Getting to Know Sacramento

Now that Jason is back home, I wanted to show him our new hometown.  We moved to Sacramento right before he left for South Korea-- so we didn't get much time to explore the area.  I saved a lot of things for Jason, and I did a little exploring myself while was gone.  So after all the hugging, kissing and ... when Jason first arrived home, we spent a day getting to know Sacramento.

Rooting on the Sacramento Kings

My friend and coworker Maria managed to get us some pretty awesome seats to the Sacramento Kings game versus the Boston Celtics.  I'm not a huge sports fan, but I'm also not one to turn down and opportunity to got to a game for free.

We got to sit in the mid-lower level, with a pretty nice view of the court.  But I''ll tell you one thing-- seats in an old basketball arena are not spaced well enough for anyone more than 5'7" tall.  Jason and I were crammed in those seats and I felt bad for the people whose backs we were kneeing.



This was my first time at an NBA game.  I'd only ever seen the WNBA and College Basketball live.  I think I prefer college basketball, but hey-- it was still a fun game and a win for the Team's new coach.

The wine was great and all, but I think my favorite part about the night was the mascot, "Slamson," coming over to our seats and freaking out two of the other lovely ladies we went to the game with.  I shot pictures,and laughed about it for the rest of the night #rude.  We also got to go down on the court and get our picture taken!  It pays to be friends with the people in front of the camera!  Oh, and the hot dogs weren't bed either :)

It was a pretty fun night, but Jason says we're still required to be Blazers fans, no matter how long we live here.

Touring the City

I haven't done much in Sacramento since moving here. There have been a few hikes,walks along the river trail, and nights on the town with friends-- but actually walking around and taking in the city hasn't happened.  But during Jason's first few days in town, we decided to take a walking tour of the city.  There are actually self-guided walking tours you can find online. (Get the HERE).

We printed out the city walking tour, and made our way around town.  The tour has a heavy focus on architecture, which neither of us care much about.  But there were some pretty interesting historical facts thrown in for good measure, which catered to the history nerd inside us both.

Since we went on a weekend, many of the buildings were closed-- but it was a nice walk around the downtown area.  We saw City Hall, the Downtown Branch of the Library (and picked up some library cards), we walked past the site of the Kings new arena, strolled through Sacramento's ting Chinatown,looped back to where we started.

It was a fun tour, and I would recommend it to anyone who wants to get to know the city when they first move here.  Especially if you're an architecture buff.

The State Capitol

I've lived in 3 states now, but I've only ever seen the California State Capitol.  It's a gorgeous building, with an interesting history.  So after Jason and I grabbed some lunch after our walking tour of Sacramento-- we headed over to the Capitol.

We started in the garden that surrounds the actual capitol building.  It's filled with flowers and trees from all over the world, and monuments to everything from fallen firefighters, soldiers and police officers-- to some of the first historical figures that make up the State's rich history.  It it hadn't started to "rain"-- and we hadn't just walked miles around the city looking at old buildings and finding a place to eat-- we probably would have spent a bit more time checking out the gardens.  Luckily, we live here-- so we can go back and check it out.

After walking around the gardens, we made our way inside.  On the weekends, you have to enter through the side door.   Once security gives you the once over, you enter on the lower level of the building, where each county has created a display of the things that make them special. Some were incredibly intricate and interesting-- others seemed thrown together or were still "coming soon."

We saw the Governor's Office, the Bill Room, the Rotunda, the Assembly Chamber, and the door of the Senate Chamber (it was closed).  We also got to watch a few videos about the history of the capitol.  Did you know the building design was based on the U.S. Capitol Building?  Or that the California state capitol was first San Jose, then Vallejo, then Benicia before it was Sacramento?  All things I learned during our fun little tour!

By the way, don't you just love Jason's photo with the Govenator?  It was a popular thing to do when we were there, every few seconds another group of people would come to take a photo.  During my first tour, the portrait hadn't been hung yet.

**Side Note: We rode Sacramento's infamous light rail, and survived.  I'd heard how bad it was-- but besides a not so pleasant smell-- it wasn't bad!