Question for Locals - Favorite Thing(s) to Do in Sac? (Sacramento: rentals, hotel)

[xenxes]

Ever since we moved here this summer, we went somewhere else on the weekends, Bay, Tahoe, Napa, Sonoma, Amador, etc. ad nauseam.

I'm realizing we do more things outside the city and still haven't explored much of where we live, and there is a lot of (little) things to do.

So, local Sac residents, care to share your favorite thing(s) here in the city? Eateries, past times, bike trails, dog parks, favorite geocaches, whatever.

Some of ours:

1. Ice cream at Gunther's (Gunther's Ice Cream Shop). On par with some of the fancier French cream & Italian gelato places we've been to in bigger cities.

2. Drive in theater at West Wind (WestWind Drive-Ins and Public Markets - Location Drivein) $7.50 for a double feature AND bring your own popcorn? Awesome.

3. Picnics in Land Park (we get sushi + poke at Otos Japanese Marketplace + Ramune soda, yum!).

4. Browsing Talini's Nursery (http://talinisnursery.com/) and Green Acres (http://www.idiggreenacres.com/).

[la_cavalière]

Nice list! Here are more ideas:

Ride a bike. We love, love love biking the American River Trail! Bike to Old Sac or even all the way up to Folsom, have lunch, and either ride home or cheat and take the bikes on the RT. Also, the ride to Clarksburg along the river levee is nice.
http://arpf.org/pdf_files/ARPmap.pdf

Kayaking on Lake Natoma or the American River. If you don’t have your own kayaks, you can rent them at the CSUS Aquatic Center. They also rent stand-up paddle boards, paddle boats and bikes.
Sac State Aquatic Center

Hiking. Not exactly in Sacramento, but there are tons of great trails less than an hour’s drive away at Auburn State Recreation Area, Hidden Falls Regional Park, etc.
Auburn SRA Trails
Hidden Falls Regional Park

Boating. Bribe a friend with a boat and cruise on the Sacramento River (or Folsom Lake if it ever fills again!) Or rent a pontoon boat at the Sacramento Marina. (Anyone know any other marinas that rent boats?)
boat rental, Boat Rentals at the Sacramento Marina Home

Nimbus Fish Hatchery. Watch the fish climb the “ladder” during the fall spawning season. We haven’t done this yet, but it’s on our list.
Nimbus Fish Hatchery - American River - Folsom Lake

Farmers Markets. Shop at the big Sunday market under the freeway at 8th and W, the Davis Farmers Market, the Midtown Farmers Market, or one in your own neighborhood.
Certified Farmers' Markets Times and Locations
At the Market
home | Midtown Farmers MarketMidtown Farmers Market | Midtown Farmers Market Sacramento

Tour the Capitol Building and walk around gorgeous Capitol Park. Free!
California State Capitol Museum

Sutter’s Fort. Visit the place it all started.
Sutters Fort - Home

Visit the Governor’s Mansion and/or the Leland Stanford Mansion to see some cool, historic, big old houses.
Governor's Mansion SHP
Leland Stanford Mansion SHP

Old Sac. Pretend you’re a tourist, have lunch or dinner overlooking the river, visit the Train Museum, take a cruise up the Sacramento River.
Old Sacramento*|* Home

Second Saturday. Stroll through the art galleries and dine at one of Midtown’s awesome restaurants -- preferably on the patio!
2nd Saturday Home Page - 2nd Saturday Sacramento
Explore Midtown

Go to a play at B Street Theatre, Capital Stage or Music Circus, a concert at the Crocker, or a comedy show.
Theater Tickets Sacramento | Live Theater | Buy Tickets
- Capital Stage
Music Circus
https://crockerartmuseum.org/
Sacramento Comedy Spot | Improv, Stand-up, Sketch, Podcasts

Do a pub crawl on the Sac Brew Bike. Haven’t done this yet, but we see the brew bike almost every day in our neighborhood and it looks like fun.
Sac Brew Bike | Sacramento's First Brew Cycle and Pub Crawler

[Adriatica]

We're new to the area and, therefore, haven't done too much, but here's a few things we've enjoyed.

Old City Cemetery: this is a great place to get lost in history and is kept up with beautifully landscaped grounds.
Old City Cemetery Committee, Inc., Sacramento, California

Another vote for Land Park (and the zoo/Funderland/Fairy Tale Town for the kids). Such a lovely park.
William Land Park Amenity Guide - Department of Parks and Recreation
Home - The Sacramento Zoo
Fairytale Town - Fairytale Town is a nonprofit park dedicated to promoting the imagination, creativity and education of children.
http://funderlandpark.com

McKinley Park: rose garden, great place for picnics, lake, good playground for kids, lots of classes/groups always going on there.
McKinley Park (William) Amenity Guide - Department of Parks and Recreation

I also really enjoy driving through the Land Park, East Sac, and Midtown neighborhoods. If you like homes and architecture, there's some interesting sites to see.

For eateries, we like:
The Croissant Factory in the Pocket
Erawan Thai in South Land Park
Paesanos in Midtown
Tower Cafe on Broadway
The La Bou Cafes/Bakeries

[wburg]

It's still hot, so let's start with ice cream.

If you want the fancy Italian or French stuff, try Devine Gelateria on 19th & Capitol, or the ice cream sandwiches at Ginger Elizabeth on L and 19th Street. It's hard to beat Gunther's but both places do it.

For something different, have a Japanese style snow-cone at Osaka-Ya on 10th Street (between V and W) at their walk-up window, or mochi (ranging from traditional styles like red bean to chocolate and peanut butter mochi) and manju inside. And if you're in Southside on a Sunday while visiting the Farmer's Market, stop outside the Our Lady of Guadalupe Church on 8th and T Street, where vendors sell pan dulce, bacon wrapped hot dogs, tamales, etc. after church services.

Second Sunday of the month is the monthly Antique Fair, located on the south end of Front Street underneath Highway 50 just north of Broadway. Park in the parking lot in front of the California Auto Museum, or near the Miller Park marina (a free shuttle brings you to the entrance of the antique fair) or bike in. $3 gets you into the antique fair, about 3-4 acres of antique vendors, which you can follow up with a visit to the Auto Museum, worth a trip in its own right.

There is some disturbingly good coffee to be had at Sacramento coffee shops--any location of Insight, Chocolate Fish, Temple or Old Soul will serve you a cup of coffee (or beans to take home) on par with the best coffee in the nation. The coffee at Coffee Garden (Franklin Boulevard a bit south of Gunther's) isn't quite as superb, but it's a magnificent spot for studying, relaxation or conversation.

In addition to the theaters mentioned above, check out the Geery Theatre (22nd and L), New Helvetia Theatre (11th and R) or The Space/Wilkerson Theatre/California Stage complex (25th and R.)

Take a self-guided walking tour of downtown Sacramento using the free Sacramento Heritage walking tour app (Android or Apple versions): Sacramento Heritage Sacramento History Architecture Historic Photos

Catch a live local band at Shine Coffeehouse, Naked Lounge, Old Ironsides, Press Club, Starlite Lounge, Ace of Spades, Assembly, Midtown Barfly, The Colony, Cafe Colonial, the Blue Lamp, Witch Room, Luna's Cafe, Marilyn's on K, or any of the several dozen other places to see live bands.

There are three local burlesque troupes, performing "neo-burlesque": the Sizzling Sirens, who do a monthly show at Assembly, the Bodacious Bombshells, monthly at Witch Room, and the Clementines, monthly at Marilyn's.

Two other recommendations when in Old Sacramento: Visit the Delta King, a permanently moored Sacramento River riverboat; it doesn't travel anymore, but it has a fully functional bar, restaurant and hotel on board. And take the Old Sacramento Underground Tour, for a firsthand look at how (and why) Sacramento raised its downtown streets an entire story to escape flooding.

Tour the Old City Cemetery, a historic cemetery dating back to the city's founding, on your own or via their monthly guided themed tours (sorry, their Halloween lantern tours are already sold out for this year!)

Visit The Crest Theatre downtown: upcoming shows include the Sacramento International Gay & Lesbian Film Festival, the documentary "A Film About Coffee" and the Halloween edition of the Trash Film Orgy, featuring "Beetlejuice" in addition to the Trash Action Sideshow and other TFO hijinks.

Check sacramento365.com to find out about upcoming events--especially during the warm months (and we have 8-9 of them a year) there are usually multiple festivals and public celebrations every weekend, ranging from the Sikh food festival to horror film festivals, wine festivals, beer and cocktail weeks, and various holiday celebrations--including the much-loved Bacon Week.

[xenxes]

Two places that beat Gunther's? Blasphemy! But we will check them out, and the mochi place

Awesome lists everyone and thank you for sharing, I'm making a to-do list. Gotta enjoy the little things.

@la_cavalière any recommendations for bikes? I haven't ridden a bike since I was in undergrad. I see fixies are all the fad right now but can't see much fun in no gears, it's good for commuting (less parts to break), but for bike trails? I'm leaning towards either a foldable I can throw in the car or an old hybrid on Craigslist. Nothing too fancy.

[la_cavalière]

@xexzes: We started out riding on the trail with our trusty hybrids, which were just fine and what we've ridden in other places we've lived. But eventually we caught the biking bug and upgraded to road bikes. (We still use the hybrids for errands and riding around town.) It depends if you just want to do a relaxing ride or if you want to go faster, get in shape, or participate in century rides.

You see everything on the bike trail -- pricy carbon road racing bikes, hybrids, mountain bikes, recumbents, handcycles, and even the occasional foldable bike.

I would start out with a cheap hybrid, start riding, and see how you like it. You can always upgrade. Get something with gears for the trail -- although there aren't that many hills, it still makes it easier.

Have fun!

[xeney]

I think you can rent bikes at City Bikes and Practical Cycle. You can ride a single speed on the bike trail as long as you don't mind standing on the rare hills.

[xeney]

Oops, wrong forum.

[wburg]

Fixies aren't as hip as they were a few years ago, foldables are popular among some of my bike-oriented friends although it seems like the latest fad is cargo bikes. My neighbor carts his kids around in the cargo bed of a reverse trike--when they aren't riding their own bikes. I see lots of bakfiets scooting around Midtown and the occasional longtail, and cargo bikes have definitely gotten more popular for food deliveries.

[xenxes]

Originally Posted by wburg

Fixies aren't as hip as they were a few years ago, foldables are popular among some of my bike-oriented friends although it seems like the latest fad is cargo bikes. My neighbor carts his kids around in the cargo bed of a reverse trike--when they aren't riding their own bikes. I see lots of bakfiets scooting around Midtown and the occasional longtail, and cargo bikes have definitely gotten more popular for food deliveries.

I'm tempted to get one...


Maybe I got that backwards?