A few weeks ago, I joined my friends Garrick and Jenna on a day trip to Sacramento. I’d been wanting to explore California’s capital city for years, so I was excited when Jenna invited us up for the day. (I was even more excited when we decided to take Amtrak.)
I’m being generous when I call it a day trip. It was only enough time to see some of the sites, grab lunch, dessert, and a beer, and then make it back to the train station–unfortunately, about three minutes too late for our 4:30pm train.
But this little glimpse at this surprisingly hip Central Valley city made me eager to plan a trip back. (Garrick actually did go back the next weekend, and shared the story here.)
Here are some of the photos from our quick urban escape:
Dome spotting at the California State Capitol (1315 10th Street)
Wandering Capitol Park & The Rose Garden
Admiring a Sacramento historic home at the Leland Stanford Mansion (800 “N” Street)
Getting our fancy (nitro carbonated!) coffee fix at Temple Coffee Roasters (1010 9th St)
Strolling the cafes and Victorian homes in Midtown Sacramento
Treasure hunting at a chic Midtown vintage store, Scout Living (1215 18th St)
Sampling our way around Preservation & Co, a shop that stocks craft pickles, fermented foods, and an award-winning Bloody Mary mix (1717 19th st. #B)
(Not blood & not a crime scene–pickled beet tasting)
Lunch, pizza and a homemade strawberry shrub (fermented fruit soda) at Hook & Ladder Manufacturing Company (1630 S St)
A California take on a French tradition–ollalieberry macarons at Ginger Elizabeth Chocolates (1801 L St)
“Farm to fermentation”– beer tasting at Ruhstaller Brewery, whose brews feature locally-grown California hops and barley. (630 K St.)
And finally (oops!), hanging around the Sacramento train station for an hour after missing our evening train.
Until next time, Sacramento!
Find more tips from the Sactown local, Jenna at this post: The Perfect Day Trip to Sacramento.
We’ll be spending a day in Sacramento in a couple months and now I’m super excited! So many great places. And you have a pug picture in the mix!!
Glad to hear that! I know you’ll love everything at Preservation & Co–and Hook & Ladder for the shrubs! 🙂
BTW, is Sac the “Central Valley city” you were telling us about last week???
And yes, I’m glad you appreciate the pug love! 🙂
I see you made it to Ginger’s. How did you like their macarons? I love them <3 Also you made it to Temple, fyi at Temple on 9/J they sell Twenty-Four Blackbirds Chocolates smaller sized artisan delectable dark chocolate bars (on the counter near the register). Also Next to this Temple, is Andy's Candy Apothecary and it's fun to go into, there's samples to try too.
Hi Janice, the macarons were wonderful — perfect texture, great flavors! And yes, I think that’s the Temple we went to–I had one of their muffins, which was okay but a little dry. I should have gone with the chocolate bar! 🙂
And I noticed the candy apothecary right next door but we didn’t stop in. You know, I’d love to plan a SweetsCrawl (dessert themed walking tour) in Sacramento (Like this one: https://everintransit.com/sweet-day-in-san-francisco/ and this one: https://everintransit.com/sweet-day-in-palo-alto/
Are you interested?
I thought of you today because Joao and I ate at Mother, a vegetarian restaurant near Ruhstaller (the food is so good! I know you’ll love it), then tried to stop by Preservation & Co. (they were closed) and had drinks and dessert at Hook & Ladder.
Jenna, ohh! That was one of the other ones you recommended, I believe! Next time…
In fact, the comments from Janice below (above?) got me thinking about doing a future #SweetsCrawl up in Sac! Are you interested?
YES! A Sweets Crawl here is a great idea. I’d love to participate/help/join in however I can.
Sacramento looks so cute! For some reason I had always thought it was a boring, nondescript town, but clearly that is not true. Very excited to see it for myself next month!
A Sac Foodie w/Sweets Crawl would be delish! October 10th would be perfect, it’ll be cooler, and Ginger will be serving up her special 2nd Saturday Ice Cream Sundae = Sticky Toffee Gingerbread, Cowgirl Creamery Crème Fraîche Ice Cream, Sierra Orchard Walnut Praline Ice Cream, Sorghum Poached Local Organic Pears, Whipped Crème Fraîche = ice cream sundae for this day 😀
BTW, Ginger was named 1 of 10 top chocolatiers in North America in 2010 by Dessert Professional Magazine 😀
Andy’s Candy Apothecary on 9th near J, should definitely be included 🙂 you’ll love it, and he is so friendly and personable, as all their staff 😀 Puur Chocolat is out of the way, but they are sold through Andy’s ala their single chocolates, classic sea salt caramels and chocolate bars 🙂 Temple Coffee is right next door 😉
We could take a short stroll through/by Capitol Park @ L between 10th & 15th.
Since you’ve been to Devine on 19th off L, you know it has to be included 🙂
Fluid Espresso Bar is a small spot at 13th & N and they have the best empanadas as well as really good various sweet and savory croissants 😀
Preservation & Co. too at 19th St. near Q, which is also near Ginger 🙂
I would also suggest going to Tea Cozy, a quaint tea shop, with excellent teas, inside a larger building with other spots, including mark vintage, located at 10th & R.
There’s a newish coffee spot The Mill that makes an olde timey housemade soda called the shrub, that I have to try! They also make their own in-house nut milk 🙂 They just celebrated their 1 year anniversary! They’re located on I Street right at 19th, around the corner from Ginger 🙂
The Rind: Cheese, Wine, Beer is right by Ginger’s on L.
On R between 11th/12th is WAL Public Market (from Garrick’s 7×7 post I see he’s been there). Metro has good kombucha and some pastries, their chocolate croissant is really good 😀 There’s other foodie places inside too 🙂
The facebook pages of the places I mentioned above are on my Sacramento list here -> https://www.facebook.com/lists/4713173668327 -> I’m trying to keep them near each other. Their also in alphabetical order vs sequential route order, so they’re easier to find on my fb Sac list 😉
Hi Janice, these are wonderful ideas! I can’t do October 10, but perhaps one weekend in mid-November? And I’ll follow your FB list… Do you blog anywhere? You have so much to share about food! Send me your social media handles and website (if you have one) so we can stay connected!
November is good. and my fb page is at https://www.facebook.com/janicemariefoote 🙂
Cool, I just followed! I’ll look into some dates and let you know!
Great piece! You make Sacramento look a lot nicer than it is so this is a major compliment. The macaron pic and the elegant picture of Leland Stanford Mansion were unexpected from a Sacramento trip. Ha!
Sac IS a very nice city, photos don’t lie! 🙂