California Livin’

In still preparing for Iceland, I had a few trips planned prior to that international trip later in the year, so this blog is dedicated to California’s excursion.  My first larger trip would take me to the West Coast Memorial week and weekend to California where my brother resides.  We always seem to cram a lot in a short amount of time, have a blast, and I wouldn’t have it any other way.

Back towards the early part of 2018, I was deciding a Memorial week and weekend trip.  The previous year, in June, I had visited my brother in California where he recently had moved for work and we had visited San Francisco (where I flew into), Sacramento (where he resides) and Lake Tahoe and had a blast cramming in as many activities as we could, including Royals vs. Giants at ATT Park, touring Google’s satellite office in SF from a mutual friend, boating in Tahoe and Emerald Bay and tremendous food and drink in between.   His girlfriend had since moved out to Sacramento with him and was excited she was going to be able to join us for most of the trip, in working around her work schedule.

The weather in northern California in June 2017 was hot, like extremely hot.  During the days, it was 100 or just a few degrees over.  It’s a dry heat, much like Las Vegas, but sticking your head in an oven is a dry heat too.  This year, however, the weather stayed within 70 degree range, but at the same time, it was earlier in the year than last year.  The days were much more comfortable, but the nights extremely chilly.

Since there are no non-stop flights from Kansas City to Sacramento (something I will continue to voice my opinion to Southwest on) I had to fly to San Diego first and then take a connecting flight straight to Sactown.  Not an awful 50-minute layover, but enough to make you want a direct flight.  So, 3 hours to San Diego, then 1.5 hours north to the capital.  The Sacramento airport is a small, modern and updated airport with a tram that will take you from the ticketing area to the gates.  Very sleek and clean and much nicer than the current KCI airport.  Yet, another reminder the overwhelming vote for a new terminal in KC was the best decision our city has had in many years.

I arrived at my brother’s condo and he possesses one of the most beautiful backyards you’ll ever lay eyes on.   It’s a lake.  I could read, write and sleep for days on his back patio.  A true readers paradise with enough quiet to let your mind’s thoughts run free.  Every so often, you would hear a “thump” in the water and see a ripple result of a fish.  We also noticed multiple turtles, both babies and elder. The occasional airplane would fly overhead taking passengers across the globe and you can’t help but sit and contemplate where they are headed and what is their story.  The hot tub also serves a suitor well on cold, northern California nights.  Needless to say, this was my favorite part of the pad.  The living room opens right open to it and you can see the view as you prepare food in the kitchen.  The whole pad centers around the lakefront view, as it should!

First things first after unpacking was where to eat.  My bro had been to Crawdad’s on the River before, so that was the choice.   A local seafood joint on the Sacramento River that serves incredible Creole Burritos.  If you make it to Sactown, you MUST try them.  They are pricey at $19, but worth it if you can splurge.  Most any food here is a little pricey.  The bar opens up with an inside or outside seating area in addition to tables inside and outside.  There will be a radio remote here Saturday night of Memorial Weekend with 92.5 KBEB The Bull radio station camped out with a party 3p-8p.  We will most likely party there that night again.  A laid-back “come as you are” environment with waitresses that enjoy their jobs and reflect it in their service….not to mention the amazing food.

The first night would take us to $1 hot dog night at Raley Field.  The stadium is right downtown with modern amenities and is home of the AAA team for the San Francisco Giants.  Later in the week, pitcher Madison Bumgarner would be making his first rehab start since breaking a finger in spring training.  The current roster included outfielder Hunter Pence, who would later in the game smack a grand slam that would put the River Cats up for good.

Raley Field had a huge LED vertical board along the left field wall and a main video board in straight away center field.  There was a beer garden in right field with a tent that would host $2 beer night later in the week on Thursday.  Apparently for the $2 beers, you can’t leave the tent area to drink them, in which you can’t see the stadium very well from inside the tent, so might not make the most sense for the avid fan.  But hey, $2 beers are $2 beers.  There was also an alcoholic sweets area that included bourbon in shakes and various kinds of alcohol in ice cream, etc.  Once the sun went down, it became less and less attractive due to the cold temps, but a great idea nonetheless.

We would park our camp in right field at a picnic table after purchasing GA seats in the outfield.  There is a HUGE kids playground in right-center field and the parents wished it could only be open during the entire week for a fee during the days.

The visiting team took an early lead on a few loop hits and walks, but the River Cats stormed back with Pence’s grand slam and there was also a HR right after his for back-to-back HR’s.  In the minors, one pitcher to the next could mean something of a future MLB pitcher to someone in AA just getting a tryout for the next level.  The talent is staggered and unpredictable, which makes it enjoyable to watch in a more relaxed atmosphere…and $1 hot dogs.  After the freezing temps when the sun had gone down, we all headed to the hot tub back at the condo and it was glorious in the middle of the high-40s weather overlooking the lake.  The perfect end to the first day.

The next morning took us to the gym for a quick workout where 24 Hour Fitness downtown Sacramento decides to charge $25 to any non-member FOR THE DAY, which is absolutely ridiculous.  I paid this last year as well and remembered how insane it was.  Their regular monthly memberships aren’t much more than that.  A poor way to try and gain more memberships and take advantage of their current member’s guests from out-of-town.  I gladly told them I was a member of Lifetime Fitness in Overland Park and I would not be joining 24 Hour and never would with how they treat guests.  At Lifetime, each guest has a certain number of guest passes for the year.  That is the best way to approach this.  Needless to say, I wasn’t going to go back for the remainder of the trip.

For lunch, we visited Firestone Public House near where my brother used to live in corporate housing downtown SacTown.   This was a bar with tons of TVs, friendly bartenders and staff and sampler beer flight trays to sample tons of beers.  I did a couple flights and ordered the BBQ chicken pizza that was fantastic.  Highly recommend Firestone if you make it to SacTown.

For the flights, you get any 4 beers at a time.  The only detriment is that a lot of the beers I requested were either out of stock, or stopped serving altogether.  But, there was still a good variety.  The come in a tray holder of 4 and they are mini-glasses that still gain enough to make it worth it.  The Fort Rock was my favorite, but I’m a sucker for the darker ale’s.

After the “flights” of beer and a few hours of sampling, we headed over to LowBrau, which is a German pub, also downtown, that features a very “come as you are” environment with picnic tables in the main area with a few regular tables as well.  Patrons were using wifi with laptops and was dog-friendly.  It seemed very much like a coffee cafe that happened to be a German pub.  There were strung lights hanging from the ceiling all over the place, including huge chandelier’s.  Was a totally different vibe than the Firestone Bar that had a much more “Rock and Roll” feel.  You can see below the amount of lights it had.  I can wager a guess it was much more scenic and energetic at night with the lights.  The staff is very alternative with everything ranging from piercings to colored hair to alternative hairstyles.  A very trendy place that included a front porch.  I hear they sometimes close 20th street for festivals as well, the street is lined with bars.

That night we simply grilled out some burgers on the back patio from the condo overlooking the lake and took it easy.  The next day would take us to Lake Tahoe, a 2-hour drive east into the mountains.

The drive to Tahoe was extremely scenic.  I had never been on a bluff overlooking Emerald Bay before, as we had taken a boat out in the bay the previous year, but had never seen it from above looking back down with a bird’s-eye view.  I was glad we did take the detour over to see it.

The name originates from the color of the water that can turn a turquoise, in which the Emerald is referring to.  The original name of the bay was Eagles Bay from the amount of eagles that fly over the area back to heir perch.   But, was changed many years ago to the current name.  The land was created ten thousand years ago as the end of the ice age and retreating glaciers created the rock formations around the lake.  In the deepest parts of the lake, it can get to 1,600 feet, which is the 3rd deepest lake in the US.  With the water going that low, and getting colder as you go down, the colder water meets the warmer water on the surface, which is why the lake never freezes.  The lower water can reach 38 degrees and the surface water can reach up to 68 degrees in the middle of summer.  Today was definitely not a the middle of summer.  It was cold, but not near the cold it would be the next day with a high of 48 and rain and overcast.  So much for a warm Memorial Weekend in Tahoe in taking the boat out.

We checked into the Hard Rock Hotel and proceeded to do some gambling, making our donations along the way.  Blackjack hijacked my money, but I won it all back with the Royals defeating the Rangers 8-2 with a straight-up bet.  Thank God for Duffy winning his second game of the year.

Our favorite bar that we hit up the previous year is called The Lucky Beaver and is open 24/7 and located in a strip center across the street from the Hard Rock and on same side of the street as the Mont Bleu Hotel and Casino on the Nevada side of the southern edge of Lake Tahoe.  We would spend 5 hours there with the best burgers you’ll ever eat and just a fun environment and you’ll never know who will walk through the doors.  We saw an older couple wearing Royals gear when we sat down, so we knew we were in the right place.  The man in the red plaid shirt below was also asleep at the bar in the middle of the afternoon.  My kind of place!  There are video blackjack machines at the bar while you watch the game or eat to pass the time.  We’d watch the Royals defeat the Rangers from here.  The full menu is open 24/7 as well, just like most restaurants in Vegas on the main strip.  A definite must-stop if you make it to the southern edge of Tahoe.  We hit it every time.  The stories of the patrons and workers are worth it alone.

That night we gambled more at Mont Bleu, did some high-stakes slots and called it a night.  The next day temps were not looking promising, so we were debating going back to Sacramento early and only staying 1 night in Tahoe.  There wasn’t much else to do besides drink alcohol and gamble when the sun wasn’t cooperating.  It’s a very outdoorsy town that relies mostly on the skiing, and that wasn’t in season anymore.

The next day, we decided to head back to Sacramento, however, we needed to make one stop for lunch before we left at Basecamp Pizza.  It’s the best pizza place in Tahoe and employed by a staff of snowboarders and skiers that work here in the offseason.  The Basecamp pizza is their pride and joy with pepperoni, sausage, mushroom, red onion.  It’s tremendous.  We’ve stopped here the last two years and it’s located in the middle of their quaint village area on the California side of Tahoe, down the street from the casino’s on the Nevada side.  Order the cheesy garlic bread as well and the marinara sauce is yummy.  A perfect hangover cure from a night out drinking the night before.

Two hours to the minute later, we were back in Sacramento and made great time.  Most people were driving TO Tahoe for the weekend, so we missed a lot of the traffic from the west.  Not sure what those folks were planning on doing in Tahoe, but the weather wouldn’t be allowing them to do much outside once they got there.

After arriving back in Sactown, the hot tub was calling my name again for a relaxing afternoon.  Put the headphones on, watched airplanes fly overhead, soaked in the 105-degree temp and rejuvenated from the cold weather in Tahoe and the 2-hour drive. Memorial Weekend done right.  We were right to have left Tahoe early, and never thought I’d say that, but I’ll be back next year when the weather is warmer and my bro has moved in to his new house he closes on Tuesday.

Later that night, we decided to lay low and take in a movie.  We went and saw Solo: A Star Wars Movie and it was fantastic.  Both my bro and his gf are not Star Wars fans and they even enjoyed it.  It has many references to the main movies 4-6 and was much better than episode 8.  The side movies for Star Wars are overshadowing the current series at a rapid pace.  It started with Rogue One (also tremendous) and now Solo.  I hear Obi-Wan, Boba Fett and Lando stand along movies are in the future as well.  The writing and direction of the current series just isn’t there anymore without the main characters and plot.  The theater we visited was the Century Arden 14 and XD.  This XD screen I had never heard of, but was the largest I’d ever seen.  The perfect spot for a Star Wars flick with reclining chairs in the 3rd row.

The next took me to Starbucks to write this blog and hangout while the rest of the crew worked out at the gym.  Wasn’t paying $25 again for a single day pass!  I’ll use that time to catch up on my travel blog and continue planning my next adventure.  Until next time, I’ll be California Livin’.