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Friday, February 10, 2012
Sacramento Makes LA Times "Underrated" Vacation Spot List
by Steven Maviglio, published on April 22, 2009 at 10:57 AM
Storyline: In and Around Sacramento
Singapore. Kailua, Hawaii. And Sacramento?
Yes, our hometown has made the Los Angeles Times' "most underrated places of the world" list.
Compiled by the newspaper's travel staff, the list includes spots around the world as great places to visit that usually don't make the covers of the glossy travel magazines. But why Sacramento?
The Times says it's a great day trip, full of history and beauty. And the newspaper is right:
Here's an excerpt from the Times http://travel.latimes.com/articles/la-trw-underrated19-2009apr19:
Why people ignore it: Just 80 miles from the breezy, self-consciously quaint tourist magnet of San Francisco, Sacramento is anything but. Saddled with hot summers, a dysfunctional legislature and, earlier this year, a Depression-style tent camp, California's capital hardly seems like a weekend getaway.
Why you shouldn't: History, history, history. Sacramento is the real deal: a living museum of 19th-century architecture.
Old Sacramento, a 28-acre state park along the riverfront, is said to contain the greatest concentration of historic buildings in California.
Not far away, the Capitol, a splendid 19th-century edifice replete with elaborate mosaics, has been lovingly restored and can be toured for free.
More than a dozen museums, historic parks and memorials dot the city. They include Sutter's Fort State Historic Park, with a reconstruction of John Sutter's 1839 adobe; the incomparable California State Railroad Museum, housing 20 locomotives dating as far back as the 1860s; the eclectic Crocker Art Museum; the old Governor's Mansion; and the new California Hall of Fame.
Fans of vintage riverboats shouldn't miss the Delta King, a restored 1920s stern wheeler that has been converted into a hotel, lounge and restaurant. The King, a twin to the Delta Queen, which recently suspended overnight excursions, is moored along the Sacramento River.
In this manageable city, which has less than 500,000 residents, everything is so close you can see lots on a day trip, flying round trip and walking or taking buses once you arrive. It's a whirlwind, but fun.
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I find it interesting that they describe Sacramento as walkable: that might be said for the central city, but not for the rest of the city (that is, the other 95% of Sacramento.) I suppose it is an improvement over some travel writers who seem to think that Sacramento begins and ends with the six blocks of Old Sacramento.
I thought the mayor was trying to get away from the "close to everywhere" lable. Seems to be an attractive thing to some people.
We are in the middle of a bike boom so watch cycle tourism take off in the coming years. Give the guys at Peak Adventures on the campus of Sac State credit for their Bike Blitz event this last week. Whole Foods was there handing out free energy bars and best bike went to Whitworths custom 2 rivers cider Keg delivery bike!