A Guide To The WSL Surf Ranch Pro 2018 at Kelly Slater’s In Kinda Fresno [Lemoore]

SRP_Logo-1024x581 A Guide To The WSL Surf Ranch Pro 2018 at Kelly Slater's In Kinda Fresno [Lemoore]

Yo! I have some details you need for the Kelly Slater, World Surf League, Surf Ranch Pro. I really want to say it’s in Fresno. I can’t because, technically, it is in Lemore. But hey, it’s the Fresno region. So with all due respect to Lemoore, I might say the Surf Ranch Pro is in Fresno, once or twice in this post.

How is a pro surfing even being held outside of Fresno (errr, Lemoore)?

This is the second event held at the Surf Ranch. The first was the Founder’s Cup in May. Kelly Slater built the Ranch in secret as he fine-tuned the wave machine so that it could produce the perfect wave (or pretty close to it) for surfing. It’s now ready for regular competition.

This is a little of what it looked like when they tested out doing a surf event at the Ranch:

The inaugural Surf Ranch Pro is what’s next. Let’s figure out together what days we want to go.

When is the Ranch Surf Pro and what is the schedule?

It is a three-day event, which is pretty rad. Begins Friday, September 6th and goes through to Sunday, September 8th. Located at 18556 Jackson Ave, Lemoore, CA 93245. Or you could say it is just outside of Fresno, off Highway 41.

View a map here.

  • Friday Schedule:
    The competition begins!
    Gates open at 8:30 AM.
    Surfing begins with the women’s comp at 9:00 AM, men begin at 12:30. There are a couple of hour-long breaks but it’s pretty much surfing all day. A day that ends at 8 PM.

The complete agenda can be found here.

  • Saturday Schedule:
    Gates open: 7:30 AM.
    Ranch Pro competition continues. Surfing begins at 8:00 AM with the men’s. Women go from 3:00 – 5:30.
    Concert at 7:30.

This is the night that Blink 182 Social Distortion will be playing. To you, this may mean the day to avoid because you don’t want to be just the girl at The Rock Show. Or this may be the day to make sure you are there to enjoy All The Small Things. The concert is included in your Saturday ticket.

Again, here is the breakdown of the schedule, if you need it.

  • Sunday Schedule:
    Gates open: 8:30 AM
    Men’s and women’s quarter/semifinals begin at 9 AM.
    Men’s and women’s semi/finals begin at 1:30 PM.
    2018 Ranch Pro Men’s and Women’s Champion is crowned at 4 PM!

What kind of Ranch Pro ticket situation is there?

Kelly-Slaters-Surf-Ranch-LA-Times-1024x584 A Guide To The WSL Surf Ranch Pro 2018 at Kelly Slater's In Kinda Fresno [Lemoore]
Surf Ranch photo by LAtimes.com

Ticket price. This is where people have been freaking out.

A single day General Admission Ticket is $100. That is the cheapest you can go. You can get your kid in (10 & under) for only $10 bucks. Or you can choose the full 3-day and only pay $199, $25 for a full pass for the kid.

This may sound shocking at first.

Especially if you are new to WSL events. But it is a legit pro event in a unique setting in your backyard, Fresno. It will be ok.

I am willing to bet that you will drop $100 going out that weekend, why not just go to the Surf Ranch Pro instead?

To ease some price pain, you can get 50% off GA tickets for Friday and Sunday if you use the promo code “local” at checkout.

If you want to do it up, take advantage of a rare inland surfing event in Fresno (whoops I did it again) and watch a pro surf event like a rockstar, the full VIP 3-day experience is $499.

All your ticket buying options can be found here.

Are we parking in some dude’s almond orchard?

Probably. Parking is shuttled from a nearish lot and is included in your ticket. Or you can pay $50 to VIP park. You also might convince a Lyft or Uber driver to take you there from Fresno and back but I dunno.

Answers to more of your event questions can be found here. Including camping and other frequently asked questions.

Surfers to watch making critical carves at the Surf Ranch.

The World Surf League is the premier league for surfing. It is legit, which makes it that much more awesome that is coming here. The next stop for the Tour after this is in France, for freaks sake!

The men’s leaderboard looks like this coming into the Ranch Pro. The Top Ten is dominated by Brazilians with Filipe Toledo leading the pack.

Leading the women is Austrailian, Stephanie Gilmore. Check out Steph going up against Tyler Wright in a competition from 2017:

DOES KELLY SLATER STILL SURF IN THE WSL?

Yes. But he has had to drop out of WSL events this year due to a foot issue that has been slow to heal. He has not been able to surf in the WSL events this year because of it. Unsure if he will be able to surf for the Ranch Pro. He is a surfing legend and I hope we get to see him out there somehow.

Sorta unrelated but check out pro skimboarder, Austin Keen, spending some time at the Surf Ranch and doing things at Millerton Lake I wish I did:

Things to do in Fresno or Lemoore.

If you have wandered into this blog via Google, have never been to the Central Valley and are wondering what to do in the area around the Surf Ranch, I can help.

Let’s keep this SUPER simple.

I have no recos’ for you in Lemoore. Sorry, Lemoore, but I want you to stay in Fresno. I am going to keep you close to Highway 41 because that is what is close to the Surf Ranch and it will be easy to come into town using it.

Tioga-Sequoia-Beer-Garden A Guide To The WSL Surf Ranch Pro 2018 at Kelly Slater's In Kinda Fresno [Lemoore]
Tioga Sequoia Beer Garden picture by twpatterson.com.

Downtown Fresno is the closest thing to the Ranch. I would check out Tioga Sequoia Beer Garden for your beer drinking and hanging out. Food is just one street away from there with Hop PK.

Tower District in Fresno is another area to check out. Lots of options for eating and nightlife and beer.

River Park in Fresno, if you like to play it safe, do some chain shopping or chain eating. There are a few local places worth checking out though, namely Pismo’s and Westwood’s BBQ & Spice.

The food Fresno is famous for?

Tacos and tri-tip. You can start your tri-tip journey at Doghouse Grill (if you find parking) and start your taco journey just about everywhere, or ask Fresno Tacos.

Any more Fresno questions, feel free to ask me on Twitter or leave your question about the Ranch Pro or Fresno, in the comment section of this post.

Hope to see you out there and thank you Kelly Slater and the WSL for coming to Fresno! *Lemoore.

Pete’s Restaurant & Brewhouse Is Coming To Fresno

img_8993 Pete's Restaurant & Brewhouse Is Coming To Fresno

The Northern California brewpub chain, Pete’s Restaurant & Brewhouse, is coming to Fresno at The Marketplace.

That’s the drunk whispers I am hearing. Fresno is adding another brewpub style place to eat and drink and it’s called Pete’s Restaurant & Brewhouse.

I thought Pete’s was going to be on the empty pad along Herndon (near 99), next to the Target and the Panera. Thankfully, Fresnan reader, Redd, pointed out that it will be next to the new movie theater being built during phase two of construction:

img_8994 Pete's Restaurant & Brewhouse Is Coming To Fresno

It was rumored that Southgate Brewing in Oakhurst was going to open up a second location there but they are planning on building at Avenue 12 & Highway 41.

When Does Pete’s Restaurant & Brewhouse Open?

Summer. Summer of 2019. That’s all I got for now. Things change I suppose. Fall through. Get drunk, stumble around, knock over a few street signs, wake up in the morning and forget it signed a three-year lease. But it seems it will happen.

What Is This Pete’s Brewhouse All About?

I had never heard of this place before but they have 13 freaking locations. They all seem to center around Sacramento but they don’t actually have a Sacramento location.

What Kind Of Food?

It’s brewpub food, people. We all know what that is about. I have not looked at the menu yet but I feel like there will be sliders. Lots of versions of sliders. Okay now, let’s look at the menu and see.

I’m shocked. I didn’t see any sliders. Lots of food. A bit more extensive than the standard restaurant brewery. Sometimes that’s a good thing and sometimes too many dishes is a bad thing. At least there will be choices.

What Kind Of Beer?
img_8983-1 Pete's Restaurant & Brewhouse Is Coming To Fresno

For a beer geek like me, usually, the most exciting thing to look for is not the beer that the place makes but the guest taps. These are the beers they serve that are not the ones they make.

Usually, the beer that a brewpub makes is very generic. Just kinda OK. So the beer they offer other than theirs becomes the interesting part. Pete’s other locations seem to lean towards craft beer, which is a good sign.

They serve a lot of Norcal area beers so I assume the Fresno location will have locals like Tioga, Full Circle, House of Pendragon, Dust Bowl and maybe by that point Zack’s.

Fresno Is The New Brewpub Capitol.

Even though Fresno is still underserved for actual breweries, we seem to be doing just fine for brewpubs. We already have chains and homegrown.

We have Mad Duck at Campus Pointe. They are even opening a second location at Herndon & Marks that is being built as we read:

img_8955-1 Pete's Restaurant & Brewhouse Is Coming To Fresno

We also have Sequoias (wish we could still call it Butterfield’s) with a Tower District location and an NE Fresno location. There is also the chain, BJ Brewhouse at Fashion Fair.

Brewpub or Brewery? What Is The Difference?

If you’re kind of fuzzy from drinking the night before and were wondering what the difference between a brewpub and a brewery is, I think of it this way:

BREWERY:

  • Focused on making their own beer.
  • Distributes their beer to other places.
  • Packages their beer for stores.
  • Food is not offered or comes second to the beer.

BREWPUB:

  • Food is the main focus.
  • Beer is an afterthought or feels almost like a gimmick to get you in the door.
  • The beer that they brew is safe and generic, does not push the limits of brewing.
  • Very little to no packaging of the beer, little to no distribution.

We have roughly the same amount of brewpubs as we do breweries in Fresno. That is odd and I hope the brewery side passes up the brewpub side soon.

Until then I will still be sampling both because beer research is essential to local blogging. Says me.

Summer Sweat 2018: The Fresno Thing To Do This Weekend

img_8698 Summer Sweat 2018: The Fresno Thing To Do This Weekend

It’s time for Summer Sweat again!

My favorite music-related event of the year (well, since FUSE Fest is tucked away hiding in a Downtown basement somewhere).

I love Fresno events that fucking own that they are a Fresno event! That’s right, an outdoor event, during the hottest time of the year. Call it Summer Sweat. Bring the damn sweat!

SUMMER SWEAT DETAILS

TIOGA SEQUOIA STAGE

TEZZY RADIO STAGE

I will check in on this in between sets on the Tioga Stage and getting Fulton Street IPAs. But I would be lying if I told you I knew what the hell was going on there.

DJ Burns will be there. I sure hope it’s my friend Doug from 3rd Grade whom we all still call “Burns” and he has secretly been DJ-ing for years. Probably not.

OTHER THINGS TOO

There will be food and vendors of various sorts, check the flyer above for the list. All I need to know is there will be food and I’m cool. I am here for the music and beer.

I’ll try to update this post when I know the set times and if there are any special beer releases Tioga has up its sleeve.

Oh wait, here are the set times:

img_8771-1 Summer Sweat 2018: The Fresno Thing To Do This Weekend

I am definitely centering things around Pinkeye’s set with an eye on Macondo’s.

The thing I like about Summer Sweat above all the other music related events and festivals in Fresno is that it doesn’t get uncomfortably packed with Fresbros or anybody else, it’s about the music, it’s approachable, there is the good beer. Enough said.

See ya out there, sweating and breathing heavy.