The first annual Mardi Gras Grub & Pub Crawl in Old Sacramento pulled folks in for some eats, drink and street entertainment tonight. Participating restaurants and bars offered food and drink specials to celebrate Mardi Gras in Sacramento's historic business district. There was an official speakeasy tour through Sacramento’s below-ground watering holes. Sacramento was "one of the wettest cities in the nation" during the Prohibition era. Here's some scenes from Mardi Gras: Selma Borjes and her SambaLon percussionists livened things up with a mini-parade, winding through some eateries. Folks were enjoying themselves. These  gals were headed into Laughs Unlimited. Some good ol

It's once again time to break out your masks and beads. Mardi Gras is here, and Sacramento is full of different events to dance, eat and drink the night away in true Mardi Gras fashion. The Mix Downtown, at 1531 L St., is throwing a Mardi Gras party Wednesday, Feb. 17. The party will take place on the patio of Mix, above de Vere's Irish Pub. Drink specials include $6 Hurricanes and go from 9-11 p.m. The party doesn't stop until 2 a.m., and Mix is providing free beads. Old Sacramento is also having a Mardi Gras extravaganza. The Mardi Gras Pub 'n' Grub Crawl will be held throughout the streets of Old Sacramento Saturday, Feb. 20, starting at 4 p.m. The self-guided crawl will feature food

Old Sacramento, a 28-acre historic landmark and state historic park, will hold it’s 14th Annual St. Patrick's Day Parade & Festival on Saturday, March 13, 2010. New to this year’s event: a new date, a new time and a new parade route. The 2010 event will also include a Celtic festival in Waterfront Park (1000 Front Street) from noon – 6:00 p.m. featuring Irish music, dancing, food and a green beer garden. A number of vendors will be on hand to peddle their Celtic wares. Always a free event, the parade steps off from a new location (2nd & L Streets) promptly at 1:00 p.m. and proceeds throughout the historic district. Over 60 units, with more than 1,000 marchers, will delight the Irish and

A local foundation wants to create a program to allow public guided tours of Old Sacramento’s underground sidewalks. The Historic Old Sacramento Foundation is pitching the idea to the City Council Tuesday. The City Council will decide whether the city should loan the foundation $185,000 to start the program. “The tours will be high-quality presentations drawn from extensive original historic research,” according to a report from the Center for Sacramento History. “No two tours will be identical.” The tour program, which would be held on summer weekends, would be a tourist attraction and a boon for Old Sacramento, the report says. Read the proposal for the tour program here.   Kathlee

Spectacular fireworks, entertainment and large crowd (as well as the blue moon), bring the New Year in during Old Sacramento's festivities. Here's some moments:                               SacPress Photos | Kati Garner

You may have already heard the New Year's Eve ball drop is off for this year. Norm Alvis of Edaddywarbucks.com, which co-sponsored the drop last year along with Paragary Restaurant Group, asked both the city and the Downtown Sacramento Partnership to pay a third of the estimated $100,000 for a ball drop. Neither agreed, so the event was canceled. One celebration that might compare to the spectacle of last year's celebration, which drew an estimated crowd of 12,000 to 20,000 people, is a city-sponsored event in Old Sacramento. Organized by the Sacramento Convention and Visitors Bureau, the celebration will feature live music, food and drink vendors and perhaps most importantly, a firewor

In the kind of news that hasn't made headlines in years, three people and a draft horse are mending this week after a car totaled a horse-drawn carriage near Sacramento's waterfront. Police are still searching for the silver Toyota sedan that rammed into the carriage on Third Street as it circled Crocker Park Sunday night, Sacramento Police spokesperson Norm Leong said. One of Old Sacramento's horse-and-carriage businesses may be out an $8,500 replica French carriage unless the driver steps forward. The car struck without warning near O Street. The carriage rolled, sending driver Rick Newborn and two passengers flying to the ground. The impact broke the carriage into pieces. The roughly

The hottest spot for a New Year's Eve celebration is aboard the Empress Hornblower in Old Sacramento. They will have two fireworks cruises on New Year's Eve for the 9:00pm and 12:00pm fireworks at Tower Bridge. The first is a Dinner Gala cruise from 7:00pm to 10:00pm. Enjoy the fabulous buffet dinner, open standard cocktail bar, including after dinner liquors and house champagne, festive New Year's Eve party favors, pre-boarding photograph and live DJ entertainment for dancing. The second is a Midnight Cocktail cruise from 11:00pm to 1:00pm. Enjoy delicious hors d'ouevres, free flowing house champagne with a no-host bar for all other beverages, festive New Year's Eve party favors, pre-boa

Does your girlfriend drool over Jennifer Lopez' pink diamond engagement ring? Has your mom sighed over Vivien Leigh's emerald earrings from "Gone With the Wind?" Have you secretly wanted to get your hands on Humphrey Bogart's ring from "Casablanca?" Florida transplants Kevin and Debra Martin recently opened a celebrity-inspired fashion jewelry store called Filthy Rich in Old Sacramento. The store is the first new business to open in Pioneer Square since remodeling finished in June. The tiny Pioneer Square is a collection of retail spaces surrounding a brick courtyard still set at the city's original level, at the corner of I and 2nd streets. The square contains a fountain and old gas lam

Sara and Mike Barlow are one outdoorsy couple. They carved out their own trail to the fledgling store they opened in Old Sacramento, Trailmix.Net. After falling in love in a small Idaho college town, they honeymooned in a remote cabin reached by water-taxi in Washington's North Cascades National Park. Both were into hiking and camping in the Pacific Northwest. But they actually had to relocate to San Francisco to get more hardcore. "It wasn't until we moved to California that we kind of went crazy with it," said Mike Barlow, 37. "We went though this shock of people congestion. So we would escape up into the Sierra. That was how we got our fix." She took up backpacking with him and they

A youngster climbs high aboard the Hawaiian Chieftain in Old Sacramento. Even with cloudy skies, the Chieftain is ready to sail.   According to Grays Harbor Historical Seaport: "The topsail ketch Hawaiian Chieftain is a replica of a typical European merchant trader of the turn of the nineteenth century. Her hull shape and rigging are similar to those of Spanish explorer's ships used in the expeditions of the late 18th century along the Washington, Oregon, and California coasts. Built of steel in Hawaii in 1988 and originally designed for cargo trade among the Hawaiian Islands, her design was influenced by the early colonial passenger and coastal packets that carried on coastal trade

A colorful line-up of boats decorated with multi-colored lights toured the Sacramento River, starting from Sacramento Marina,  past Old Sacramento, all the way to the Virgin Sturgeon and back.   SacPress Photos | Kati Garner      

There is no doubt that businesses in general have suffered through our ever-changing economy. Businesses on multiple levels have had to make sacrifices; downsizing, cutting salaries, furloughing, laying off, and certainly cutting expenses.Small business, especially in Sacramento, is no exception. One expense that seems to be a commonality, is the Company Holiday Party. Historically, no matter how large or small an office or business is, company's have celebrated the holidays and their accomplishments with their partners, employees, and sometimes, vendors and customers. It is a time when people put work aside, and come together over food, drinks, entertainment and memories that often survi

New this year, event-goers will be introduced to the Old Sacramento Theatre of Lights. The Old Sacramento Theatre of Lights will run two 10-minute light shows throughout the holiday season Thursdays through Sundays at 6:30 p.m. and 8 p.m. November 25 - January 3 6:30 and 8:00pm shows Front and K Street, meet at the tree!     Mayor Kevin Johnson kicked off the Tree Lighting and the inaugural Theatre of Lights tonight.   Everyone gathered around the big Christmas tree at K and Front Street.   Lights and sound! And, yes, it's Santa Claus. Tour a railroad car Take a ride on the steam engine train from Old Sac       For more information, call (916

On the evening of Nov. 25, Mayor Kevin Johnson kicked off the first annual Old Sacramento Theatre of Lights with the ceremonial lighting of the Old Sacramento Christmas Tree.  For more information regarding this ongoing event, visit: oldsacramento.com. Photography: anthonybento.com

Treat yourself to a tasteful helping of holiday humor with the wickedly truthful "The Santaland Diaries."  Presented by Capital Stage in Old Sacramento, "Diaries" focuses on the crazy, "insane things" the holiday season tends to bring out in just about everyone - parents and hired elves alike.  "This is an adult take on how adults act around Christmas," said Peter Mohrmann, Capital Stage manager. "We've told every Christmas story over the last few years, we really wanted to show something different." Unlike cheery Christmas classics such as "It's a Wonderful Life," "White Christmas" and "Christmas Carol," "Diaries" has more of a "witty, sardonic and unpredictable" aftertaste, according

Tomorrow, November 25, the Sacramento's Tree Lighting festivities in Old Sacramento begins at 6:00 p.m. •The festivities include live performances, a visit from Father Christmas and much more. Visitors can join the fun and watch as Mayor Kevin Johnson flips the switch to light the tree at 6:30 p.m. • New this year, event-goers will be introduced to the Old Sacramento Theatre of Lights. At 6:30 p.m., a symphony of lights, sounds and visual effects will take the audience back to a time when the beloved poem The Night Before Christmas was first introduced in Sacramento in 1857. • The Old Sacramento Theatre of Lights will run two 10-minute light shows throughout the holiday season

From the quiet streets of Old Sac, the sun begins its arrival on a chilly morning two days before Thanksgiving. Watch SacPress for upcoming holiday events happening in Downtown and Old Sacramento.   SacPress photo | Kati Garner  

There are many stories about Old Sacramento that have yet to be told. Fights, lovers quarrels and bad business. Some say that the spirits of the people who died there still haunt the streets. Is it true? Maybe. You might find out for yourself one night. Old Sacramento's deadly history dating back to the 1800s was brought to life Friday as the Haunted Ghost Tours began. Costumed actors were scattered throughout Old Sac to tell the interesting stories of their characters' demise. One of the most interesting stories was that of Assemblyman John Bell, who was shot and stabbed in the stomach over an El Dorado boundary dispute with Dr. W. H. Stone April 11, 1860. The two men argued about the s

Work crews are preparing Old Sacramento's newest restaurant, Ten 22, for a mid-November opening. Crews continued building the large hickory bar and exposed kitchen Thursday. Work was expected to start Friday on a firepit that will take center stage in a courtyard lounge and dining area with a view of brick buildings dating to the 1850s. The restaurant's Oct. 22 opening was pushed back a few weeks so construction could be finished and the new staff trained in depth, said Terry Harvego, director of Harvego Enterprises, which is opening the restaurant in its year-old loft building, the Orleans, 1022 Second St. The restaurant and the building are overseen by Old Sacramento Properties, a divi