Galleria Mall - Roseville

These are a few of my favorite things to do at The Galleria Mall in Roseville.

As a techno-geek I'm always drawn to the Apple Store.  There is just a different kind of vibe when you walk through the doors.

After playing with the iPads for a bit I head over the Lolly and Pops for a sweet treat.  This is just a magical place.  The staff is so friendly and are always happy to give you a little sample of something delicious.  Can you believe they get to go to conferences all about candy?  Beats the heck out of my real estate conferences.

Now that my sweet tooth has been satisfied maybe I'll check out Banana Republic.  Until I discovered this store I really didn't understand how the cut of clothing can make a huge difference on how something looks on you.  Hands down my favorite place to shop for clothing.

It's about time to give the kids a little shopping time.  Let's go to the Disney Store.  This is another store that just has that special vibe to it.  It truly is a magical place for the kids.  With the flick of her wand the magic mirror comes to life.  

Now I'm going to head over the Chapel Hats.  There aren't too many hat shops in Sacramento and Chapel was great find.  The staff is very friendly and always very helpful.  I love that hats are coming back.

 As you are headed past Brookstone you have to peek in and see if the drone is out flying.  This is just a fun store to browse through.  They have things you didn't know you had to have.  










Time for a snack.  That means Wetzel's Pretzels.  For me it's the mini pretzel dogs with jalapeño cheese sauce. 







Now that our hunger has been satisfied it's safe to head over to William Sonoma.  It's a very dangerous place to visit if you are hungry.  This just might be the best smelling store in the universe.  

One more stop for the kids as she drags us to Build-A-Bear.  Little did I know that this cute bear would need to have like 10 different outfits.  No kidding….the bear has it's own closet.  




Every once in awhile you need to stop by and just give the bear a bath.








It's been a long day at the mall and it's time to sit and relax.  Lucky for us Starbucks is right next door to the outdoor play area.  Mom and Dad get our favorite coffee or tea and let the kids explore the play area.

Pumpkin Farm - Citrus Heights

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.

William Land Park

William Land Park was purchased with funds left to the city by William Land when he died in 1911.  238 Acres were purchased in 1918 for $147,000.

In the 1940's Land Park Kiddie Land was opened to the delight of the kids in Sacramento.  The name was later changed to Funderland after the new owners remodeled the park in 1990. 

 After a day of going for a log ride maybe the younger kids would like to explore Fairytale Town just across the street.









Fairytale Town opened in 1959.  This wonderful addition to William Land Park brought all the fairytales that we read as children to life.  You can walk the crooked mile or visit the Three Little Pigs.

In 1927 the "Little Zoo in the Park" opened with about 40 animals on about 4 acres of land.  The "Little Zoo" has grown over the years to its current size of 14.2 acres.  

If kiddie games aren't your thing then try your hand at a round of golf.



The only thing to do after your great day at William Land Park is to visit a Land Park Icon for some ice cream.  Vic's has been the place to go for a sweet treat since 1947.  It's the perfect way to end your day.

Urban Cow Half Marathon 2014

If you heard a few cow bells in Land Park on Sunday don't worry, it wasn't a stampede in the regular sense.  It was just a few of the thousands of spectators and supporters cheering on the over 5,000 runners that participated in the 2014 Urban Cow Half Marathon and 5K run.  The weather was perfect and the times were fast.  So fast in fact that a young man broke the world record.  The fastest time ever for a 10-year old in a half marathon.  Even if you weren't fast enough to break a record it was a great event and obviously from the turn out it's a favorite in Sacramento.

Sunday Funday - Citrus Heights

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.

Old School House - Old Sacramento

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.

Hawaiian Chieftain Tall Ship - Old Sacramento

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.

Davis Ranch - Fair Oaks

Updated Video Jan 2015

Sept. 2014

This is the current view of the Davis Ranch in Fair Oaks.  After being a single family home and Hotel since the early 1900's the property is being developed into a subdivision.  Much to the horror of many in Fair Oaks.  A big piece of Fair Oaks history is being destroyed.  :(

If you drive on Fair Oaks Boulevard, north of Fair Oaks Elementary, you might miss a 75 yard long dirt road lined with palm trees. This is the entrance to what was once known as the Davis Ranch, with a citrus and olive orchard. Walter Mangum Davis and his wife Oma Bennett Davis moved to Fair Oaks from Texas in the early 1900s with their son, Walter Jefferson and daughter, Elizabeth Catherine. A third child, Oma Bennett was born in Fair Oaks. The girls never married and Walter Jefferson did not have children.

Dr. Davis. a surgeon, practiced medicine from 1890 – 1910. He also owned and managed Hotel Madrone on Pine Street in the Nob Hill area of San Francisco. He died in 1925 and the daughters managed the hotel until the 1940s when they sold it and returned to the family ranch. Son, Walter, had been managing the ranch until his death in 1940. Mrs. Davis had lived for a time with her daughters in San Francisco, but returned to live in Fair Oaks until her death in 1950. Throughout these years, 62 of the original 70 acres were sold for development.

Elizabeth and Oma, the “Davis Girls,” lived the rest of their lives on the remaining 8 acres in the original family home. Elizabeth died in 1996, Oma in 2005. The family is not related to Jerome Davis, a farmer who is the namesake for the city of Davis. However, in part due to their father’s profession, the sisters donated over $5.5 million to the UC Davis School of Medicine. They established scholarships that provide financial support for medical students. They also transferred cash, securities and real estate to UC Davis in return for income for life. Their final gift after their death was to leave their home and property to the school, ensuring scholarships for many future doctors.

Following Oma’s death the furnishings were auctioned and the home has remained empty. UCD School of Medicine has put the ranch on the market for development. The next step is an Environmental Impact Report and then a general hearing on land use issues sometime this summer.

Info from the  Old Homes Editor

Sutter Creek

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.

Info from Suttercreek.org

9/11 Flag Tribute - West Sacramento

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