visiting March ????'s

[movetosacto]

Check out the Citizen Hotel or The Inn at Parkside if you want a better hotel experience than last time. Citizen will be walking distance from some of Sacramento's best restaurants, including Grange (inside the Citizen) and Ella. If you were to come the second Saturday of the month, you could also check out the art galleries throughout midtown and downtown on the monthly "Second Saturday" art walk.

[wburg]

The Mariott at 15th and L is nothing to sneeze at either--it's right at the corner of Capitol Park, and the building is both a hotel and very expensive condos on the upper floors with great views of the park. I have heard good things about the happy hour menu at their downstairs lounge, and within two blocks are Cafeteria 15L, GoGi Korean tacos, a whole cluster of restaurants in the Firestone building at the other end of the block (an Irish pub, sports bar, Japanese and Greek restaurants with a nightclub upstairs) across from a nice little wine bar (the Grand), and within another block or two into Midtown are Lucca, Mikuni, Mangia!, 58 Degrees wine bar, Zocalo and Old Soul Coffee. Towards downtown are the excellent places movetosacto mentioned, Ella and Grange, and many others.

Capitol Park is basically an open-air arboretum, if you like trees it's worth a stroll, plus hidden within the 30 acres of the park are several memorials and ceremonial places that are interesting to visit. The Capitol is open to the public during regular business hours, but you have to pass through a metal detector--they have a free museum and interpretive display area in addition to a chance to see the inner workings of California's state government. A lot of Sacramentans downplay the importance of the Capitol, maybe in the same way that Angelenos downplay the movie industry, just because it's so omnipresent, or because it's less interesting to tour the sausage factory if you work there. But if you haven't been there, some of the state buildings have great architecture and public areas that can be interesting to visit (and some neat little very inexpensive lunch places.) Others are more high-security, but some are still open to the public.

[XmadisonX]

Great - i am going to change my plans so I can be there for the 2nd saturday. I presume this area is much safer than Rancho cordova where I stayed last time It sounded good on line looked good when i arrived in the day time but when the sun went down the vibe changed .......

[movetosacto]

Originally Posted by XmadisonX

Great - i am going to change my plans so I can be there for the 2nd saturday. I presume this area is much safer than Rancho cordova where I stayed last time It sounded good on line looked good when i arrived in the day time but when the sun went down the vibe changed .......

I'm not sure where in Rancho Cordova you stayed, so hard to say. It's relatively safe downtown, and my wife and I have no problems walking around at night. But as in most cities this size or bigger, you can't let your guard down. If you do the art walk, there should be safety in numbers with a lot of people strolling at night. I agree with wburg's Marriott Residence Inn suggestion, as well as the Hyatt on L Street or Sheraton on J Street as other options. The Marriott at 15th and L will put you closer to additional restaurants as wburg said.

Besides the antiquing on Sunday morning, if you have time check out the farmer's market under the freeway by W/X and 5th Streets. We take it for granted here in Northern California, but visitors are often impressed by the array of items available at our farmer's markets, and the Sunday one happens to be the biggest in town.