The vintage-styled Lace Salon opens its doors in Old Sacramento with services of styling, color and treatments, and haircuts. Lace Salon will host its grand opening April 14. Lace Salon got its name based on Lace Salon Owner Violet Vargas' enjoyment of vintage and Victorian styles, which evolved after being raised by her grandmother, and from a tattoo she has of a piece of lace. Her boyfriend, Joe Arizmendez, liked the tattoo so much that he suggested she name her salon Lace. "My boyfriend has always urged me to open a salon. I was really chicken about it, but he gave me the money to do it, so there were no more excuses. I love having the salon. Every day I walk in and you know you can b

There’s something about toy trains that captures the imagination of adults and children alike. This year’s “Small Train Holiday” at the California State Railroad Museum is drawing a steady stream of wide-eyed admirers to its special displays of toy and model trains over Thanksgiving weekend. Grown-ups and kids clustered around the working train displays run by avid toy train operators. Joe Montgomery’s train layout includes treasured trains from his youth. When he was a boy, his father traded several bushels of corn to a store-owner so that his son could have a pre-1950s Marx electric train. Montgomery played with the set for years until called into the armed services, and now he comes ev

Do you like history? How about ghosts? And puns? What about historically significant (and knowledgeable) pun-loving phantasms?  I, for one, am a glutton for punishment. In this case, incorporeal punishment. I received all that I wanted and more on Friday night at the Old Sacramento Ghost Tour. Put on by The Historic Old Sacramento Foundation, the Ghost Tour is an hour-long guided stroll around Old Sac that begins and ends at the Eagle Theater.  I arrived at the theater about 10 minutes before the tour was to begin and joined the crowd that was already milling about. Holding court on the theater steps with the rapt attention of a young family was a gentleman who looked eerily similar to

Old Sacramento’s streets are once again dirt, and about 150 volunteers are dressed in their best 1850s fashion as the area reverts back to its rich history for Labor Day weekend. Visitors can rumble down the streets in a horse-drawn carriage, refresh themselves at the Stinking Tent Saloon, pan for gold and then gamble away their findings at one of the more lecherous tents in the frontier tent city that sprung up overnight in front of the Sacramento History Museum on First and I streets. “I think it’s really important for people now to know about the history that was happening right here in that time period,” said Janessa West, public programs coordinator for the Historic Old Sacramento F

Rick Nahmias’ Photography exhibit, “The Migrant Project,” is currently on display at The Sacramento Railroad Museum. “The Migrant Project” has toured from gallery to gallery for eight years and was transformed into a book two years ago. However, The Sacramento Railroad Museum might be its most unlikely stop. Initially, Nahmias sought out the Sacramento Capitol Museum to display the photos to the public. Due to the Capitol being booked, Nahmias and his colleagues had to think outside the box. Nahmias’ colleagues are very committed to his message and his work, which is why he trusted their proposition of the Railroad Museum. The museum’s old produce car has been converted into “The Migran

A 1950s Lionel train advertisement shows a father, mother, little girl and boy peering into a window display featuring a model train going through a city, over a bridge and into the mountains. The father appears to be the most interested -- head cocked, hand on his chin, ready to help his child build the toy train set. An adjacent Lionel Train advertisement shows a father sitting on the ground assembling a train set, while his son sits in the background frowning. California State Railroad Museum's "Some Assembly Required" exhibit, which opened today, featured a somewhat similar scene. Many families were in the museum, but the historical toy exhibit seemed to strike the strongest chord wi