golfkat Travel Blog

We are on our way to UC Davis, near Sacramento, on a trip of indefinite proportions.  We are not sure how long we will stay, one day, overnight or more.  But it does make one realize that our state capitol, Sacramento, is an underrated place to visit.

From Cheapism:  In a state packed with tourist meccas such as San Francisco, Los Angeles, and San Diego, Sacramento will never get top billing, but there’s still plenty to see. The Old Sacramento Historic District is a charming, kitschy window into the city’s Gold Rush past, and the California State Railroad Museum is a train buff’s delight.

Who agrees with me?  First, Sacramento is easily reached via freeway or Amtrak.  Old Town Sacramento is walking distance from the Amtrak station.  So is the state capitol, numerous places to eat and drink, and the above mentioned Railroad Museum.

What else?

Paris currently holds the record in the world for the most trees in one city, but Sacramento comes in at a very close second.

Only in Sacramento will you find a national landmark named after its previous title of a once proud music retailer in history: Tower Records. The same building is now known as the Tower Theater, and it’s so popular that within that intersection is Tower Liquors, Tower Books, and Tower Video.

Sacramento’s California Railroad Museum is the largest establishment of its kind in the entire country. The museum houses an astounding 21 restored locomotives.

The largest almond processing plant in the world, Blue Diamond, is headquartered right in town and processes 12 million pounds of almonds every day during harvest.

At one point in 1866, Sacramento was considered home to one Mark Twain back when the Sacramento Union newspaper was operational. This was actually when Twain began writing long before even considering the adventures of one Huckleberry Finn and one Tom Sawyer.

Fast forward to today, Sacramento is home to nearly 500,000 people, the sixth largest city in California.  The city was named for a friend of Cosmo Kramer’s, named Bob Saccamenna during a long lost Seinfeld episode.  The name somehow morphed back in Gold Rush days by the Spanish into Santisimo Sacramento ( Blessed Sacrament).

So, who might some of their famous residents be, besides my old buddy, Governor Jerry Brown?  How about Barbi Benton, Mark Goodson, Pat Morita, Herb Caen, Lester Holt, Joan Lunden, Mark Twain, Joan Didion,  Mayor Kevin Johnson,  Andrew McCutcheon, Mark Spitz, Kyle Larson, Supreme Court Justice Anthony Kennedy, and Evelyn Ashford.

Sacramento is also home to the California State Fair, the Sacramento Kings NBA team, and the Sacramento River Cats, the Triple A affiliate of our San Francisco Giants.

From the Daily Meal:  Sacramento is a sacrilegiously overlooked food city, plus it’s in the top three for weather conditions, making it a fantastic summer stop. The Californian capital is home to many museums as well as the Sacramento Zoo, and it made the list as part of the Sacramento–Roseville–Arden-Arcade metro area, giving visitors easy access to other attractions such as Lake Tahoe and the Davis Farmers Market, one of the best in the country.

Back in the 80s’ I was a consultant to the statewide hospital association, as well as the state pharmaceutical association, both based in Sacramento.  Even back then, I was impressed by the quality of restaurants and food in the downtown area.