I loved my first time going to the Costa Mesa "Fascination of Orchids" show. I happened to have caught the show when it was held at the local Costa Mesa mall. Unfortunately it hasn't been held there since.
It was the coolest thing ever!!!
The Wardian Cases for the vendors to display their orchids and some of the open displays were fantastic! I was awe struck. It felt like I was a kid in a candy store.
That was the first time I came across Andy's Orchids, Ecuagenera, SLO Gardens, Exotic Orchids of Maui, and a vendor from Thailand. It was a total opening of the flood gates experience.
I had no idea what was out there prior.
Being in the mall was also fun and freeing. For one, it was nowhere near the hustle and bustle of an often distant, cold, and harsh Los Angeles environment. Then there was the fact that it felt grand! The vendors didn't seem clustered close together and confined to a limited sized booth.
I bought my first Dracula there from Ivan Portilla of Ecuagenera. It was Dracula lotax. This was also the first time I saw him show me Lepanthes calodictyon mounted on tiny tree fern plaques hooked onto the lip of a clear plastic container with a little bit of water on the bottom for humidity. He also showed me a wide array of Pleurothallids, including one of the titans of the genus Pleurothallis, Plths teaguei.
I also bought my first Oberonia (Oberonia toppingii), Dryadella cristata, and a Jacquiniella leucomelana (complete with itty-bitty tubular yellow-green flowers and onion shaped seed pods) from Andy's Orchids. At first I walked away with just the Jacquiniella and the Dryadella cristata, but the Oberonia toppingii just kept drawing me back with it's seemingly sparkling ember colored chain of macroscopic flowers with it's serpent-like forked lip.
From Exotic Orchids of Maui, I had gotten a Neobenthamia gracilis, Paphinia cristata 'Dark Star' (my first Stanhopeanae
), and a Trigonidium eggertonianum (in bloom).
This was also the first time I saw Macodes petola in person. I stared intently at it's veins as it appeared as if there were sparks of electricity shooting through them. I imagined each leaf as if they were miniature living circuit boards in action.
Then there was a vendor with a table full of Catasetinae. Prior to this event, the thought of purchasing any Catasetinae was just a dream.
Of course, there was also seeing the many different Dracula and Masdevallia species on display in Andy's Orchids' large Wardian Case.
What finally did it for me was that I was finally able to get a good grasp at the identification of an orchid species I had purchased a few months back locally in San Gabriel that resembled grass (it resembled grass so much I doubted it was even an orchid, but I trusted the seller). It turned out to be Dendrochilum tenellum, id courtesy of a vendor's open display.
The day ended with a meal and a long tiring but exhilarating drive home, as I eagerly anticipated unpacking my recent purchases like a giddy schoolboy.
Orchid Travels, Past and Future, Near or Far. Tell us about it!
Whether we go to a festival an hour or two away or to other side of the globe, most of us have experiences to share about all the orchids we have found. Then there are the places we desire to go. Could just be the places we have investigated on the internet. It can be the next best thing to being there. 
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