Friday night shortly after midnight, Frank blew out a candle on that piece of cake and we shared it.
Saturday we left mid morning after dropping Snoopy off at the kennel and set out for Sacramento. Our drive up was smooth and uneventful taking only slightly over an hour and a half, and we arrived at our hotel, the Hawthorne Suites, around noon. The Hawthorne Suites is at the fork between the Sacramento and American Rivers and not far from the Old Sacramento Historic District and California State Railroad Museum. We learned it is a large six building complex, labeled A through F; it was quite a maze, and negotiating it was initially a bit daunting.
We asked if we could check in early instead of waiting until 3:00 pm and were told our room would be ready by 1:00 or 1:30. The hotel offered a shuttle to Old Town so we took that. It dropped us off right at the California State Railroad Museum, one of our intended sites to visit.
We wandered in and around the darker slate gray blocks at the far left of the map near the Sacramento River and the docked boat, the Delta King, which is a permanently moored hotel. We would have stayed there but they were fully booked when I made our reservation at the Hawthorne Suites. Oh, well. Maybe next time.
We strolled around a bit in search of a place to eat lunch before immersing ourselves in the train museum. Crossing the street from the California State Railroad Museum this is the view we had looking toward the Sacramento River. The red brick building at the far end houses the Sacramento History Museum, which we had never noticed before on previous visits. I liked the way this photo captured the ambience of the area. The weather was a comfortable, light jacket, temperature in the low seventies and it was sunny.
We sat in a quieter booth away from the bar and the boisterous sports fans. Frank and I could still converse comfortably, but it was fun hearing the cheers and groans erupt sporadically from the other side of that brick wall with its arched openings.
In contrast to that photo I took before we had lunch, I took this one after lunch. I was attracted to the juxtaposition of the old and the new and the rail car all in one composition.
We went to the Sacramento History Museum first. Frank was drawn to this printing press. It is identical, the same model and make, as one his father had in the basement and used to print on. It is a Kelsey Excelsior Model M and can print a maximum of 3" x 5". It can print small jobs such as post cards, business cards, invitation, etc.
I wondered, but could never confirm, if the museum building had once been a roundhouse. The arched wall of entry ways as if for trains was along one exterior wall. The black iron fencing in a circle seemed to surround the area once in use as a turntable.
Trains and agriculture played a large role in the region. These colorful produce crates caught my eye. I was sitting down next to them at a low table fiddling with some animal and tractor toys associated with the produce theme, there most likely to entice children to stay and play awhile. A young girl maybe 7 or so asked "May I play with you?" I smiled in amusement, said "Certainly," and pushed some of the toys over her way.
We sat and I made small talk, or rather small sounds such as horse whinnies or tractor rumblings. She was somewhat quiet listening to my noises and then said matter of factly, "My mom brought us here to have a good time. We had to evacuate because of the fire and I think our house is gone." I said, "I am so sorry to hear that. What town do you come from?" and she answered "Chico". Chico is about 15 miles east of Paradise, the town consumed by the Camp Fire. Her mom came by the table in a few minutes and confirmed what her daughter had told me. She still had hope that there would be a home when they returned. That short interchange was very sobering and I wonder what happened to that family. The girl and her mom moved on and I left that area as well.
The museum had two levels with many displays to browse. I was truly fascinated by the stairway between the two levels. I never could find a vantage point to capture the stairs in their entirety but I was dumfounded by the number of turns and twists and landings. I would not have wanted to be the workman making that shiny metal railing. It took me three photos to capture as much as I did.
Frank and I fooled around with gender reversal as we posed for this final photo before leaving the museum. Hmm... perhaps this was an inkling of the play content we would see later that night
Our next stop was the California State Railroad Museum. We had been there earlier this year as a day trip with Alex in May (post for 5/7/18) but spent a large portion of the time the museum was open on a train ride. Then we'd been through part of the first floor where the full scale rolling stock is and so this time we would start at the third floor where the model train layouts are and work our way down.
The exhibits of layout and train memorabilia are extensive. This collection of Lionel trains is typical of the glass enclosed exhibits. One series of enclosures contained the contents of one dedicated collector's attic. He had shelves and shelves all well organized in and amongst his eaves.
Also from the third floor you could look over and see the full scale rolling stock. A streak of white caught our eye and Frank recognized it as a high speed transport. We had not seen this in the museum before so we went down to investigate.
Sitting inside seems so spacious and modern.
I suspect it does not look this way at commute time.
We stopped and perused the gift shop before leaving. We bought Frank this souvenir shirt. With his stamp collecting and love of trains, I talked him into this as a memento of the day. The image so perfectly fits his two hobbies and our visit.
After exiting the railroad museum, we called the hotel shuttle to take us back to check into our room, long after the 3:00 check in time. When we went in to our hotel our reserved room was no longer available; we had to wait for a backup room to be prepared. Our room had been handed out to fire evacuees from the fire spreading through and to Paradise and Chico. Somehow after my short exchange with the mother and daughter in the Sacramento History Museum the inconvenience was put in perspective.
Checking into our room late also postponed our dinner plans. We opted to walk to the nearby restaurant Maya Traditional Mexican Cuisine, adjacent to the property of the Hawthorne Suites where we were staying. The food was excellent, a little milder in its spices and more in keeping with the southwestern flavor I have experienced around Santa Fe.
The mural in the entry was striking.
We told the staff it was Frank's birthday and they helped us celebrate. He was presented with a complimentary dessert, complete with lit candle.
They gathered round and sang Happy Birthday.
And watched and cheered as Frank blew out his candle.
After dinner we rushed off to attend a play for which we had pre-purchased tickets. Finding the theatre was stressful at the time but in retrospect it really was a hoot. Guess what – the historic B Street Theatre of Sacramento is no longer on B street. We wound up late at night in the center of the Blue Diamond nut processing plant. A guard at the gate allowed us to go into the plant far enough to make a U-turn and raised the gate again for us to exit. He gave us directions to the theatre but apparently he did not know it had moved either.
The B Street theatre company had moved to a posh newly built facility in February 2018 whose full name is The Sofia Tsakopoulos Center for the Arts. The new facility houses a 400 seat children's theatre and a 250 seat adult theatre. The photo below is from the web. It was pitch black when we finally found the building and a nearby place to park. We rushed into the theatre, out of breath and frantically looking for the will call window to claim the tickets we had previously ordered on line. Spread out in a single layer on a counter manned by two workers was a whole slew of tickets to be claimed. I guess "the show must go on" does not also mean "the show must go on, on time!" We had a few minutes for a rest room stop before unhurriedly finding our seats and getting settled.
The play we were there to see was called The Legend of Georgia McBride, a 2015 American play written by Matthew Lopez. Per the theatre website:
In this stitch-in-your-side funny play, Casey is an Elvis impersonator working in a Florida Panhandle bar. But when his poorly attended Elvis show is cancelled for the more popular drag queen performers, Casey is despondent. His girlfriend is pregnant and the rent check’s bounced. But to his rescue come Tracy Mills and Miss Anorexia Nervosa who instruct Casey on the finer points of drag performance.
The theatre was intimate, the premise was dubious but the actors were downright comedic in their roles. To see Casey hopping up and down trying to don the garb of a female from panty hose to false butt cheeks to false boobs to false eyelashes to ankle breaking spike high heels to a haphazard wig, and trying desperately to lip synch to a song he has never heard in his life – which is in French also – is hilarious and the actor hams it up as he plays the part extremely well. As Casey becomes more skilled in his role as a drag queen, the singing and dancing become very entertaining in a way that makes the audience suspend all disbelief that these are men – not women – performing. Casey grows in dressing, dancing, and singing skills while also expanding his understanding of the drag queen world and the men who dwell in it. This was a great play to round out a 70th birthday celebration!
What a full - and fun - day! Happy 70th Birthday Frank/Dad/Grandpa!!
ReplyDeleteYes, it was enjoyable, memorable, and companionable. Glad we made the effort to do it.
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