Nothing says Christmas in California like palms and pines in the same photo. And although it's wet and windy in Sacramento this weekend, by Monday and Tuesday the scene may be more like the one I saw above on my first visit to the capital city.
For the nation's most populous state, California has a surprisingly unpretentious statehouse. Tours are available every hour on the hour from 9 to 4. (The Capitol is closed just three days each year: Thanksgiving, Christmas, and New Year's Day.) You'll learn trivia such as how former Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger bought this sculpted grizzly bear while vacationing in Colorado. It sits outside the governor's office, which is in a corridor otherwise lined with displays from each of California's 58 counties.
The tours don't afford a look inside the office now occupied by Gov. Jerry Brown, but they do include the chambers used by the state Senate and Assembly, which borrow their rose and green decor from the House of Lords and Commons in Great Britain.
After the Capitol, I walked to the Crocker Art Museum, which is hosting "American Chronicles: The Art of Norman Rockwell" through February 3. Although Rockwell is best known for the 323 often whimsical Saturday Evening Post covers he painted between 1916 and 1963 (all of which are included in this overview), the exhibition is most interesting for its look at the artist's later years. Prohibited by the Post from including people of color -- except domestic servants -- in his cover artwork, Rockwell made up for this in the mid-1960s with illustrations for landmark civil rights journalism in Look magazine. "The Problem We All Live With," depicting the desegregation of a New Orleans school, is among the paintings now on view. (President Obama had it displayed near the Oval Office during part of his first term.)
The Crocker is the longest continuously operating museum in the West, and its permanent collections are well worth several hours of exploration, with works ranging from European masters to California modernists. (A ceramic piece by Bean Finneran, above, tested my resolve to obey the "do not touch" placards.) The spirit of creativity extends to the museum store and onsite cafe, where I had an excellent pulled-pork sandwich and fresh fruit cup.
From the Crocker, a freeway overpass leads to a walkway along the Sacramento River; I crossed it just as the sun was setting to spectacular effect on the Tower Bridge and the Embassy Suites hotel nearby. They mark the entrance to the touristy Old Sacramento area, which is featuring a holiday lights spectacular through New Year's Eve. From Old Sac, a tunnel leads to the open-air Sacramento Downtown Plaza shopping mall. From there, it's a mere 5-minute walk back to Amtrak.
I already have my next Sacramento itinerary in mind: I want to stay on the Delta King riverboat, which has been converted to a hotel, and go to a baseball game or two. (The Sacramento River Cats, the Triple-A affiliate of the Oakland A's, play just across the Tower Bridge from downtown at Raley Field.) These attractions and many others, including the California State Railroad Museum, are all an easy walk from the Amtrak station. Get more information on visiting California's capital city.
