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If you're anti-large crowds, I'd recommend driving down and strolling Midtown or downtown on a weekend. Saturday is nice, more businesses are open, but parking isn't free--although you can use some private parking structures pretty cheaply on weekends (like $5-8.) Street parking is free in Sacramento on Sundays, but fewer things are open.
Old Sacramento is something everyone mentions, but for good reason--it has some real high spots, if you don't mind its rather touristy aspects. I would recommend visiting on a Sunday and starting at the Crocker Art Museum before noon (admission is free before then.) From there you can cross I-5 on the O Street bridge and walk up the riverwalk and the Tower Bridge to Old Sacramento, which is a nice little scenic stroll in itself. From there, there are a variety of things to do and places to eat (my favorites, from most to least expensive: Firehouse, Delta King, Fat City, Fanny Ann's, Steamer's) and things to see and do (a Hornblower river cruise, the Railroad Museum, the Sacramento History Museum, Military Museum, Wells Fargo museum, Sacramento visitor center museum, or just some shopping.) The best time to visit is on clear days in January and February, the holiday crowds aren't there and many stores have post-holiday sales. If you don't mind some crowds, the weekends between now and the end of the year are a fun time to visit Old Sacramento.
In Midtown, J Street and K Street from 20th-28th are my preferred strolls; lots of neat little boutiques to explore, nice places for brunch, lunch or dinner, plus a tour of Sutter's Fort is a nice piece of low-key entertainment. If you come in for an evening, there are a lot of good small theaters in Midtown like the Space, the B Street, the Geery, the Thistle Dew, and the new Lambda Players theater. I'd suggest avoiding Second Saturdays if you don't care for crowds. Most of the art galleries are open on other weekends if you like art, and you won't have to jostle through crowds or fight for parking spaces.
If you want to visit downtown Sacramento, I recommend doing so on a weekday: more things are open, and while weekdays are when downtown Sacramento is at its most lively (and parking the most difficult) there are some neat things to see. Some of Sacramento's highest-rated restaurants, like "La Bonne Soupe" on 8th & J Street (highest rated restaurant in the city in Zagat's) are only open for the state-employee lunch crowd. Other things to see are the historic Governor's Mansion, the Stanford Mansion, and the State Capitol Building (the first two charge admission, the state capitol building is free but you have to pass through a metal detector.) The K Street Mall itself is in kind of sorry shape, and the Downtown Plaza less than spectacular, but if you don't mind a little urban grit, downtown (generally I, J, K, L, Capitol and N from I-5 to about 15th) can be interesting for people-watching, and there are some great places for lunch.
Unfortunately I'm pretty downtown-centric (I live and work in the central city) so I don't know of many spots in the outer parts of Sacramento, but hopefully some folks with experience in those areas, and more outdoorsy types, will chime in too.
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Places to take your g/f on a date?
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