California Road Trips Guide - 2021 - 38

ROAD TRIPS 2021
California State Capitol
Localis
Tower Bridge
Gateway Essentials:
Sacramento & Beyond
S
urrounded by farmland,
Sacramento blends both
town and country-it has
the vitality of California's bigger cities,
but on an intimate scale. The capital
city's history and politics blend in with
convivial breweries, a burgeoning arts
movement, and sophisticated restaurants.
Eating matters here: Since
Sacramento is the hub of California's
agricultural region, farm-to-fork isn't
just a slogan. Year-round farmers markets
attract a food-forward crowd, and
restaurants like Ella Dining Room &
Bar, Localis, Mulvaney's B&L, and The
Kitchen Restaurant elicit praise and
draw visitors from around the country.
Sacramento International Airport
makes getting to the area a breeze.
Its runways are just 10 miles from
downtown, with easy freeway access
from Interstate 5 or Highway 99.
To see echoes of the Gold Rush
days, head to Old Sacramento. This
riverfront corridor was the heart of
commerce during the mid-1800s-
historic buildings line its cobblestone
streets and raised wooden sidewalks.
Among an array of candy shops and
saloons, you'll find the Sacramento
38 | VISITCALIFORNIA.COM
History Museum filled with many Gold
Rush-era artifacts, and the California
State Railroad Museum's lavishly
restored 1860s locomotives. You can't
miss the 1927 Delta King Riverboat,
moored along Old Town's riverbanks,
now a hotel with two restaurants.
During its heyday, the 285-foot ship
made hundreds of trips between San
Francisco and Sacramento.
Get a bead on Sacramento's
street-art scene by wandering through
revitalized Midtown to see eyecatching
murals splashed across old
and new buildings. Visit contemporary
galleries like the Verge Center for the
Arts, Elliott Fouts Gallery, or Groundswell.
Midtown is an epicenter for all
that's hip and trendy, from third-wave
coffee to Korean-fusion tacos. Highminded
eateries and cool shops are
tucked into old Victorian mansions
and Craftsman bungalows.
Turn on your right brain at the steeland-concrete
Crocker Art Museum,
which boasts more than 15,000 works
from around the globe. Not far away
is Sacramento's impressive Capitol
building, an elegant 1869 structure
with an imposing 128-foot-high dome
and garden of 1,200 rose bushes.
If you have kids in tow, rent bikes
and pedal the American River Bike
Trail, which spans 32 miles from Old
Sacramento all the way to Folsom
Lake. For the youngest tykes, a trip to
Fairytale Town is a must-play structures
mimic settings from nursery
rhymes and fables, and a mini-farm
has friendly goats, pigs, and sheep.
EATING MATTERS HERE:
SINCE SACRAMENTO IS THE HUB
OF CALIFORNIA'S AGRICULTURAL
REGION, FARM-TO-FORK
ISN'T JUST A SLOGAN.
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California Road Trips Guide - 2021

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