The sun sets at Raley Field in West Sacramento. The golden Tower Bridge is in the middle distance.
You do not have to be a big fan of the game of baseball to enjoy an evening at a good ballpark. The River Cats’ baseball stadium in West Sacramento is just such a park. Raley Field is across Tower Bridge on the Sacramento River just minutes from downtown Sacramento.
The River Cats just switched affiliations from the Oakland As to the San Francisco Giants. The Sacramento River Cats are a Triple-A club in the Pacific North league. They have been playing at Raley Field since 2000. Tickets are affordable, ranging from $10 to $65 apiece. Food prices are similar to going to the theater and a little less expensive than a Major League game.
Baseball games are as much about the food and the small traditions as the at bats and defensive plays. Tonight a local childrens’ choir sang the national anthem. I discovered later on facebook that an old friend’s daughter was in that choir. There is Dinger the River Cat mascot doing crazy skits and giving away freebies between innings. Then there is the 7th inning stretch when everyone is invited to stand, stretch, and sing.
Hey batter, batter!
Monday nights Cache Creek Casino sponsors free Bingo. I doubt anyone won this week. The numbers are based on the position of the player and how that player does at bat. Some numbers were “called” over and over.
I joined work colleagues at this game against the Las Vegas 51s. We had good tickets on the lower level between homebase and third. Our tickets also entitled us to enter the Solon Club for better food. Broderick Roadhouse offers a great ballpark menu. And the view as you eat is from a higher deck above first base.
I rode my bike to the ballpark. It is just 15 minutes from Midtown. There is plenty of bike parking. The wind came up and it was a chilly ride home and totally beautiful. I pedaled across the golden Tower Bridge and straight to the illuminated state capitol, then around N to 18th to home. I look forward to a long summer of baseball whenever I need some relaxation or a really great hotdog.
I moved to midtown Sacramento to be in one of the liveliest places in Sacramento, which is not saying much in a relatively sleepy place. It is the first Sactown neighborhood to re-embrace mixed use with restaurants and shops on the first floor and apartment living above. Plus it hosts the Second Saturday for Art events and a lot of other celebrations. It is loud and lively most every night from Thursday through Saturday.
Hoping for a kinder, friendlier police force.
I chose this light and spacious apartment 2 floors above the Rind restaurant to keep from becoming a hermit and to cycle to work and shopping (even more than in Davis). I am finding that I interact with all sorts of people much more here. Just now as I type I can hear a duo busking with their guitars in front of Capitol Dime bar. I compare it to my experiences in Chelsea NYC.
My dog Lulu also gets me out of the house 3-4 times a day. And this week I am caring for Dozer and so my life is dominated by the dogs’ schedule–something I call living in dogtown. People are very interested in the dogs and this opens conversation as well as providing an excuse to cut it short and move on.
I used to walk past this dilapidated home and garden in the 90s and imagine how I would restore it. Someone else has done it beautifully.
I am enjoying riding my cruiser to church and around town for shopping errands or picking up my mail. I need to get on Map My Ride and begin making longer rides. Indeed, to prepare for RAGBRAI I restarted Bike Your Butt Off by Selena Yeager and.Leslie Bonci. It is 12 week program that will peak July 4.
I love the Saturday Farmers’ Market at 20th and K Streets. I shopped at the Davis Farmers’ Market, but now I have a decent kitchen. So I am cooking at home more and making an effort to eat more healthy and fresh foods.
I thought I would give myself a challenge of picking one activity out of Sactown Magazine or Sacramento Magazine and do it each month. It turns out I do not need an official challenge. I have been inspired to try new restaurants, drink coffee in new places, go to the movies more, and generally enjoy the neighborhood amenities. I shop at Time Tested Books instead of the Avid Reader. Monday I will go to a Rivercats baseball game and in a few weeks a soccer game. Now I have a local wool shop in Rumplestiltskin. There are so many places within just a few blocks to watch rugby that the upcoming World Cup will be awesome.
Every move gives an opportunity to purge belongings, create new patterns, and make new friends. It also takes a while for my molecules to settle again. I have not learned to sleep through the night noise yet so I am tired in the afternoons. I look forward to the return to normal levels of creativity and energy.
Mostly I am glad to be here in this present moment and to explore my new neighborhood as if I were living in a foreign land.
Coming up: The Handle District will host the second annual Dress Up, Wine Down on May 9th between 3 – 9:30 p.m. The block party will be on Capitol Avenue between 19th and 18th Streets for a fashion show and wine tasting. Free to the public, donation to WEAVE suggested.
Alameda is a charming historic community on two small islands. The naval station (now closed) played a vital role in World War II. Alameda is now a vibrant smallish community in the heart of the Bay Area.
It is an ideal place for rowing and sailing with at least one America’s Cup teams headquartered here.
There are great places to eat and many establishments take advantage of the tremendous view of the Bay Bridge and San Francisco.
Scolari’s kale and avocado saladTaste wine at the Rock Wall and enjoy delicious food from Scolari’s
You can reach Alameda by car or ferry. There is a terrific bike shop in downtown where you can rent bikes and ride out to the point and see the naval buildings and ships, or dine al fresco at Scolaris, wine taste at Rock Wall, or try Hangar Ten vodka and spirits.
Rent a bicycle and pedal around historic Alameda.
Alameda would be a great place for a weekend getaway. There are not a lot of traditional lodging options in Alameda; however, there are numerous opportunities on Airbnb and several holiday accommodations on TripAdvisor.
Enjoy outdoor dining at Rock Wall and Scolari’sBeautiful view of San Francisco from Alameda
Lots of chocolate is sold for Easter: Cadbury eggs, chocolate bunnies, solid and hollow chocolate eggs, and more.
“Americans spend an average of $2 billion on Halloween candy, $1.9 billion on Easter candy, $1.4 billion on Christmas candy and $1 billion on Valentine’s Day candy.” (Universe)
The day before Valentine’s Day the line went down the block at Ginger Elizabeth chocolate shop.
Since I moved to midtown Sacramento I have a birds eye view of the popularity of chocolate. Some of the finest and most popular chocolate is from Ginger Elizabeth. There is often a line for the hot chocolate or for a sweet treat.
At the cheese festival in Petaluma I discovered a San Francisco chocolatier, Poco Dolce. Today I am enjoying a couple of the bittersweet chocolate tiles: burnt caramel toffee and roasted almond. Yum.
Of course, as a followers of Jesus, the reason for Easter is to celebrate his resurrection. The chocolate is a bonus. Happy Easter.
Today is Pi(e) Day. More specifically it is a once in a century Pi(e) Day 3-14-15 9:26:53.
Joans on 3rd hand pie for breakfast.
I am celebrating. Not by doing sums (or even finishing my taxes–one of the few times I use math… or Turbo Tax uses math). I am celebrating by braking for pie as often as possible.
I started the Pi(e) party at breakfast. I met my friend Henry at Joan’s on 3rd in Los Angeles. I ordered a ham and cheese hand pie and a nutella pop tart. The hand pie was excellent and more like a stuffed croissant than a pie. The pop tart was closer to pie and so rich I shared with Henry and still could not finish it.
Murray Farms farmstand: the highway sign said “Pie”.
Then it was time to hit the road and drive the 6+ hours to Sacramento. I saw a roadside sign 30 miles north of Gorman on Interstate 5 that advertised a farmstand and said “Pie”. I took the exit and within minutes was walking out with a peach pie “for the kids”.
Another hour or so of driving and I entered Fresno County and the destination that would be sure to have pie and a cup of coffee.
A whole peach pie… can it be good if the peaches are not in season? We will find out.
I love Harris Ranch. Ever since I was driving to and from University of Southern California, I have stopped at Harris Ranch. The bathrooms are luxurious. The store has interesting things to look at and you can buy a small snack if you are broke. For the longest time the restaurant was only an aspiration. As time passed I had less anxiety about the menu prices.
Alas I sat down to order and the restaurant is only serving boysenberry cobbler and it is long on fruit and maple ice cream and short on the cobbler. Delicious but not pie.
The store bakery had an entire cherry pie, so I bought a second pie for the kids: two pies to thank them for watching my dog Lulu while I was out of town.
Two and a half hours to drive before I am reunited with Lulu. If I had spent the day at home I would surely have baked a pie. I am going to try to push through without stopping again. Unless there is an irresistible sign for pie.
Recently I attended a concert at Oracle Arena in Oakland, California. I do not appreciate reminders of my advancing age. This whole experience made me feel old! First, I could not remember the last concert I have been to at a big arena. (I actually tried to recall.) I do remember going to see U2 at Arco Arena (aka Sleep Train Arena) in 2000. It was amazing. They designed a set that created an intimate-like setting for 17,000 fans. The sound waved through our bodies as we all sang along to every song. I believe Gwen Stefani and No Doubt opened the concert but they did not make a big impression, except that they seemed dwarfed by the set. In contrast, the arena erupted with electric lights and excitement when U2 took the stage and did not ebb until after the last encore. The sound was not as good as a concert hall, but it was as good as it gets in a basketball arena.
Needless to say, my bar was set kind of high. Fast forward to 2015 and the Enrique Iglesias and Pitbull concert. My friend Noel put out the call to action on Facebook and a number of us–all Enrique fans–responded yes! Noel was able to get tickets at the box office. In fact, the price had just been dropped to $29 for nosebleed sections.
The Sushi House restaruarnt at 2226 South Shore Center, Suite B, Alameda, Califronia
We agreed to meet for dinner beforehand at the Sushi House in Alameda. It was Valentine’s Day so we expected it to be packed. They do not take reservations so I scrambled out of the car to sign up on the wait list while Noel parked the car. We were seated within 20 minutes.
Bento box includes starters of soup and salad and is enough to feed two!
While the service at the Sushi House is intermittent, the food is abundant and delicious. We ate as much as we could before we had to dash to Oracle Arena to make the show. So glad we carpooled! Can you believe parking is $45 a car?
Because I am an Enrique Iglesias fan, I assumed Pitbull was opening for Enrique and not the other way around. Showing my age, right? Oh, it gets worse.
Some sort of DJ rapper was on stage with a couple of excellent hip hop dancers. They were dwarfed by the sets and we could not understand what they were singing for the pounding bass drum beat that felt like a second heart beat throughout my body. I had to overcome the overall desire to retreat to the outside hallway. Conversation impossible. I also kicked myself for forgetting my earplugs.
We were in seats in the first row of the highest tier at Oracle Arena.
After what seemed an eternity, Enrique took the stage. Again I was taken by surprise because I was expecting Pitbull. (Full display of the power of assumptions; and admission that I never read my ticket). He sang beautifully on the ballads and with energy on the pop songs. He had a rapper and several excellent vocalists and guitarists accompanying him. He has a couple of songs on his Sex & Love album that feature Pitbull and yet Pitbull did not appear (the rapper filled in) during those performances. I naively thought maybe Pitbull was a no show. The staging was a bit clunky and old-fashioned. The use of fireworks and confetti felt like it was fulfilling audience expectations rather than inspired by the music.
Enrique saved Bailando for the encore and I loved it. My whole fascination with the Sex & Love album was inspired by my Thomson tour guides’ fascination with the song during the Tour de France. We sang it on the bus several times a day and it conjures up fun memories of Aussies and Americans singing in Spanish through the French countryside.
Enrique wrapped up about 11 p.m. and we all looked at each other, gathered up our stuff to go and proceeded to the lobby. Almost immediately another DJ came on to keep the crowd warm. We then realized that Pitbull’s performance was still to come. We all agreed that we should at least stay and sample his show, so we sheepishly returned to our seats.
The DJ finally ended and six dancers skipped onto the stage and began to disrobe into essentially lingerie. Then Pitbull made his entrance. I know I have been playing the old fart card in this post, yet I do know most of Pitbull’s music from Zumba and pop radio (I adore!). I am still mystified how he can be the main attraction. Most of his songs “feature” Pitbull, that is a singer like Shakira sings the chorus and Pitbull jumps in with his Miami rap schtick. It is all backed up by a club beat. In fact, people play some Pitbull song to get the party started in clubs and at weddings. Now imagine, 15,000 to 16,000 people have been drinking since 6:00 p.m. (or smoking), and then Pitbull starts his act and turns the place into a giant club. People suddenly feel they have permission to act like they do in a club. Only it feels a little overwhelming because it is 100 times bigger. Whereas Enrique talked to us and invited us to drink with him and sing along in Spanish, Pitbull shouted at us to get up and act up. Except his songs did not sound like his songs because he only sampled a little bit of the chorus. So it was a few bars of Shakira and then all Miami club jabber. A few songs in and I let the group know I was okay with leaving. We were of one accord.
We returned to Alameda and found a Mexican restaurant with a bar still open and enjoyed margaritas and conversation. At last the music was not so loud.
I am trying to find superlatives to describe our dining experience at Husk. We arrived with a healthy appetite (thank goodness) after our walk through the cold from Tootsie’s on Broadway. We had a 7:15 reservation we made on Sunday.
37 Rutledge Street
The restaurant is in a converted mansion close to the Cumberland River. We passed the blackboard in the foyer listing all of the food and where it is sourced. The chef is committed to reinventing southern cuisine and eating local. We were seated downstairs and began to peruse our menus.
It was clear from the get-go: deciding what to eat was going to be a real challenge. We though we had it all figured out. Jessica will get the pork, Janet the beef; me the chicken and we would all share. (Chuck was always going to get the chicken.) Then the waitress told us about the specials and Janet and I both agreed to share a rib-eye steak. Somehow the waitress convinced us that we could not possibly be full if we shared a 26 ounce steak (the minimum size), so we ordered the next size available at 42 oz.
Sources of food
By this time we had our cocktails. I decided to join in and had a delicious drink called a Copperhead. It had some combination of rye whiskey and other good stuff. We started the meal with pork-tail sliders and chicken skins. OH MY GOD! We knew this was going to be an euphoric evening of eating.
Pork tail sliders and chicken skins
It was truly amazing. The rib-eye was fantastic, as was the pork and chicken. The sides were creative and tasty—sweet potatoes with the pork, white potatoes and broccoli with the rib-eye. We were all so caught up in the conversation and sharing great food. It was wonderful.
I could not imagine finding an empty inch in my tummy for dessert and then I saw the menu. I have always wanted to try buttermilk pie. So I talked everyone into sharing a slice. It is custardy and delicious. It is a great option for a pie baker like me when there is not a good fruit option in season.
Some of us wanted to see the NCAA Championship Football Game and all of us needed to eat. We consulted our napkin of suggestions and decided to combine activities at Pinewood Social.
It is located in an industrial area on the Cumberland River that is gradually converting to more genteel uses. The former hanger or warehouse is so big they can provide a large restaurant, big bar and still offer six lanes of bowling in the back.
We sat in a booth with televisions visible in every direction. The cocktails were terrific and interesting. Nashville mixologists are having fun with bitters. There are also local brews and old favorites.
We started with the fried broccoli and it was amazing. I could have eaten that all night. It is simply broccoli—no breading—slightly crunchy with just the right amount of salt. I ordered the fried chicken and it came with fries and a terrific cole salw type salad with all kinds of yummy ingredients. The fried chicken was excellent just trending toward spicy hot.
You can buy a pair of socks if you need them.
At this point the ballgame was no longer capturing our attention and we decided to bowl. The party moved to a lane. An attendant fetched us some shoes (and we bought rabbit socks since some of us were wearing pumps). They give you an iPad for keeping score and the app makes it easy if you have forgotten how to bowl.
I am not much of a bowler. I can probably count on my fingers the number of times my score broke 100. The first 2 practice balls were gutter balls. Sometime mid game Jessica suggested aligning my thumb differently and voila! I started knocking down pins. My boss Chuck was well ahead so I wasn’t worried about my score. I was just having fun.
Then a small miracle occurred. In the last two frames I bowled 4 strikes in a row! And I won the game!
Pinewood Social dining room
We bowled a second game so Chuck could make his comeback and my bowling went back to “normal”. The cocktails kept coming and we enjoyed ourselves knowing that our designated driver Jessica would see us safely back to the hotel.
You know it is a good place and a fun time when you all start planning how to open a similar place back home. We did not need a reservation for dinner or bowling, but it was a Monday night. Best to call ahead.
On the Southwest flight to Nashville I struck up a conversation with a local Nashvillian and asked “Where should we go?” She and her friends gave us lots of suggestions and I started writing them on this napkin. Then other passengers started chiming in. By the time we were finished we had more places to eat than meals to eat them.
Fried chicken and biscuits and gravy at Puckett’s in Franklin
With one southern boy in our party, we committed ourselves to eat as much southern food as possible in 48 hours. Kudos to Chuck. He managed to eat chicken at every single meal, even breakfast.
Fireside chats at Hermitage Hotel fireplace
We arrived to the Hermitage Hotel late on Sunday night and felt peckish. It was 7:30 p.m. on our internal clocks. One of the recommendations was for the Capitol Grill at the Hermitage Hotel. Unfortunately its kitchen was already closed; fortunately we could order food at the Oak Bar. We kicked off our Nashville eating orgasma with divine deviled eggs and fried green tomatoes with pimento cheese. Jessica also ordered the Brunswick Stew and let me taste. Yum. My colleagues raved about the cocktails. The waitress was very good with recommending drinks and provided quick cheerful service. Welcome to Nashville.
The next morning we all had breakfast on our own. I actually got up early and worked out in the gym! I ordered breakfast in my room: oatmeal with raisins (it is all about the pacing). It was the same high quality as the food served on my last morning at the Capitol Grill.
Our workshop was in Franklin and at lunchtime we sprinted to the Burger Up to get a table and eat in the hour break. We were all pleasantly surprised when we looked at the menu to find gourmet burgers, chicken and salads. You could eat healthy or go for truffle fries. The original Burger Up is in 12 South. We highly recommend it.
That evening some of us wanted to watch football and we needed to eat. We selected Pinewood Social and it was such an amazing experience it earned a dedicated blog post, as did our dinner the following evening at the restaurant Husk.
On our last full day together we looked at our napkin and realized that we had to go out to breakfast if we wanted to experience more of what Nashville had to offer. Plus people kept saying we should see downtown Franklin. So we got up early and went to Puckett’s General Store for breakfast. It was good food and generous portions. By this time though I could feel myself getting ready to wave the white flag.
Our speaker used Chick-fil-A as a marketing example during the workshop and we all looked at each other and said “lunch”. We all were looking for smaller portions while still delicious and with service in under an hour (with driving).
The next day my sister-in-law’s sister Gretchen and mom Chetty gave me a tour of Nashville. I still needed to try a “meat and 3 sides” so we went to Jack’s BBQ. I loved the flying pigs. The sides all looked like they might clog an artery so I selected turnip greens and cole slaw to go with my pork and cornbread platter. It was delicious but I was reaching “tilt”.
Meat and 3 Sides at Jack’s BBQ
I also wanted to try local coffee. We stopped in 12 North at Frothy Monkey and I enjoyed an excellent latte.
On the last evening, I was too pooped to go out, so I ordered a salad from room service and carved off another hunk of rib-eye from the ginormous steak Janet and I shared at Husk. It was even more delicious cold.
I got recommendations for non-southern places too. Try Urban Grub in 12 South or Etch restaurant downtown (the only one anyone mentioned has vegetarian options). I Dream of Weenie for hotdogs.
My colleagues and I all agree—we would return to Nashville in a heartbeat and stay longer next time.
After a long day of cycling I had something of an appetite. Off the Rails host Nick takes his guests to the Blue Lake at St Bathans at the end of Day Two. It is a stunning lake created by gold mining.
The history of the Vulcan Hotel allegedly accommodates ghosts!
Then to the Vulcan Hotel for a HUGE meal. I lost count of the number of vegetables and other sides. It was all delicious. The Hotel’s bar is historic and the wine list is quite good. Call ahead and let them know you are coming to dine.
St Bathans is a bit off the beaten path and worth the effort.
americanjulie.com 