My Weekend in Sacramento – Sunday

After a hearty breakfast of eggs, bacon, and hash browns, C and I headed out to Sutter’s Fort. The fort is located in the middle of downtown Sacramento. It’s a great place to visit and we had a lot more fun than we had expected. We got to watch them fire a musket and a Russian-made replica of the Russian-made cannon that Sutter had used to keep his enemies at bay.

After Sutter’s Fort we went to Old Sacramento, commonly called Old Sac, which is next to the Sacramento River, just south of where the American River flows into it. We sat on the deck of the Delta King, an authentic Mississippi river boat, and had drinks.

Candace had an unexpectedly large glass of Viognier and I had a new gluten-free beer called Redbridge (by Anheuser-Busch, which was a surprise, and made with sorghum). I had tried a gluten-free beer once before and poured it out. I was pleasantly surprised by this one.

It’s a pilsner-style beer, which I’m not a fan of; I like dark beer. But after not drinking beer for so long, it was nice to enjoy the flavor of a decent beer. I’d like to find a gluten-free dark beer, but in a pinch, the Redbridge will do.

After our drinks we walked around Old Sac, which is a collection of restored 19th century buildings.


There are gift shops, candy shops, and restaurants. We wondered into a fantasy-themed shop that smelled really good. It was cramped and crowded, but the mingled scents from the incense, candles, and soaps were very relaxing.

After getting our fill of smell-good stuff, we decided to find some lunch. We left Old Sac and went to a café that Candace likes, but it was closed. Luckily Café Bernardo/R15 was open (http://www.paragarys.com/go/prg/locations/cafe-bernardo/). Candace had grilled polenta with tomato-basil sauce, Parmesan, and mixed greens. I had a grilled chicken quesadilla. Both were very good, though the quesadilla could have been grilled slightly longer, as it was a touch doughy.

For dinner, Candace did the preparing and her hubby did the grilling. They made grilled filet mignon kabobs marinated in olive oil, garlic, and rosemary; and grilled prosciutto-wrapped asparagus spears. Everything was yummy and we drank an absolutely lovely Kathryn Kennedy.

The next morning, Candace drove me to the airport, I had pizza for breakfast, and then it was time to return home. It was a wonderful weekend of great food and wine, excellent company, and being pampered!

Next post, something with chocolate...

My Weekend in Sacramento – Saturday

After hanging with C's family, we went to the new Squeeze Inn location (www.squeezeinn.com). They moved to a larger location but the new place isn’t very big. This was my first visit, though I had heard about it on Guy Fieri’s show Diners, Drive-ins, and Dives.

(this picture is from the Squeeze Inn web site)

The cheese skirt is what they’re famous for. Candace and I both got their basic cheeseburger, the Squeeze with Cheese, and added jalapenos, and her hubby got a basic Squeeze with Cheese. We also got 2 orders of fries.

I wasn’t impressed. The cheese skirt was super good - it’s crispy melted cheese, how could it be anything but good?! But the burger itself was somewhat bland, even with the jalapenos, and slightly overcooked. I think the basic cheeseburger from In-n-Out is much better, though smaller and no cheese skirt.

The fries weren’t very good; Candace said they used to be much better. It seems they’re now using frozen French fries. Very disappointing. I don’t know why they wouldn’t stick with the fresh. If In-n-Out can do it, there’s no excuse for these guys not to. It’s not like they’re serving people quickly – between standing in line and then waiting for the food, it took over 1.5 hours. I expected a lot more based on Guy Fieri’s review. Not worth going back there again.

Of course, dinner was much, much better – Candace was cooking.

Her friend Gwen came over for dinner and showed off the uber-cool Art Deco wall sconces she’d found in a local antique shop that afternoon. We nibbled on shaved Parmesan cheese and drank wine until dinner was ready.

Mmmmm, braised beef with olives and tomatoes, served with roasted fingerling potatoes. The beef was tender and delicious, and the olives gave it the perfect bite. Excellent food, good wine, and perfect company.