Prep for a ripe time at San Diego’s pop-up avocado museum

There’s a lot of avo-content out there these days, especially on social media. This month, two Encinitas residents are hoping to get San Diegans temporarily off the (Instagram) grid and experience the beloved California superfruit IRL.

Introducing The CADO: an interactive, pop-up museum dedicated to California’s official state fruit. For three months, San Diegans can visit the avocado-themed exhibition filled with various art installations.

Sister duo Anne Buehner and Mary Carr are the minds behind the project — two years in the making — as well as co-founders of the creative group & boom Unlimited, which owns the pop-up museum. Buehner said they hope participants leave the installment with a new-found appreciation and emotional connection to the trendy millennial food staple.

Touted as an experimental journey, the tour starts with a walk through The Ripe Room, lined with avocado-skinned walls. Then ticketholders travel inside the “fruit” to various rooms, each characterized by a different installation.

Singer and avocado farm owner Jason Mraz will virtually share his knowledge of the growing process (via another millennial trend, a Walkman cassette tape). In the Hass Hall, a piece of Hass Mother Tree from La Habra Heights — which all Hass avocados trace their roots back to — will be on display.

Attendees will later take a break at The Pit Stop. Buehner and Carr have collaborated with Oceanside-based artist Kristin Morrison to create a walk-in installation using dye extracted from avocado pits.

The CADO is situated inside North City, a mixed-use development in North County. Doors are open for 12 weeks every Thursday through Sunday, as well as available to rent as a private venue on Tuesdays and Wednesdays. Tickets are $19 online and must be purchased in advance.

The CADO

When: 10 a.m.-7:30 p.m. Thursdays, 10 a.m.-9 p.m. Fridays and Saturdays, 11 a.m.-7:30 p.m. Sundays, June 27-Sept. 22 (Closed July 4)
Where: The CADO, North City, 250 North City Dr., Ste. 9, San Marcos
Online: thecado.co

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