Erin | April 21, 2013
Old Sacramento Speakeasy Tour http://downtownsac.org/venture-out/downtown-tours/ $10, tours take place every third Saturday. The 18th Amendment, the prohibition of alcohol, was not a very popular one and Sacramento was no different that any other big city at the time. The booze flowed freely, if you knew where to look for it. Now, almost a century later [...]
Erin | April 14, 2013
Wakamatsu Colony Walking Tour http://arconservancy.org/wakamatsu Price: $10 As I covered last year when I went to the Wakamtsu Colony Festival, the colony was founded in 1869 by a group of Japanse colonists looking for an escape from the Boshin War. Sadly, the colony only lasted a couple of years before it fell to drought, but [...]
Erin | March 16, 2013
http://www.stanfordmansion.org/ The Leland Stanford Mansion Admission: Free (despite what the website says. Also donations accepted) Leland Stanford was a robber baron, industrialist and the 8th Governor of California. In 1861, while waiting for what is still the California State Capitol Building to be constructed, Stanford purchased the mansion. He later added on an office, which [...]
Erin | February 10, 2013
http://www.safariwest.com/ Admission: $68 (with reservation only) Locate on 400 acres in Santa Rosa, Safari West is a very unique blend of wild animal park and zoo. One of the few privately owned facilities that is accredited by the Association of Zoos and Aquariums (which I was happy to hear), Safari West boasts over 400 mammals [...]
Erin | February 9, 2013
http://sonomacanopytours.com/ Price: $100 Located just outside of Santa Rosa, Sonoma Canopy Tours takes you on a tour of the towering redwood forests from a very unique point of view: the half way up the trees. Featuring seven zip lines (the longest going 800 feet), two rope bridges and one spiral staircase the tour is definitly [...]
Erin | November 25, 2012
http://www.hornblower.com/hce/port/category/sac+river-cruises Price: $20 (for the standard cruise) Hornblower Cruises offers several different cruises along the Sacramento River, including a champagne brunch and dinner/dancing cruise. I chose the standard up-the-river tour as I’m rarely awake for bunches and the dinner cruise was a smidge out of my price range.
Erin | October 14, 2012
http://www.historicoldsac.org/programs/programs-ghost.asp Cost: $15 Described by the website as “…an eerie journey back in time. Walk the streets of Old Sacramento on an eerie journey back in time. Venture through centuries of history and hear ghost stories dating to the Gold Rush era. Guides (and ghosts!) will relate tantalizing tales of how folks lived and died [...]
Erin | October 4, 2012
http://www.winchestermysteryhouse.com/ 525 South Winchester Blvd. San Jose, CA 95128 So, Sara Winchester was pretty much crazy-pants. Or at least she was after the deaths of her husband and young daughter. In her grief she visited a medium who informed her that due to the deaths caused by her husbands very effective Winchester Rifle her family [...]
Erin | September 18, 2012
http://www.caverntours.com/BlackRt.htm 15701 Pioneer Volcano Road Volcano, CA 95689, USA Price: Walking Tour $14.95 Black Chasm Cavern is a natural cave well known for it’s helictite crystals. Featuring three different rooms and some rather tight and steep entrances (hello, claustrophobia) as well as spectacular crystal formations. They are apparently so impressive that the cavern was used [...]
Erin | June 17, 2012
http://www.prestoncastle.com/ 998 Palm Dr. Ione, CA Preston Castle, officially named the Preston School of Industry, was open in 1894 when someone finally realized that sticking kids as young as 12 in San Quentin probably wasn’t a smart idea. The original buildings were used for the school until the 1960s when a new facility was constructed [...]
