Sacramento Tourist Attractions

When Cindy, Carol, and I heard that the Leland Stanford Mansion and the California Governor’s Mansion were rumored to be on the State Parks closure list, we decided we wanted to see both of these important Sacramento attractions. 

We were able to take the public tour of the Leland Stanford mansion at 8th & N Streets on a recent chilly but sunny morning.  Our tour guide, Richard, explained to us how the Mansion’s structure was built in phases.  It went from being a small plain boxy structure (circa 1856) to a large ornate one with its distinctive front porch stairway by the end of the 1870’s.  The whole building was raised 12 feet during one of the addition projects, about the same time as the rest of downtown Sac was being raised to avoid recurrent flooding.

The entire tour of the Leland Stanford Mansion was very interesting.  From the unusual 4-pocket pool table, to the beautiful ceiling medallions that acted as “soot catchers” in the days of gas lighting, to the mirrors in the fireplaces so that Victorian ladies could check to be sure their ankles weren’t showing, to the massive wood furniture in the dining room with seemingly straightforward carving which are actually reminiscent of railroad locomotives, to the “ice bucket” fishbowl in the ladies’ parlor, the Stanford Mansion is full of fascinating pieces and stories.  The museum/gift shop/visitor center in the back yard is small, yet thorough. 

One place I could really enjoy spending some time is the 2nd floor master bedroom/bath.  I wonder if it is the fact that there is a comfortable looking “fainting couch” in the corner by the front window.  Carol, Cindy, and I laughed with relief that we are living in the 21st century when our guide reminded us how useful that particular item of furniture was to women who wore tight corsets and had just climbed 2 flights of stairs!  The adjoining master bath had its own Victorian-era wood-trimmed metal bathtub, with a curtained exterior window behind it looking out onto the interior hall.  That window was a particularly unusual and interesting artifact of one of the Mansion’s several addition-remodel events. 

The Leland Stanford mansion has been put to several different uses over the years, including an orphanage and teenage girls home.  Currently, the Mansion is used for official State receptions, since California doesn’t have an active Governor’s mansion.  There is an historical “reception” office in one wing, with a “working” (i.e. includes phone, fax, computer, etc.) office behind it. 

We knew the Leland Stanford Mansion would be interesting to see, but as Cindy exclaimed at the conclusion, “That was better than I expected!”  We recommend that you go see it if you can.  We could only wish to be lucky enough to attend an official function there - that would be fantastic!  We have not made it yet to the historic Governor’s Mansion at 16th and H Streets, but hope to get there soon!  It is great that both of these great Sacramento tourist attractions are located in downtown Sacramento, steps from several great restaurants and hotels.  Click here for more information about this and several other great Sacramento museums.

By Carol Dabrowiak

The evidence is right there.  As soon as someone points it out to you, you can see it.  A doorway or a window that was bricked in.  Remnants of columns that were left in a park.  It's pretty apparent there is a city of Sacramento below the City of Sacramento. 

When we took the Underground Sacramento Tour in Old Sacramento, we learned about the tragedies that befell Sacramento in the 1800s.  First floods washed away the city, then a fire destroyed it, then another epic flood and finally locusts.  OK, I made up the locust part.  But Sacramento had a rough go of it in the beginning.  

Finally the city fathers decided to raise the city up ten feet.  They started by raising the walkways.  But then the shops were below street level, and patrons had to climb up and down ladders to get to the shops.  So shop owners had to raise their own establishments.  They hired workers who used old-fashioned jacks to slowly crank the buildings up.  Some owners just built a new building on top of the structure down below.  It took 15 years to complete the project. 

Our tour guide, Miss Odette (in period costume) guided us through the lower levels in Old Sacramento.  She told us about the shops that would have been above us.  They included saloons, laundries and brothels.  There are also display cases with items recovered during the archeological dig such as ceramic dishes and whiskey bottles.  Everything a gold rush city needed in the 1800s.  It is a fascinating tour about an amazing engineering feat.

This tour is a Sacramento attraction that is not to be missed.  The new season of tours starts March 31.  To learn more about the Underground Sacramento Tour, click here for more information.
 

Have teens who want to avoid family vacations like the plague? Maybe they'll change their minds after hearing about downtown Sacramento tourist attractions that cater to them... and parents won't have to hear complaints!

Sports and Fitness
Cruise the capital in style. See the City of Trees from the seat of a bicycle. Family-owned Practical Cycle (916.706.0077) rents bikes made in the USA. Guided or self-guided tours get your teen exercising! Fast Eddie (916.812.2712) only offers guided tours; pricing includes bike rental.

Shock your X Games fan when you tell him or her to pack a helmet because the skate park at Sutter's Landing (916.808.5611) is on the itinerary. All sessions are supervised. Skateboarders, scooters and (inline) skaters are invited. The indoor street course features a bowl, quarter pipes, fun boxes, and grind rails -- can you picture it? Pro skaters Matt Pailes, Matt Rodriguez, and Omar Salazar are familiar faces.

When the sun goes down, student specials on glow-bowling appear at Capitol Bowl (916.371.4200). Remodeled. The 1950-era bowling alley is the first in the country to feature granite counters and restaurant-caliber dining. Don't wait til Thanksgiving to bowl a turkey! 

Another popular indoor activity is rock climbing. Pipeworks has a 40-foot-high lead wall with 11,000 square feet of climbing terrain -- plus 2,000 square feet of bouldering.

Entertainment
Ever read Teens are from Mars, Parents are from Earth? Shrink the generation gap when families laugh together. Sacramento Comedy Spot (916.444.3137) at MARRS -- the Midtown Art, Retail and Restaurant Scene -- is an all-ages venue featuring weekly improv, stand-up, and sketch comedy shows. Material rated 'PG-13' (parental guidance recommended, age 13 and older) to 'R' (restricted, age 17+).

If your youth enjoy music, free summer Concerts in the Park or the all-ages, indoor Ace of Spades event facility can introduce them (or you) to a wide variety of live, local music: from blues and country, to punk and indie, to pop and hip hop. During the outdoor park series, more than 40 bands play on Friday nights from 5 to 9 PM. The diversity of talent and ages on stage may inspire your guitarist to learn more than 'Stairway to Heaven'.

Discover more inspiration at the California Museum (916.653.7524), home of the California Hall of Fame. This cultural destination is popular for its modern and thought-provoking storytelling of the state's rich influence on the world of ideas, innovation, art and culture. Now through March 25th, Riding Concrete is a multimedia exhibit about skateboarding from California creation in the 1950s to its international appeal today. 

Food and Shopping
Schedule a power-ballad lunch or dinner at Pizza Rock (916.737.5777). World pizza-tossing champion, Tony Gemignani, opened his flagship artisan pizzeria in Sacramento to re-establish respect for his craft by using seasonal and organic ingredients. The ceiling mural, semi-truck cab, and energy certainly suggest you aren't at Chuck E. Cheese. 

Got an adventurous or epicurean eater or chef? Downtown Sacramento dining can take you on a culinary tour of the world. Join a Local Roots Food walking tour. Or browse farmers markets. 

Finally, indulge designers or stylists with a shopping tryst. Explore Midtown's concentration of new and vintage clothing stores plus record, home, and gift shops. And if you feel like driving them, Arden Fair mall (916.920.1167) is 10 minutes away!

Let your teen to discover Sacramento, shortlisted by BETA UK -- the British Educational Travel Association -- as the Best International Youth Destination.

Contact the Sacramento Convention & Visitors Bureau at tourism@discovergold.org to learn more about itineraries for traveling families with teenagers and tweens (pre-teens).
 

EDITOR'S NOTE: Our Hometown Tourists visited Sutter's Fort on their most recent excursion.  The following blog includes two accounts by Janet Lewis and Carol Dabrowiak, detailing their visit to this Sacramento attraction.

Janet Lewis

Where can you time travel back more than 160 years without leaving town?  Maybe you know of a few places already.  But, how many times have you passed by the distinctive white walls spanning the blocks 26th-28th-K-L Streets in Sacramento without stopping and going in?  Well, you should re-discover Sutter’s Fort!

Cindy, Carol, and I did exactly that by visiting Sutter’s Fort one recent Thursday morning.  We arrived at the opening time of 10 a.m. in order to avoid August afternoon heat.

“When you walk through the gate of Sutter’s Fort you will be taking a step back in time and watching history unfold before you as the past is recreated...”  This key phrase is from the informational brochure each visitor receives upon entry along with a map of the Fort.  Sutter’s Fort also features an audio self-tour, which activated simply by leaning into each display room. 

For instance, in the cooperage I learned that for either dry or wet goods, it is easier to roll a barrel than pick up a box.  Hmmm, never really thought about that before, but it makes sense!  Then in the bakery, we heard that the residents of Sutter’s Fort ate mostly beef and bread (and vegetables when they could get them); and coffee was so scarce that they ground and roasted acorns to brew up instead! 

Fascinating as these auditory historical vignettes may be, the days at Sutter’s Fort when the costumed docent historical re-enactors are in attendance bring history to life even more!

Some highlights of our time travel excursion at this unique Sacramento museum included:

• The Pioneer Woman at a wagon in the shade of a tree told us about the journey west in a wagon pulled by yoked oxen.  She also played the hoop and sticks game called “Graces” with me and took it in good grace when I put the hoop up in the tree! 
  
• The Vaquero making tooled leather decorations explained how the Californio’s tradition of decorative arts differed from the Yankee-Puritan’s concept of plainness in all things, while the fur trapper, Sam, fashioned a leather strap to mend his suspenders. 
  
• Adrien explained and demonstrated the loading and firing of a French musket of the type used “back in the day” at Sutter’s Fort.  There is quite a story related to how the French muskets got there, but you will have to visit Sutter’s Fort to hear it!  Adrien also related the origins of several phrases used to this day, such as “flash in the pan” while showing how to load and fire the musket.  It went off with a satisfying loud noise and puff of gunpowder smoke!
  
• The Trade Store (where I bought a souvenir chunk of iron pyrite aka “fools gold”) offers an uncommonly good selection of books -- some about the historical period and some that are replicas of books actually in use during the 1840’s and 1850’s; such as George Washington’s Rules For Courtesy And Deportment; it could fit in anyone’s pocket and be useful even today.   The Trade Store also features various high quality toys, games, and craft kits that would be just as much fun for kids of all ages now as in the olden days.

After circling the fort with the audio tour and interacting with the costume docents, it was an actual surprise to come down the stairs from John A. Sutter’s office and see the modern skyline over the white adobe walls of the Fort!  In my imagination, it had been 1850 until that very moment! 

Then, capping off our tour at noon, we witnessed the cannon firing.  Wow!  It gave off even more loud noise and smoke, along with the fun of yelling out “fire in the hole!” to warn unsuspecting 21st Century passers-by outside the Fort’s adobe walls.

Fast-forward as Carol, Cindy, and I walked two blocks and almost two centuries into the present and enjoyed lunch at Centro restaurant, where we saw people at business lunches with laptop computers up on their table!  What a lot of changes have taken place since Sutter’s day.  We are very fortunate to have the Sutter’s Fort State Historic Park right here in the middle of downtown Sacramento, where we can get a glimpse of what it might have been like in the historical past and then enjoy some great downtown Sacramento dining!  My friends and I had a great time there.

Carol Dabrowiak

How many museums have you visited recently that fire off a replica of a pre-Civil War cannon during your tour?  That is one of the things that make Sutter's Fort a truly unique experience. 

It was a beautiful morning in Sacramento when my friends and I toured Sutter's Fort.  I felt like I was visiting the past nestled in the architecture of the future.  Walking into the Fort takes you back to the 1840s, before California was a state and it needed an adobe fort with cannons to defend it from enemy attacks.  But when you look back out to the horizon and you see high rise buildings and construction cranes lifting us into the twenty first century, the contrast is striking and a little jarring.

John Sutter built this fort as a way station for settlers who were heading west.  They needed temporary shelter and supplies to continue their journeys.  He befriended the travelers and provided them with lodging.  He even sent his workers to Tahoe to rescue the 47 survivors of the Donner Party.  He was California's first humanitarian.

A tour of Sutter's Fort is an interactive experience.   Docents in period costumes perform tasks that the settlers to Sacramento Valley would have performed.  A young man demonstrated how to load and fire a musket.  And he let the children hold the weapon after he fired it so they could feel the weight of it.  A woman in a long muslin dress and sun bonnet explained how families risked their lives to travel across the plains to get to California. 

A replica of the covered wagon they rode in is displayed at the fort.  The interior is about the size and shape of a pup tent, and the journey took about 4 months.  They frequently got lost or ran out of provisions. How did families survive such an experience?   I remember car trips with my siblings when we could barely be together for two hours before someone's life was at risk. 

The docent also had examples of toys and games that the children played.  These games consisted of wooden hoops and sticks and strings and involved throwing and catching -encouraging being outside.  She also played the games with the audience members.  No AA batteries needed here.  The blacksmith had children help him pump the giant bellows to fire up the coals and heat the steel rods.  He also let us examine the different tools the settlers made.

John Sutter is mostly remembered for the discovery of gold.  But gold was not discovered at Sutter's Fort.  It was discovered at Sutter's Sawmill about 50 miles east of the fort on the American River.  And it wasn't John Sutter who discovered it, but his employee, James Marshall.  After gold was discovered there was a "rush" of thousands of people coming to California to make their fortune.  Sadly, John Sutter didn't profit from it nor did James Marshall. 

There are lots of things happening at Sutter's Fort.  The docents were interesting and quirky.  They made sure everyone was gathered together for the highlight of the day.  They made us all yell "fire in the hole!" before they shoot off a large cannon that produces fire and smoke and shakes the ground.  Very Impressive!  Sutter's Fort is a fun place to visit and a fun thing to do in Sacramento.

Carol, Janet and Cindy set out to be Hometown Tourists of Sacramento.  They started their adventure with lunch at Ambrosia and ended it with the bear outside the governor’s office.  Here are comments from each on their adventure of the State Capitol building.

Cindy:
My first tour of the California State Capitol was in 1984, and I have visited several times since.  There is always something different to see each time.  Seeing the building when the legislature is in session is very exciting and the place is bustling with energy.  Seeing the building when the legislation is on break is just as wonderful.  It allows you to focus on the grand structure.  Each time I have taken the tour, I have learned something new.  This time it was about the governor’s painting that really was controversial at the time (hint: it isn’t Jerry Brown’s).  It became a real trend setter for future portraits.  See if you can you find it.

Carol:
My friends and I decided to learn some California history in a fun and factual way, so we took a guided tour of the Capitol Building.  I wonder how many times we drive downtown and actually look at things.  And by things, I mean Sacramento attractions like the Capitol Building.  I have it in my backyard, but I don't always see it.  I should appreciate living in the state capital. 

We met up with our guide in the beautiful, soaring, echoing rotunda.  By the way, our guide was a thirty-something man named Kyle.  I thought all guides had to be retired government workers who recite facts by rote.  Nope.  Kyle was fun and personable and interesting and informative.  He shared little known facts while giving a history lesson of the building.  It is a beautiful structure that has been painstakingly maintained and restored to its original wonder.  The legislature desks are the original desks from the early 1900s.  The staircases and rotunda railings are architectural treasures.   Every corner we turned we saw more beauty and history.  Even the tile floors have an interesting story behind them -- they were cut out, sent off to be cleaned and reset tile by tile.  Did you know they almost put the Capitol in Benicia?  Seriously?  It is a Sacramento wonder, and I plan to take all of my out-of-towners to visit and proudly show it off.

Janet:
Something else:  call me crazy but I guess that I didn't get enough of the Capitol, because I also took the 4:00 public tour of 45 minutes!  It was interesting to mingle with the other ("real") tourists, to hear the questions they asked, and to listen to more Capitol stories from our guide Tyson (also thirty something and from Stockton / Lodi area).  Tyson mentioned the difference in the floor numbers between the old and new parts of the Capitol.  That made me really glad that Kyle had actually taken us into the connecting staircase on our private tour!  The other neat thing for me about the whole experience is looking at my own town with fresh eyes.  I was very glad to be a Hometown Tourist - knowing my way around as I drove east along N Street, past the Capitol again and through Midtown then East Sacramento, to get home from town.  I'm looking forward to our next HTT adventure.  I'll get working on the arrangements soon.  Thanks so much for your company on this endeavor!  It's both interesting and fun!

Your motorcoach is essential to your group.  And it is also essential your motorcoach seamlessly fits into your scheduled itinerary.  Sacramento is a motorcoach-friendly destination with many options to ensure your motorcoach is staged, loaded, unloaded and parked with ease in reasonable time.  Here are five ways the Sacramento Convention & Visitors Bureau can ease your motorcoach worries:

As college students weather finals and return for winter break, empty nest parents are planning new trips to Sacramento. Parents still remember taking kids to the State Capitol and other tourist attractions. They've been there, done that -- even the newly expanded Crocker Art Museum, which debuted a year ago. 

They're passing on packaged tours. Instead, they're exploring places new to them. And they aren't collecting magnets or shot glasses. They're bringing home art that captures the spirit of their adventure, and sharing these stories of discovery with friends. Their secret's out as I visited five Sacramento art galleries, clustered predominantly in the midtown neighborhood.

• Skinner Howard / 723 S St / Sacramento, CA 95811 / 916.446.1786 

• Art Foundry and Solomon Dubnick / 1021 R St / Sacramento, CA 95811 / 916.446.1786 AF / 916.444.3868 SD  

• Axis Gallery / 1517 19th St / Sacramento, CA 95811 / 916.443.9900 

• b. sakata garo / 923 20th St / Sacramento, CA 95814 / 916.447.4276 

• La Raza Galeria Posada / 1022 22nd St / Sacramento, CA 95814 / 916.446.5133 

You don't need to be a CEO or CFO to debate whether a conference app justifies its cost. We recently received estimates from $750 to $20,000! Like you, your convention delegates want meeting information that is convenient and easy to find.

The Sacramento Convention & Visitors Bureau (SCVB) has collaborated with Lambda Alpha International to create a microsite that communicates logistics, schedules, off-site events, and interactive maps for its upcoming Land Economics Weekend. The page is optimized for PC users... but smartphone users -- both iPhone and Android fans -- can access the same beneficial information about your event!

Our microsites cost much less than apps; planners simply book a minimum number of room nights. More importantly, our microsites save planners time. These customized sites are immediately viewable across all platforms.

In contrast, apps need to be re-designed to meet requirements of each platform or operating system. Then they go through a lengthy process to get approved for display in app stores... and delegates have to search for them.    



More and more planners are finding value in this convention service. The one-stop source draws together details about downtown Sacramento hotels, dining, tourist attractions, maps, and the calendar of events Sacramento365.com.  

Contact the Convention Services Dept. to learn more about developing a microsite to spur a gold rush to your next conference or trade show in Sacramento!

Sunny Sacramento residents and most visitors enjoy how walkable California's capital is: flat sidewalks framed by modern skyscrapers, Victorian houses, not to mention a canopy of lush green trees.
And who can resist stoppping at a sidewalk cafe? checking in at a restaurant or bar to nosh on small bites? sipping a refreshing drink? walking through an art gallery? or shopping a local boutique?

If you have limited or moderate mobility, navigating downtown Sacramento and its tourist attractions may seem intimidating -- at first. But you'll want to venture beyond your hotel. 

Discover a great destination for people who walk very little, cruise in a wheelchair, or hike and bike for miles and miles. It really has something for everyone! 

Seniors and people with mobility issues can still enjoy their visit from their arrival at the airport to many famous sights. Nearly all major points of interest are easy to get to without leaving pavement. Some require a short easy walk from where you park.

• Instead of moving sidewalks, the Sacramento International Airport chose to install an automated people mover. Picture a miniature monorail. Moreover, the airport is only a 15-minute shuttle or taxi ride from downtown Sacramento hotels.
  
• The Sacramento Convention Center and adjacent convention hotels, Hyatt Regency Sacramento and Sheraton Grand Sacramento are located within the same size footprint as a big-box hotel ... but guests enjoy fresh air and sunshine as they walk the corridors! These 4-star, 3-diamond properties certainly have ADA-rooms.

• Don't miss California's culinary showcase at many downtown Sacramento dining options. Chefs and restaurants bring the best of regional farms & ranches to you, so you don't have to get dirty. But if you want to visit them, we can arrange that as well!

• Think Rickshaw 2.0. Velocab brings together Sacramentans who love cycling and visitors who appreciate zero-emission travel. Each taxi can carry up to 3 people, plus driver. You can even reserve a guided tour with this company.

• Easily hail traditional taxicabs outside hotels and throughout downtown. Yellow Cab even offers a pre-paid TaxiCard, so you can plan your transportation budget as you plan your trip to Sacramento!

• Public transportation via Sacramento Regional Transit (RT) offers bus route #62, which runs westward on L Street, northward on 3^rd Street, and eastward on J Street before it runs southbound toward William Land Park on 19^th Street.

• For one day only -- July 3, 2011 -- the Train Collectors Association, Northern California Division will give non-members a sneak peek. Don't miss this fun model train exhibition at the Sacramento Convention Center.  

• July 8-10, 2011, the National Model Railroad Association presents the National Train Show. This is the industry’s most respected model train show and trade exposition. See all aspects of model railroading including the newest, unique products and services from the U.S. and around the world. The event will cover 134,000 sq. ft. of space, including 35,700 sq. ft. featuring extraordinary operating model train displays.  

• September 10-11, 2011, marks the return of the annual California Capital Airshow! Fans of all ages, prepare to be entertained and educated by exhilarating jet demonstrations, world-renowned aerobatic performers, jet trucks, warbirds, and more at Mather Airport.

• October 7-9, 2011, rev your engines at the 10th Annual Golden State Street Rod Nationals Plus, organized by the National Street Rod Association. Feast your eyes on more than 1,400 street rods, customs, muscle cars and street machines at Cal Expo Fairgrounds. This is the city’s largest vintage car show. It has plenty for the family from games and live entertainment to women's world arts & crafts and a ladies' tea.

What comes to mind when you hear the name Riedel?

If you're a hospitality veteran like me, you think of the Austrian glassmaking dynasty, Riedel Crystal. Maximillian J. Riedel, 11th generation of the family, can be credited with much of their success. Since joining the family business, he has expanded the company to international markets, been featured in numerous magazines and publications, designed and co-designed several decanters and famous collections.

In fact, most restaurants these days are likely to use one of his lines- Riedel Restaurant, which he created in 2001 specifically for restaurants. The line is designed to be more resistant to breakage and spotting than other glassware often used in restaurants, while still offering a variety of varietal specific shapes.

The most famous of his collections is the recent"O" series, a collection of stemless wine glasses. These were designed for serious wine drinkers but appropriate for casual appreciation as well. The series became the fastest selling new collection introduction in Riedel’s history.

Now you may ask, how much difference does the shape of the glass really make? According to Maximillian, the difference is worth a world tour. He is currently traveling the world demonstrating comparative wine tastings with glassware to prove that it REALLY makes a difference.

Sound interesting? Well you don’t have to go far to learn from this famous oenophile. Next week, Maximillian Riedel is coming to Sacramento! Held at the Historic Elks Tower Ballroom in Downtown Sacramento, This event may change your perception of wine forever- and even enhance your enjoyment of them. Even better, you’ll taste local wines from Sacramento Wineries and enjoy appetizers, desserts, and even go home with a set of your own 4-piece Vinum XL Tasting Set.
 
The event is organized by the Sacramento Chapter of NACE (National Association of Catering Executives). All proceeds will go directly to the local non-profit chapter.

To put it in persepective, the first of these tastings took place at Vinopolis in London in September of 2009 and attracted an audience of over 400, filling the venue to capacity over the two days. A return visit to Vinopolis London is planned for September 2010. Unless you plan on going abroad soon, take advantage of this rare appearance!

If you live near, but want to avoid drinking and driving, stay at one of the Sacramento Hotels where you can get a Sacramento Gold Card which offers discounts on all sorts of Sacramento dining spots and tourist attractions.

Many people travel to Sacramento for the holidays to visit family and friends. Here are five little tidbits about visiting Sacramento that will make your trip affordable and more enjoyable:

• Sacramento holiday hotel packages. They are in abundance. You don't want to sleep on the couch or in a too-small twin bed surrounded by Justin Bieber posters. Combine your hotel stay with a Sacramento Gold Card, only available at participating Sacramento area hotels, and you'll get special offers at Sacramento attractions, restaurants and shopping centers. Simply ask for your free Sacramento Gold Card when you check in.

• Sacramento International Airport. It is so easy to navigate and pleasant that you'll forget you may have paid extra for your bags. To brighten your mood even further there's live musical performances bringing you the sounds of the holidays. If you fly into Terminal A, enjoy what is my favorite piece of artwork in Sacramento, "Samson." Two towers of stacked luggage reach 23 feet high. It's very cool. When you're returning home and waiting for your flight, you get free Wi-Fi. Gotta check your Facebook.

• Old Sacramento. Locals have a love-hate relationship with Sacramento's best-known landmark and favorite Sacramento tourist attraction. Listen up. Old Sacramento, especially during the holiday season, is well worth the visit. The second annual Old Sacramento Theatre of Lights show this year has a true 'wow' factor. Thursdays through Sundays, there are two 20-minute shows at 6 pm and 7:30 pm. Wrap up the kids, grab yourself an overpriced decaf-low fat-mocha-soy-cino-something and walk from a nearby hotel (see how easy that it is) and feel the holiday spirit.

• 12 Days of Midtown Christmas. Midtown is Sacramento's hip, cool 'hood without the pretension. Now through Dec. 12, it's everything from karaoke to wine and jazz to a crafts fair. And if you come after Dec. 12, there are still plenty of things to do. Um...you can walk to Midtown from one of the downtown Sacramento hotels - think hard about sleeping on that couch.

• Fog. Why fog? Because it's not three feet of snow you have to shovel. It's  mildly irritating (unless it messes up your hair), but it gives you that gray, brisk feeling of Christmas without really being cold, nor nervous about driving in snow, or just being on the road with eggnog-fueld drivers in bad weather. Plus, the fog usually burns off just enough to keep the irritation level low. 

Located west of downtown and along the Sacramento River, Old Sacramento brings to life the history of the 1849 California Gold Rush. Stately brick and mortar buildings house more than 100 businesses -- hotels, shops, restaurants & bars, comedy clubs and theaters -- within this charming U.S. National Historic Landmark District. Don't miss the annual Theatre of Lights tradition or pedestrians in period costume who parade along the wooden boardwalks. (Ladies, mind the gaps or say, 'Adios!' to those stiletto heels.) From antiques and hand-crafted jewelry to old fashioned candies and fun educational toys, find your way around with this map. 

The Crocker Art Museum closed in June to complete their $100 million expansion project. The Teel Family Pavilion will bring more space and more opportunity for the public and arts in Sacramento. It will also include a café for dining in Sacramento, a sleek 260-seat auditorium and an art conservation lab for visitors to view art being restored.

During a sneak peak at the Crocker Fundraising Gala, I got a chance to see two new collections: African and Oceanic art.

This summer the California Sate Fair awarded Crocker Art Museum with The Golden Bear Award for the Arts, to honor their efforts on showcasing art and educating the public.

The highly anticipated opening will be on Sunday, October 10, when the 125,000-square-foot expansion will be open to the public, 10 a.m. to 10 p.m. 

If you are looking for fun things to do in Sacramento that weekend, join the ribbon-cutting ceremony which will kick off an all-day-arts festival and a block party celebration. Enjoy this Sacramento family event with 12 hours of live entertainment, street performers, swing and salsa dance contests, art activities, and much more.

The new Crocker Art Museum will now have the space to showcase their large California art collection and be a Sacramento tourist attraction for art and museum aficionados.

Don’t miss this the public Grand Opening of Crocker’s Teel Family Pavilion on October 10.
Crocker Art Museum, 216 O St., Sacramento 
Admission to the museum will be $10 for adults, $8 for seniors and college students, $5 for youths 7-17 and free for children 6 and under and Crocker members. 


Photos Courtesy of Crocker Art Museum    

Written by Sacramento365.com Promotional Intern, Alejandra Gonzalez