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My husband and I just moved to El Dorado Hills, California from Southern California. So far, I'm not finding a whole lot of things to do here. I know a lot of people in my area go hiking, bicycling, fishing, kayaking but I'm not into that type of stuff. I'm not the outdoorsy sporty type. My husband and I have no children and we are in our 50's. In Southern California we had Seaport Village in San Diego with cute shops and restaurants and the lovely ocean to look at and the delightful sea breeze. We also had in Southern California really nice upscale malls to shop in like South Coast Plaza. In Southern California we had Downtown Disney where we only had to pay to park and then going in was free and we could shop, dine and listen to the live music and people watch. We also had Third Street Promenade in Santa Monica where we could stroll up and down a very long pedestrian-only street lined with shops and sidewalk cafes and be entertained by street performers and people watch. I miss all that type of stuff. I never wanted to move to El Dorado Hills but had to for family reasons and we aren't able to move back down to Southern California at this time. So far I've only found a few unimpressive malls like the Roseville Galleria, Arden Fair, Westfield Downtown Plaza, Folsom Premium Outlets. I wasn't too impressed with Old Town Sacramento either. It seems that locally in the immediate area of El Dorado Hills where I live the only thing to do is dine out at one of the restaurants located in the El Dorado Hills Town Center and go to the movies. Maybe I'm missing something? Does anyone know of any places close by to El Dorado Hills that are similar to Seaport Village or Downtown Disney or Third Street Promenade (of course minus the ocean and beaches of Southern California) where one can shop, dine, see street performers/musicians and people watch? I noticed that a lot of places close early in the evening. We are night people and I miss the night life of Southern California where we could go someplace at 9:00 p.m. and it would still be open until midnight or 2:00 a.m. I’m not saying I want to find only night time places because we would like to find things to do during the day but it would be nice to find things to do at night as well besides just going to the movies. I've noticed places here in Northern California tend to close between 5:00 p.m. and 9:00 p.m. I know there are lots of things to do in San Francisco, but I'm looking for something closer by since San Francisco is like a 2 hour drive. I'm looking for something that's within a half hour to 45 minute drive.
Sorry--you won't do better than Old Sac or Midtown. Possibly K Street, but you strike me as someone with an aversion to panhandlers. Roseville Galleria is about the most upscale mall in the area. Honestly, you're just going to have to adjust your tastes--this just isn't LA.
I agree. If you don't like the shopping and dining here, and you don't like to do outdoors things, I'm not sure what else to suggest.
There are a lot of vineyards/wineries close by that have tastings, food, music at various times. Not a late night thing though, they mostly close up by 9pm.
The Red Hawk Casino stays open all night! They have a bar and live music, but really probably not at all what you're looking for.
If you want little shops take a drive to Downtown Placerville or Folsom.
As for Old Sacramento, most of the businesses are there for the tourists and don't give local people much reason to go there, but there are a lot of various events held there throughout the year and if you like trains and railroads, the rail museum is a must-see.
Comparing the Sacramento MSA to all of southern California is kind of a tough comparison--your SoCal analogies stretch from San Diego to Santa Monica, and the Los Angeles and San Diego metros add up to something like 20 million people--while Sacramento's metro area is about 2 million. So, by comparison, we have about 10% of the population, so 10% as many amenities. But a drive from EDH to San Francisco is a lot shorter than a drive from Santa Monica to San Diego, so if you're going to compare that entire region to northern California, it's an unfair comparison unless you include the Bay Area. That adds another 9 or so million people and an assortment of amenities--the Pacific Ocean, San Francisco and the cities of the Peninsula, East Bay and South Bay (not to mention the North Bay), the Napa wine country, the Delta and so on.
You're in a terrifically bad place for what you're seeking, unfortunately. El Dorado Hills was built to be a very family oriented, single-family, low-density suburb. There is no "downtown El Dorado Hills" or anything like that, other than a shopping center, or even a city government. This is deliberate--if they could figure out a way to make the streets roll up after people got home from work, they probably would. The county government considers things like walkable mixed-use neighborhoods to be part of a United Nations plot to force people into apartment buildings.
Interesting perspective of Roseville Galleria, considering folks often crow about Roseville Galleria as our upscale mall. The "Pavilions" shopping center just east of Sacramento's city limits on Fair Oaks Boulevard might be more to your liking. Not that I'm any judge of such things--my idea of "upscale" is the clearance racks at Macy's downtown.
Old Sacramento is confusing to many because it's presented as an old "town" when in fact it is an excised chunk of a city. If you prefer more old-town type places to visit, there are several worth checking out in the foothills--mostly old mining towns like Placerville, Old Folsom (both linked by KC6ZLV above), Old Auburn, Coloma, Jackson, Jamestown, Nevada City. They tend to shut down early too, making them poor choices for night-time adventures, but make for good day trips. Or head the other direction into the Sacramento River Delta and its charming little river towns like Freeport, Courtland, Clarksburg, Locke, Walnut Grove, and Isleton. Closer to home, there are a few farm towns now overrun by suburbs that are still kind of fun to visit--Fair Oaks Village, Old Roseville and old Elk Grove.
No, there is nothing like the 3rd Street Promenade or Disneyland. The California State Fair is coming up, but I'm pretty sure you won't be too blown away by that either--it's a very populist event, best known for stretching the boundaries of what foodstuff can be deep-fried, livestock exhibits, and a monorail. You might find some of what you're seeking in terms of culture and entertainment at places like the Mondavi Center or the Crocker Art Museum, but still keep in mind you're in a region a tenth the size (and less than a tenth the wealth) of the one you left.
Really the only neighborhood that stays up late is Midtown Sacramento, a bit east of Downtown Sacramento, where a lot of the nightclubs are located. There are a lot of older couples in this neck of the woods, but it is best known as a young person's neighborhood, with a lot of bars and nightclubs and live music venues. Lots of restaurants, cafes and quite a few theaters, There are a certain amount of street performers, but some of them are just homeless folks talking to the aliens that live in their head. But even here, there is resistance to late-night activity: the local Convention & Visitors' Bureau recently protested an all-night 7-11 opening up across from the Convention Center because they thought late-night businesses would give visitors a bad impression of Sacramento.
You would love heavenly village up in Tahoe. You are very close, I would recommend getting a condo or timeshare for the weekends if you enjoy it. You can stroll by the lake, eat at the top of heavenly gondola, and there are nice shops. Sutter street in folsom has a nice restaurant or two overlooking the river. Downtown Placerville also has a cute downtown and you could stay at the Cary house. It's small but just something different to break the monotony of that edh village. Try going wine tasting in FairPlay maybe. It's not so cal, you might have to be creative and change your expectations.
Oh of course you may like taking some weekend trips to San Francisco, too. There is tons to do and although colder, and different, it does offer some of what you described. Try Carmel, too. That's what people like here, the easy ride to cool places, and it is nice to not bother w la freeways. The bay is not bad if you time it right. La to orange county is ALWAYS a nightmare.
ryuns -- Yes, I agree, I'll have to adjust my tastes. It's difficult after 50 years of living in SoCal. I'm trying though but I just find this area so unsophisticated, almost kind of country-ish. Reminds me of the small town my mother grew up in Upper State NY back in the 1920's where it was population 2,000 with only one diner, a five & dime and a saloon. She said the highlight of the day was sitting on the front porch watching the grass grow and at night sitting on the front porch watching the neighborhood drunk stagger home from the saloon. Thank goodness El Dorado Hills isn't that boring...but still, I'm in culture shock. I kind of feel like someone who moved from Manhattan to the Ozarks, LOL!
NinaN -- Yes, the wineries would be nice, except I'm diabetic and can't drink alcohol and my husband doesn't drink either. I'm on a very restricted diet because of health reasons and most of the time I can't eat what many places serve. But I suppose we can just drive out to the wineries for something to do. I LOVE Red Hawk, but the cigarette smoke bothers my husband's lungs. My husband doesn't like me going places without him, *sigh*. If my husband is off doing something else then I can go to Red Hawk on my own, but as an activity for the both of us, it won't work out. However, I do love the excitement of Red Hawk. Thanks for that suggestion. Hey, maybe I can tell my husband to wear a gas mask...just kidding!
KC6ZLV -- I'm not into the shops in Old Town Sacramento nor am I into railroad stuff. But thanks for the suggestion anyway.
wburg -- I wasn't comparing all of SoCal to the area I now live in, either area or population. I'm fully aware that Sacramento County and El Dorado County are smaller in area and population and not as financially affluent. What I meant was, I was wondering if there were any type of outdoor shopping areas where a person can stroll, window shop, dine at a sidewalk cafe and listen to live music like street performers and singers. Seaport Village, Downtown Disney and Third Street Promenade all have these elements in common. Your assessment of El Dorado Hills is dead on correct and has me laughing so hard! Thanks I needed a good laugh! *winks and smiles* As far as 'upscale', well although the Roseville Galleria is nice, I am spoiled with window shopping at places like: Prada, Cartier, Rolex, Bvlgari, Bottega Veneta, Christian Dior, Chloe, Lousi Vuitton, Versace, Baccarat, De Beers, Montblanc, Neiman Marcus, Saks Fith Avenue. Been to Old Town Sacramento, old town Placerville and old town Folsom, I wasn't impressed. I've been to the Delta area and found it just miles of farm land and a sort of swampy area with lots of water and boats which didn't hold my interest. It also was very hot and humid...ick! My in-laws live in Placerville and when we lived in SoCal we would drive all the way up here to join them at the State Fair in Sacramento. I found it to be unbearably hot, crowded and the exhibits were mostly junk like you see in those "As See On TV" stores. Yes, the food at the State Fair is nothing but deep fried junk food which is off limits because of my medical conditions and also I just plain don't like fried foods or junk food. I've been to the Crocker Art Museum and it was nice. I understand they have a rotating exhibit so I will have to continue to go back ever so often. It doesn't compare to the Getty or the Los Angeles County Museum of Art or the Museum of Contemporary Art in Los Angeles, but for what it is, the Crocker is a nice little art museum and I enjoyed my visit there. I've been trying to get my husband to take me to midtown after dark so we can get a feel of the night life here, but so far we haven't made the trip over there yet. Although a 'younger crowd' I think I would enjoy the bohemian ambiance of midtown with its cafes, night clubs, live music venues and theaters. Homeless people don't scare me unless they are the type to mug me, LOL! I actually miss the 'local color' from SoCal. We used to have our 'regulars' of the homeless folks that my husband and I would enjoy watching. We had one guy who dressed like an African-American funk musician in a white spandex body suit with cape and platform shoes and he would dance on street corners. Another homeless character we had was an old lady with a shopping cart who would wave a Bible in one hand and give passing motorists the bird, LOL! Another homeless man we had down south was a guy who stood on street corners holding up handmade signs with Bible quotes. One of our favorite homeless people was a guy who would paint himself in silver body paint, wear a silver suit and then walk up to people and make robot type noises and then smile and laugh and then walk away. We got a real kick out of him! We also loved watching the orange robed Hare Krishnas dancing and playing their tambourines at Third Street Promenade. "Local Color" is what makes a town or city exciting and vibrant and alive, pulsating with energy. I miss that living in El Dorado Hills.
hydro -- I've been to Tahoe a lot. It's OK, but it's got a lot of tourists and it's very oriented towards skiers. Sadly we can't afford to rent a condo or timeshare. Been to Sutter Street in Folsom a lot. I find it kind of boring. My in-laws live in Placerville so we get to downtown Placerville a lot. I find it a bit too small town-ish for my tastes. When we were moving up here we stayed at the Cary House and I thought it was a dump. I hated it. It's supposedly haunted and I felt like someone was staring at me all night from across the room. Couldn't sleep a wink and I never want to go back there. That place gives me the creeps. Yes, we enjoy San Francisco very much!!!! But the traffic is a nightmare, isn't it? LOL! But I love the thriving energy of San Francisco. I just wish we lived closer by so I could go several times a week! Carmel is pretty but it's kind of slow moving there. I crave excitement of the big city.
Thank you all for responding to my post! Yes, I know...I'm a spoiled big city girl and I'm just going to have to learn to like living in a smaller slower paced area. But I'm SO BORED out of my mind here! Ugh! That's why I posted my question. Although the people up here are SO NICE and it's a joy not to have the Los Angeles traffic...I'm just trying to find some excitement and it seems Sacramento County and El Dorado County are not very exciting. I know, I know...it's me; I need an attitude adjustment, LOL!
wburg -- Thank you for your midtown suggestion! I think your suggestion about midtown is probably the best so far. That's really the type of thing I'm looking for. Since I'm still so new here and not too familiar in finding my way around, can you please tell me what streets and cross streets are the midtown areas? Maybe you know of some good places to go in midtown. Places that are kind of cool, funky, bohemian, cosmopolitan and sophisticated (for Sacramento that is) and kind of jazzy. We love jazz music and really aren't into rap, hip hop, house, trance, techno, rock, country western, etc.
Last edited by MrsRMG950; 07-06-2012 at 01:51 PM..
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