Our original plan last Sunday was to visit the Sacramento
Zoo followed by the History Museum
but as you know if you read Sunday's post, we never got past the zoo.
So today we drive the short distance down to the city. It has the most amazing Railroad
Museum - this, after all, is the
western terminus of the original transcontinental railroad - that we visited
many years ago. Right next to this is an
interesting looking history museum that we plan to visit. However, after parking the car, we find we're
in Old Sacramento - the original waterfront area of the city - which has been
restored. So we decide to tour the 8
historic blocks before going to the museum, and again never get to the museum!
On the riverfront is a riverboat that is now a hotel and
restaurant, and we're able to walk around it.
There's also a smaller boat that does river cruises as well as a steam
train that does excursions, but neither is running today. However, it's the 19th Century architecture,
and the history of the buildings, that is the star here. The original offices of the Central Pacific
Railroad Company and the Wells Fargo Express Company are still there, the
latter full of historical documents and machines including a Morse code
transmitter key. We discover how
difficult it is to get the right rhythm so that 4 dots (for "H")
don't end up as one dot followed by 3 dots.
Must have taken some time for the operators to get used to it!
The stores themselves are mostly tourist traps so we
content ourselves with admiring the architecture. But we do visit several candy and chocolate
shops, surprising ourselves by not buying anything, although we do take
advantage of free samples of salt water taffy.
We decide to have lunch here and check out several options including an
Irish Pub and a reasonably authentic Chinese restaurant, but eventually settle
on The Firehouse, which I later find out is #8 of 1475 restaurants in Sacramento
according to Trip Advisor. It really was
a firehouse at one time.
The bar and restaurant is 19th century formal and full of
polished wood, but lunch is served in the courtyard. Linen tablecloths and the side plates are liberally covered
with blossoms (I think) dropping from the trees. I convince myself that they're organic and
nothing to worry about. Duane, our
server, is friendly and helpful - he finds me a St Pauli non-alcoholic beer
instead of the more prosaic O'Douls - and after ordering we're treated to warm
sourdough bread with butter.
Vicky can't resist a cup of lobster bisque to start. She shares a spoonful with me so I can
confirm that it's the real thing, rich and creamy. It also has a large piece of lobster meat in
it. Should have had it myself!
I choose a steak and prawn salad - strips of meat cooked
rare, just how I like them, along with 4 huge, juicy prawns and a generous
helping of blue cheese. The whole thing
comes atop a bed of mixed endive lettuce
with roasted and fresh cherry tomatoes and garlic croutons. Definitely one of the best lunches I've had
this summer.
Vicky also opts for a salad - pineapple curry chicken with
coconut, raisins and romaine, along with chilled bulgur wheat. It looks good, and Vicky declares that it
certainly is.
This is definitely a "come back to" place although
a review of their dinner menu confirms that, for dinner at least, this would be
a special occasion venue.
We continue our peregrination around the old town and find
an olive oil and balsamic vinegar emporium, which we leave with a large bottle of
dark chocolate balsamic that will grace our ice cream for weeks to come, along
with a small bottle of truffle sea salt, seduced by the sampler bottle on the
checkout counter. Talk about joint
impulse buying!
At this point it's only an hour or so until the museum
closes so we agree it'll have to wait and Vicky convinces me it would be a good
idea to get out of the city before the rush hour. Even though it's only 3:30pm we do get slowed down but it's not bad and we're
back at Lake Minden
in time to feed Quill and Cosette.
Later we eat a light dinner outside - still no sign of the feral kittens. But they must have showed up later because as I'm sitting working at the computer I here a loud screeching from Quill (who, you'll remember, is a cat of few words) and discover her looking out the screen door, clearly not happy. Although I don't see the kittens I figure one of them must have come close and is now aware that he's not welcome here, at least as far as the Abby is concerned.
A good day (except not for the feral kitten). We're on the road again tomorrow but it's a
short trip.
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