Showcasing the beauty of the Sacramento area. Using my Phantom quadcopter (drone) to photograph and video the beautiful Sacramento Area.
I welcome your comments and encourage you to follow my blog as I explore some of the hidden and not so hidden areas of where we live.
Visited the Downtown Arena Site the last week of December. It looks like most of the excavation is done and they are now prepping the site to begin building. My earlier video from November is on the next page.
Dovewood Court is a magical place where you can take a mug of hot chocolate and immerse yourself in the holiday spirit. Drive the court if you must but walk it if you can. Something special happens when you walk Dovewood Court.
I bet you haven't heard "Twas the Night Before Christmas" done quite like this. Come on down to Old Sacramento and hear Clement Clarke Moore's famous story retold from the balcony's of Old Sacramento.
Here is a quick fly over of the downtown arena build site. I will try to visit once a month so you can get a sense of the progress. I was amazed at the 18-wheelers trucking out the dirt. It was constant, one truck after another.
Can you really say its fall until you have visited a pumpkin farm? The Pumpkin Farm in Citrus Heights is celebrating its 40th year in operation. Check them out at www.pumpkinfarm.net
There is plenty to do for the entire family. Ride the train around the 16 acre farm. Have lunch in the shaded picnic area. And, of coarse you have thousands of pumpkins to choose from.
Maybe you would like to start your experience off by checking out the animals.
I'm not sure the chickens like to be petted but I know this cute little goat loves to be scratched on his nose. Or maybe an adventure in the corn maze? Don't worry, if you aren't back in a couple of days they will send out a search party. Vanessa has picked out a few pumpkins. Do you think Mom will let her keep them all? I bet not. After passing on the haunted barn she decided to play on the bounce house for a bit. Time for a break? Bring a lunch and enjoy the shaded picnic area. If you forgot some treats don't worry, they have a little snack shack. These three got caught trying to sneak into the haunted barn without paying.
Even a little rain couldn't keep the crowds away from this years Citrus Heights Sunday Funday.
There was something to do for the whole family. While the kids played on one of the many bounce houses Mom and Dad had plenty of food and vendors to keep them busy.
Some kids tried to surf while others flew down the zip line or rode a pony.
Still others had fun getting a tattoo or dancing with the Disney dancers on the main stage. If you didn't make it out this year you will certainly want to put Sunday Funday on your calendar for next year.
The Old Sacramento Schoolhouse Museum is a learning center that allows students of all ages to explore California's early days of education. Located in the Capital City's historic Old Sacramento area, the
Old Sacramento Schoolhouse Museum is a living
replica of traditional one- room schoolhouses found throughout America in the late 1800s. The Old
Sacramento Schoolhouse Museum is open most weekdays and weekends to the general public, and weekdays by appointment for school field trips. Costumed schoolmarms and school masters are available to tell about school life in 19th century
California, and sometimes even lead visitors in a lesson. The one- room replica schoolhouse, established in 1977 by community volunteers, features a pot- bellied stove, vintage student desks and other furnishings typical of the period.
The Hawaiian Chieftain, a regular visitor in Sacramento, has arrived early in Old Sacramento. The 103-foot ship is berthed at the floating dock at Front Street and "L" Street, just above the Tower Bridge.
The ship is used to introduce elementary school kids the living history of working on a ship.
The ship is open to the public for walk-on tours on Tues - Fri. from 4-5pm and on Saturdays and Sundays from 10-1. A $3 donation per person is appreciated. No reservation are required.
A wonderful balance of old and new, today’s Sutter Creek maintains its Gold Rush facade while catering to the wants and needs of visitors from around the world. Shop, dine, slumber, stroll, wine taste, and enjoy the quaint atmosphere of Amador County. Sutter Creek, the jewel of Amador County & the Gold Country, is steeped in history being born of the California Gold Rush and nurtured by the deep rock gold mines of the 19th & 20th centuries.
SUTTER CREEK HISTORY: While it has always been presumed that Euro-Americans visited and even settled areas of the Sierra Foothill region prior to the discovery of gold at Coloma in 1848, there is only one case where there is written proof that this happened — at a place called Pine Woods, near today’s Sutter Creek. In 1846, John Sutter sent a number of men out from his fort on the American River to search for a source of lumber.
One such party discovered an excellent stand of sugar pine about 45 miles east-southeast of the fort on a ridge above two creeks. It is told the settlement started because of a single tent raised there for miners to use on rainy Sundays when they could not get to Jackson or Drytown.
Two years later, the northerly of the creeks would be named for a wealthy Californio who tried his hand at placer mining there — Jose Amador. The southerly of the two creeks would retain the name given to it by the workers at Pine Woods — Sutter’s Creek.
By the mid-1850′s, mining interests had moved from the placer gravels of streams to the quartz ledges of the hillsides, and until the mines were shut down by executive order in 1942 Sutter Creek was a full-fledged mining town with some of the richest “deep rock” mines in the Mother Lode. After World War II, and with the centennial of Gold Discovery in 1949, the town quickly turned its attention to tourism, maintaining its Gold Rush heritage and its classic Old West facade. Today, Sutter Creek continues to attract visitors from around the world, drawn by a rich history and small town hospitality.
Yes, Sutter did visit the stream in 1848, directing his Indian workers in a search for gold, but he didn’t stay long — Sutter was a land baron, not a miner. Others did stay, however, finding some success in the placer gravels downstream from the old saw pits. By 1854, when Amador County was formed from that part of Calaveras County north of the Mokelumne River, a significant camp had grown up along the stream.
Boasting an impressive hotel and several stores and restaurants, Sutter Creek became an incorporated town that September.
Sutter Creek’s rich history includes many famous names like Sutter himself, but the story is incomplete without mentioning two names, first, Hetty Green the one time richest woman in the world (nicknamed “the witch of Wall Street”) was once the owner of the Old Eureka Mine located at the foot of the sweeping curve of Highway 49 just south of town.
Second, Leland Stanford for whom the distinguished university is named. Stanford, received stake in Sutter Creek’s Union Mine, (later renamed the Lincoln), for payment of debt. After many discouraging failures at the mine, and almost ready to call it quits the Lincoln Mine hit the proverbial “Mother Lode”. With unlimited finances behind him Stanford became a Railroad baron, a U.S. Senator and eventually Governor of California.
A stunning 9/11 Flag Tribute in West Sacramento. I would like to thank John Vinson for creating this memorial and allowing me to film. John, I hope I made you proud. It was an honor for me to film and I hope the view from above will give people a new perspective of your tribute to all those affected by the 9/11 tragedy. The memorial will be up through Sunday. It's at the corner of Jefferson Blvd and South River Road in West Sacramento
I have many fond memories of my Mom taking me to the Nut Tree when I was a kid.
It has changes quite a bit of the past few years but it's still a great place to take the family for a day trip or just a quick break on the way to the Bay Area.
Do you have any memories of visiting with your family as a child?
One of my favorite places to sit and relax is along the waterfront near the Embassy Suites. It's such a great place to go and get away from all the stuff that builds up during the day. Very relaxing.
With the unofficial last day of summer upon us I thought I would spend some time enjoying the river. I headed over to Negro Bar just below the Rainbow Bridge in Folsom.
This is a perfect spot for kayaking. The water is protected from the wind and very calm. Don't worry if you don't have a kayak, you can rent one at Negro Bar and enjoy a peaceful day on the river.
