like hit us up to like go swimming parties. But no, not even pool parties. Just like yo, we're gonna go swimming at the crib. Sometimes do you ever feel that it's too hot to even go swimming?
Sometimes? Yeah, I feel like that too. I even have a friend who has a pool. This was years ago during the middle of summer and the water was warm. Yeah, and that was yeah, yeah for sure. But yeah, we're here for another Fresno summer. I always say, come on, let's just knock this out three months. It's tough, man, and right now we're in the midst of it. Just started. Yeah, so hopefully things will cool down, but usually doesn't. Just could give
me fire podcast? What up? I'm just of that as John Magic, and we are back today's episode Fresno's Hidden Gems and a few reasons why we're doing this episode. We always liked talking about just current things that's happening in our lives and um one of my TikTok's um has broken my personal post records
of views. The highest one previous to that was my restaurant episode where I talk about, Hey, I own a restaurant, this is what my restaurant is, and that one was up to thirty two thousand views and I even show you like, hey, look, it's thirty thousand going crazy because we're not. I'm not used to that that numbers. I'm sure some people are like, that's nothing. I get that all the time, but I'm not used to it. And my recent one where I posted about a hidden gym
in Fresno, the for Steer underground gardens. It's to right now and it's going up every second. But as of right now, we're basically at basically at three hundred thousand views. Yeah, um, so many common hundreds and thousands of comments likes. Um, so I guess that's viral for me. I don't know. And you went to this like what a week ago? A week ago? So the background is the girlfriend was visiting and we were
supposed to go to Yosemite. That was the plan, which we've talked about on the podcast, that that's a big thing to do when you have visitors. Take him, Neil, it's not far. What do you say, like a two hour drive, two hour drive, hour and a half you get to the gate, the fence to the entrance. But to drive around Yosemite is another yet thirty to an hour. So yeah, two hour drive
easy. So that was the original plan. I mean, since this is a podcast, it got Maybe some people are thinking, so why didn't you guys go? She arrived super late the night before because of the fire. There was fires at the grapevine. The mountain went on the five And I've seen this too. I've experienced this. I don't know if you've ever seen
it where the whole mountain is on fire. I've seen where like a little piece of the mountain was on fire, and I was like, well, that's kind of crazy, and but it was on the other side when I was coming down. But yeah, I've never seen like the whole mountain on fire. So she was stuck in that for a few hours and got to Fresno late. Hence we didn't we couldn't wake up at five am to go to Yosemite. And then she said, so let's do something. What can we do? And I was and I don't know, you could back me
up on this. I think the reason why I was stuck on what to do in Fresno, there is a lot to do because Fresno, Central Cali has so many events, but you have to wait for those certain dates. Yeah, and now if it's just like a random day, do we have any touristy spots? I think that's where it's hard to kind of tell somebody. Yes, usually we'll direct them towards, you know, some of the shopping centers that we have out here, or maybe some of the nightlife spots.
But yeah, you're right, it's it's mainly when of those big events come around. But we've come across some hidden gems and we wanted to talk about them. And it was first with this this place that you were at that I've actually never been to a lot of the comments where that actually not only never been to, never even heard of it. And I'm born and raised in Fresno, all bad. I've seen it on social media from Fresno, people talking about it, and I've passed it many times, so I
knew where it was. It's near Seawan ninety nine. It's like right there, um in I don't want to say the hood, but I mean that side of town. Yeah. Um. So it is a hidden it's like a perfect example of a hidden gem, and it was my first time going. It's twenty three dollars for adults. It's a one hour tour and without going through the whole story, just a quick explanation of what it is basically in the eighteen hundreds. Um a guy named I forgot his name now,
but his last name is for steer. All bounces are moved to Fresno. He was he wanted to plant gardens. Uh what is it called crops? Yea through a yeah, And he bought eighty acres and when he started digging to you know, grow plants in the garden, he hit rock and it was just a bunch of rock that he bought. And it got so hot in Fresno. His background was like, um, as a cave tunneler, why don't he makes caves essentially, so he decided to use his skill.
He made a little tunnel to stay cool in the hot summer night. But by the way, we're just talking about the hot summer days. And next thing, you know, he just kept going. Just imagine just digging a tunnel, making a tunnel just for this one purpose of staying cool. So he built he did it underneath the land that he had bought, yes, okay, and then he just kept going and made a fucking house, a
mansion underneath the ground. So this underground mansion he had built to basically essentially keep himself cool, and that's what the tours now right, Yeah, you see his architecture. Architecture. Yeah, the plants he grew in there. That's why it's called the underground Gardens because he found soil under the ground, so he was able to build a garden underground exactly. So he like grew
trees oranges. He even does this thing called grafting where he combined different branches of different fruit plant trees and so the tree grows with those different branches, and one tree is growing multiple fruits. It's grapefruit, an orange, grapes, limes, and it's crazy. It was so interesting to see in just the story. He made a few bedrooms in there where it still has his
bedroom set in their sill. Essentially, he had this whole living space underground and he lets shit live down there, and now it's become like a tourist spot. Yeah, it sounds cool. Actually, you kind of sold me on it when I came to talk to you about it and you're explaining like the history of it. The story itself actually sounded kind of cool, and now I kind of want to see what it looks like. Yeah, definitely, So I hidden Gym the Forest Tyre Underground Gardens. If you're ever in
the area. Go look for that, all right, you got another one or I mean, I know you got the list there, so I was I was this, I'll go back another older one, just because when we're going through this list of things in Fresno, I remember doing this as a kid and I haven't did it in a long time. I actually went for it was a field trip. It was called the Mukes Home, and the Muks is the last name of this family. It was a rich family.
It's like a Victorian mansion. I believe it was in eighteen eighty eight when
they had first lived there at the time. And it's downtown Fresno, and they have tours of it, but you just kind of get immersed in that era in that time of you know, what the furniture was like during that time, what decorations were like during that time, with that architecture of this home was during that time, and they have even like clothing of what they wore during this time, and you take like this tour inside the house outside
the house. I just remember one of the things that like always stood out to me for some reason when when we were going through this tour. I might have been like, honestly, second third grade. But this was during an era when women would wear those those corsets that they would squeeze into, you know, like what was it like on Titanic Room and Titanic and she
was like tightener in the back. So one of the things that stood out to me as they had this area where women would get into these corsets and there was this like little like a like a like a bed but not as big as a bed, and it was there for women just in case they passed out from getting squeeze into these corsets so much that they would lose their breath and pass out. But they had this like bed that they could like
land on. That always stick in my mom for some reason. But that was cool growing up, just to be kind of like immersed in that late eighteen hundreds early nineteen hundreds era of how people lived and how they decorated. So that's the Muke's home. That's a downtown Fresno. That's pretty cool. Something that I've always seen in pictures as well, but I've never been to is the Japanese Gardens. I think you have the exact name. Did you
write it down? Shin's in Yeah, Friendship Japanese garden. Yeah, yeah, yeah, and that's inside Woodward Park, which we've been to Woodward Park, but it's a section with a bunch of um the Japanese um, what is not the what did mister Miyagi make with those? The Bonzai trees?
O Bonsai trees. There's supposed to be koi fish there, um, the little Japanese garden bridge and on pictures it looks super cool like Instagram moments that you could take And I've always wanted to go there, but that's a probably a hidden gem that you could take someone just you know, to walk around crazy enough. I live pretty close to Woodward Park and it's actually something I never go to. It's a nice park. Um. I know people go there for Easter. Um, there's a lot of events to take place there.
It is a nice park. But I've actually never visited that garden. Yeah, I think, if I'm not mistaken, I drove past by it because I remember looking and I was like, whoa, what what is that area? Yeah? Yeah, and I think that was the area. But there are different things in the park, and you're right, it's it's a
popular park. It's an amphitheater there. Yeah, people bike ride, there walk there, but that's our like big park some towards if you pass Woodwork Park, you hit Millerton Lake. Yeah, and that's something that I haven't done in a while. But that's because we had friends who had boats. Yeah yeah, yeah, and like shouts out to DJ Dizzy, but he
had a boat and he would take me out years ago. My mom just recently bought like a huge boat and she's bought like all these things that are on the boat, and she goes to the to the lake all the time. Matter of actually just text me this past weekend that she was at Milton and she had like hot a fish and she keeps trying to get me to go out there to the lake. But kind of like what we were talking about earlier. I hate going outside, man, I hate going outside,
and she wants me to go and jump on the vote. Now. I definitely got to at some point this summer. But Millerton is definitely popular, especially during like Fourth of July weekends on Royal Day weekends, a lot of people like to get to go hop on the road up to Millerton, but not far from Millerton table Mount Casino Resorts. That is something that I forgot about. Yeah, that if you have friends that like gambling, We have some pretty cool casinos out here. Yeah again not too far from me.
They recently re renovated, No, not even renovated, because it's a whole new building. Oh yes, so it's a whole new casino. It's it's it's a resort vibe now because they have where you can stay. I've actually posted videos of my stay there. Um, they put me up like an executive room. Mind you, it's only been there for a year, so literally like everything's brand new, brand new casino. The layouts, ice, all the rooms are nice. So if you're like a gambler, it's eighteen
and up. They do events there all the time. Matter of fact, Pitt Bull is like going to be performing there this month. So if you're a gambler. Table Mount Casino Resort, it's definitely dope. It's new and that whole area, like you said, the lakes right there, you know, the casinos right there actually, um the woodwork parks actually not really far from there either. Um would ask me, guys, well, just with
the casinos. If you want the more outdoors outdoorsy woods cabin vibe that you chancey resort casino that's another one that's on its way to Yosemite not too far, and that's a super nice hotel. Is an hotel casino too, and it's that it's like a big cabin vibe. Yeah yeah, yeah, and that's super nice. And then we have the one in Lamore Tatchy Palace that has a super nice hotel too by the way, So yeah, casinos, that's something you could do if you have friends or family that like to gamble.
So how about this one. This one's big because I know people that are not from Fresno that I end up talking to and they've telled me like that they've passed through Fresno. One thing that they always bring up I've noticed is our zoo. I think people actually really enjoy our zoo. We actually do have a really nice zoo. Yeah, we brought that up before. They have a new area called Kingdom of Asia that when I went, I went the week that it opened, which was maybe like a month or so
ago. They were still kind of working on things, so I'm not sure what the progress is. It is open to like walk through, but when I went there, like I said, not all the animals were there yet. But we have a really nice zoo. It's big. We have like this African safari area that's really nice. They had they had rebuilt that years ago. Yeah, real quick, just because I've experienced that. Just imagine them making like a mini Serengetti like just safari. It's a big area and
all the different animals are all in one area. They roam around, but the way they like kind of sectioned it off with like the water, the animal can't cross in like mingo, because some only certain animals commingle with each other. Other ones would eat each other. But just like you said, just by looking at it, looks like they're all in the same area. You got the lions, the elephants. There's not an actual cage. Yeah no, no, it's just like this open area. So it's really cool.
There's a restaurant like right next to it that you're kind of kind of looking over oversee everything we were eating there, and a fucking rhinoceros just walked right pastes. Like what the fuck? I did this really dope experience.
They don't do it anymore because they don't have those elephants anymore. But where the elephants originally used to be, they had this thing called Breakfast with Elephants, and I actually got to do that and I got to go, you know, before the zoo even opened, and I sat right there to like overlook where the elephants were, and I got to feed the elephants. I got to learn some information with the elephants. They do this cool thing where
the elephants does a painting for you. So the elephant knows how to grab the paint brush with its trunk and like the trainer will hold the canvas and it will just paint I mean random obviously, but it's cool that like they know that they're painting something and then you get to take home the painting. That was like a really cool experience that that I got to experience at that time. They don't do it anymore, but I do know that they have
specific like little VIP things that you can do. But the yeah, the Fresno Chappie Zoo is it's a popular destination in Fresno. Man, wish I had like these wish I had this list. When she asked me, what is there to do? I know, we got this nice list. Right now, what else you got on the list? So we covered casinos? You covered the lake? What about oh before we get there, antique shopping. We got good, Yeah, we got good shopping here, but specifically
yeah, like little old school antique shops. Yeah. So we have Clovis, which is the neighboring town next to Fresno. I mean it's just like right there and Clovis Avenue where they do a lot of big events like Big Hat Days and Clovis Fest, these events where people go out there and they sell like their crafts that they've made, and there's tons of food boots.
But anyways, that street right there, they have a bunch of antiques stores there and I actually go there quite often, and man, there's some really cool gems there. Some if you like to collect things, I mean they have everything from collecting old clothes to coins to even collectibles. I find some of my stuff there. Uh, there's tons of them just on that strip.
And even if you don't buy stuff, it's always cool just to like walk in there and be like, man, this is how it's like a phone used to look like, or this is like you know some of those antiques. So that's old town Clovis. That's really cool. There's some in Tower. Near downtown is a district called a Tower District. Yeah, that's also the hip Well they like a hippie vibe, but they also have some cool antique record shops there, like antique cool like clothing. So I've always
wondered, what is Tower District? What is that area like considered as in what do you mean? I don't know, like what would you consider that area? It's just really that is it just that area that's cold? Like what because it's not downtown? No, yeah, so what would you consider that if you had to like compare it to like somewhere else or a different city, like what is that just like a I don't know, Yeah,
just the district is that's just what it is? Like. Well, see, I don't know if anyone will get this reference, but there's like these little towns in La Silver Lake and Eagle Rock. It's like that kind of street. Yeah, it's the hipster. Yeah, I guess what it is. Right, Like they've done parades down that streets. Uh, that's where
the pride parades. The Pride parades down there. Um, I know if they close it down for other events, but just on that strip, there's you know, there's shopping centers, there's places to eat, there's bars, and the nightlife actually in the area is not bad because there's a few bars, Yeah, a few nice like clubs there, so people will kind of like bar hop in that area. So yeah, I guess it's a little bit of all that. Yeah. I mean, let me just plug too.
If you've ever, if you guys listen to the podcast and follow me on social I post about this R and B night that I do on Monday. That's where it's at Tower District. Um, all right, so what else we got here? Oh, since since we're on the topic of summer and it being hots we got a couple of cool water parks out here. We've talked about this before, but again, Um, when you drive past one of them, which is called What's off Saw Island Water Park, when
you're driving on the ninety nine, you actually see it. You see it off the road, but what you see is just dirt, dry up what are those the dry plants? I forget what those plants are called, but they're just off the freeway. It's just a field. Ye, It's it's super gray and there's just nothing, and then you just see some big slides. It almost looks like it could be abandoned from that outside. Yes,
that's a perfect way of describing it. Yeah, it looks like it's an abandoned water park, but then that's actually that's actually the back of it. Yeah, when you drive to the entrance and go inside, which we've we've done many events at the Island water Park, it is it's pretty cool. And then yeah it's actually it's the newer water park. But yeah, from the freeway it's bad angle, so don't judge it from that. Um. The other one, it's in Clovis. This was more of the old school.
This one's been around forever that you speak, called Clovis Lakes back in the day. Fun fact, I've never been there. Oh really, I've never been to wild Water Adventure Park. Now it's called wild Water Adventure Park. It's it's bigger, it has more. Um, I've always personally liked it a little bit more. But to like what you said, I haven't been there in a long time. You haven't been there at all. But yeah, that's another fun water park. That's uh, like I said,
in Clovis so kind of like the opposite end of this water park. Yeah, so you got two to choose from. Uh yeah, so those are two two cool water parks to hang on at, especially during the summer when it's really hot. I don't know if you have anything on your list. The thing that I wanted to bring up was a thing that we do living in Fresno. That's why when someone says what is there to do, a
common thing is we go out of town. But when we say out of town, just a quick three hour drive to San Francisco, a quick three hour drive to Pismo Beach, which is a popular If you go to Pismo Beach, guaranteed you'll meet someone from Fresno there, the Fresno Beach. Yeah, it's just it's a common thing to kind of drive to La or so
that's like what we do sometimes. Yeah, we're in that that middle area where you know, people will say, you know, we're not a big city, and of course you've got like the people that live here that hate on it, but really we're in a perfect area, meaning we got three hours up north, we're in San Francisco, you know, three and a half hours south we're in LA and we're surrounded by a lot. You know,
there's a lot to do in California itself. We're not far from like the beach, we have mountains, we have la we have the Bay, we have you know, we're not that far from Vegas. I'm going to San Diego next week. We're not far from San Diego, which means we're really not that far from Mexico. So like you, Yeah, there's a lot of surrounding areas that it could be a couple hours or a few hours. But when it comes to in town. Yeah, we said this in
the beginning. I'll kind of wrap it up with what we said in the beginning. There's so many things to do here, but on certain dates, you we wait for those events, which we have a lot of. Yeah, a lot of that's ard Hop, the Taco Truck throw Down, it's a big event that's coming later this year. Yeah, every weekend, they
the Fresno Street Eats do something. Yeah, almost every day. But even just their new location at River Park downtown, there's always events going on down the brewery district is our brewery district is beautiful with all the bars down down there, but usually it's more livelier when there's an event. So I think we're we're kind of in that mode where wait, there's a bunch of stuff
to do, but on this certain day, not much going on. Yeah, but I'm glad we found this list of So these are things that you could actually do a randomly. Yeah, well maybe not the water parks, but summer they're popping. So there you go. If you emissed anything on the list, maybe you guys can leave us a comment on the podcast where they have a comment section, or you guys can find us on social and messages there. All right, until next time. This could give me for our podcasts