A Lazy Fourth of July 2018 in Old Sacramento

My husband was pleasantly surprised when I suggested a lazy Fourth of July in Old Sacramento. His first words were, you’re gonna make me drive somewhere. Too many drunks on the road. But no, see, I had predicted that would be his objection to venturing out of the house on the Fourth of July. Seemed to make sense that we instead walk. Get exercise.

From our home in Land Park, we logged 6 miles round trip. I had to rest next to this fellow, but darn, he had no whiskey in that jug.

My neighbors seem flabbergasted when I describe how we walk downtown or to Midtown. You WALK? They exclaim. Yeah, like one foot in front of the other. Nothing fancy.

Our first stop for our lazy Fourth of July in Old Sacramento was nourishment. My favorite restaurant in Old Sac is Rio City Cafe. It was barely 80 degrees, cool weather for Sacramento for this time of year.

Perfect weather for sitting outside at Rio City Cafe and sipping a hot and smokey margarita made with Illegal mezcal and jalapeños, if you can believe the menu. The steak and spinach salad with candied walnuts, pomegranates and cranberries was fabulous as well. This is the view from the outdoor dining patio, the Ziggurat, on the banks of West Sacramento. You can also see the Sacramento Tower Bridge, looking south.

To continue on our trek, we walked the empty streets. There were actually very few people and tourists in Old Sacramento during the day yesterday. The place comes alive at night, but that afternoon was decently calm. I noticed there were new floorboards installed in the walkway after crossing Capital. Last time I came down that path I was on my bike, and I barely made it over the rough lumber. Now it’s smooth enough for wheelchairs.

We sampled candy, visited shops — I had to buy a flying carp sock — and after hours of walking, now pretty pooped, we began our journey back to Land Park. On the way, we stopped at the Crocker Museum (this is the old building) and visited its gift shop. Museum gift shops tend to offer quality goods with artistic flair and you support the museum when you shop there.

The check-out clerk asked if we were related to the Malcolm Weintraub family. I get so tired of telling people no. Whose business is it anyway? So, at that very moment I decided to change the story. My cousins, I smiled.

It was a lovely Fourth of July in Old Sacramento. We live so close, we should go there more often.

Oh, and before I left the house, I managed to slip my last two listings into escrow. Yup, on the Fourth of July. I’ll write more about those in my next blogs. Stay tuned.