California 2013 - Round 2 - Day 3 & 4

September 13, 2013 (Friday)

The day did not go exactly has I had originally planned – first the tour I wanted to go on was full and secondly we had to go back to the suit place to pick up the corrected jacket.

A view from Sausalito

Since basically all we had to do for the day was wedding stuff we took advantage of what little free time that we had and checked out Sausalito. There was plenty of free street parking along the bay. We checked out some of little shops and took a nice stroll along the bay to soak in the views.

After picking up the suit jacket, we headed back to the hotel before heading to the wedding. We stopped by the ice cream place before leaving for the wedding. Yum! The ceremony was nice and short. The reception also took place at the Botanical Garden and was only a short walk away. There were fruits and cheeses to munch on before dinner was served. The dinner was very unique – individual pot pies! The shells and lids were baked and the filling was scooped into the shell. The rest of the evening was danced away.

September 14, 2013 (Saturday)

After the great breakfast at the Holiday Inn Express we ventured to a new destination – Sacramento.

All aboard - train ride in Old Sacramento

There was a lot of positive information about Old Sacramento thus we checked it out. Old Sacramento is the original historic business district back in the Gold Rush Period (1850’s). The area is a CA Historical Landmark. There are over 50 buildings of significance in the little “Old Town”. The location is also home to the California State Railroad Museum. We did not visit the museum but, did go on the Sacramento Southern Railroad train excursion. The vintage diesel locomotive leaves on the hour and has about a 45 minute ride. We took the regular coach ($10 adults, $5 youths (6-17), free 5 and under), there is also first class for $15/person, free 5 and under. We were extremely cramped in the coach cars and the views from the train were not very good; therefore, I would not recommend riding the train.

Sacramento - CA Capitol

We continued our tradition of visiting capitol buildings. California’s capitol is similar to most that we have seen – neoclassical architecture. There is a lovely park adjacent to the capitol. There was a small amount of free parking around the fountain across the street. 

Heading out town we stopped for gas and lunch. We had a gift card for Chili’s and we went there for lunch. They forgot to put our order in as a result we got a free dessert.

Our adventure continued as we headed towards South Lake Tahoe. The drive views improved as we drove to the west of Sacramento. We stopped at a few turn-outs for photos.

Driving to Lake Tahoe

While in South Lake Tahoe, we stayed at the Lake Tahoe Vacation Resort. The resort was super nice, the only downfall was that were was some construction going on to the building and the surrounding roadways.

After settling in, we took a walk to check out the town. There was a nice little shopping near the CA/NV state line called Heavenly Village. We bought an awesome caramel apple at the Rocky Mountain Chocolate Factory. Also, we headed to the Hard Rock Café (located just inside the Harvey’s Resort and Casino) to collect yet another zippo lighter for Mike’s collection.

Driving to Lake Tahoe