I've been Sac'd

Photographic copyright: Charis Johannson

I had to post both of these pictures and tell you the story behind them. Neither of them have been edited, this is natural colouring and just happened to be at the right place at the right time.

So ... I'm sitting at The Delta King having dinner with some friends and everyone's phones start going off. It was the emergency notification system. Beep beep beep beep beep. Everyone looks at their phones, then promptly puts them down again.  No sooner did it stop, it started all over again , beep beep beep beep beep. Repeat. The sky was turning orange, I quickly ran upstairs to the top deck to get some pics. The beeping started all over again. I asked the waitress what the heck was going on and she said it's a tornado warning but not to worry, we never get tornados. ( I was like what the hell, why isn't anyone moving, taking cover, anything?) All I know was although I wasn't in Kansas and have no desire to go there, I also didn't want to land up in Oz. I was quite happy hanging out in Sacramento. Was there a table to duck under?

I went downstairs and asked my friends as well, they responded with the same comment, no worries dear, we never get tornados. Sure enough. There had been one, just not right on top of us. We continued to drink our wine and chow down, no trip to Oz tonight for this gal, thank goodness. Long story short, that's why the sky looks so amazing. Sacramento you can thank me later for the pic. 

Photographic copyright: Charis Johannson

My favourite tools for finding what’s happening in any given city like most of you is the internet and for me, more than that, enjoying the knowledge of the locals. I wanted tourist attractions, events, concerts, classes ... I wanted it all. I had a month of activities planned before even left home. I’m not sure that they are like anyone else’s to do list, but I wanted to do more than tourist stuff while I was there. I wanted to become part of the community, and take part in community events, hang with the locals. To be perfectly honest, some of the things I planned, I didn't do only because I found other things to do once I was there. The other side of that was that I wanted to be spontaneous, I didn't want a rigid schedule because that really was not the point of this trip. I also wanted, NEEDED to relax. The awesome part of this thought process was, I actually did SO MANY THINGS, but did come back feeling completely rejuvenated. The only think I'm pissed about is that I didn't go to the Post Malone concert while I was there. 

Photographic copyright: Charis Johannson

​Now lucky for me, I had a crew to hang out with the minute I arrived, thanks to my TrustedHousitters homeowner, she introduced me to all of her friends before she left, all of which were very obliging to take part in the bevy of activities I wanted to check out. I really was the most fortunate, but then again, it’s all about putting yourself out there. Not everyone might have the same experience as I did, not everyone is as extroverted in new situations. The thing to remember here is that 100% of the time, your experience with others is what you are putting out there yourself. When you are throwing nothing but good vibes out there, people are more than happy to talk to you and give you recommendations.

Photographic copyright: Charis Johannson

I had so many people welcomed me to the city, gas stations, grocery stores, the gardener, the artists I met, the restaurants I reviewed. EVERYONE. Seriously Sacramento gets a 10 out of 10 for being an INCREDIBLY friendly city, I LOVED the people there. Did you hear me? LOVED!

Photographic Copyright: Charis Johannson

As far as a great month to head to Sacramento, September is it. Even the locals are breathing a sigh of relief when the weather drops down to a balmy 90-100 degrees. I’m laughing, that is still prime summer time vibes in my book. I extended my summer by and entire month, Life is fricking good. So, while the locals were breathing a cool sigh of relief, I was still sweating my buns off. I was decked out in summer gear and they were already pulling out their fall clothing. At 90 degrees, Us Viking types just think that’s just crazy talk.

​So, there’s me in flip flops, shorts or a sundress and everyone is in jeans and sweaters.
If you look at some of these apps, you can plan any length of trip and highlight both local activity and tourism hot spots. Many of the events I went to were courtesy of my local peeps giving me a heads up on sweet locations, and such.

​The other reason why it's a great time to visit Sacramento is the fact it's the Farm to Fork month. They really take this to the next level, restaurants, wineries, and festivals, EVERYONE is pulling out all the stops to showcase all of the locally grown produce, fruit and wines. (and so much more). This of course appealed to me in so many ways, there's just nothing like fresh ingredients. I spent many a Saturday in one of the many farmer's markets. I filled my bags with avocados, heirloom tomatoes, fresh fruit and baking.  I would eat just fresh food for days, I don't thing I actually cooked anything except if I was pigging out on salmon from Whole Foods. (I love this store) Otherwise, fresh goat cheese, hummus and my fresh food was all I could ever want. The thing is, it just never tasted so damn good. In comparison to the food we get at home, the flavour was so robust, it was delicious, I couldn't get enough of it. 

There were festivals every weekend and you could choose what your fancy was that day. And if a festival didn't work for you, there was a million wineries to hit as well. The key with the wineries in September is to check to see when they are open as in the fall, tastings are usually from Thursday to Sunday.  Google maps will show you a mass of wineries if you just throw winery in the search terms. I then researched the routes I wanted to travel and what they were offering and when. 
​

Photography copyright: Charis Johannson

Truthfully, (and my peeps from Sacramento will tell you) I should be working for Sacramento tourism. Work in Sac? I’m game. I had everyone running weekdays, weeknights, morning, afternoon and night.  As always, and I think for everyone, there were places I liked to hit several times over, I just liked the vibe, more than likely, they made me feel at home. (just better weather.) That is moreso for the restaurants really. I definitely had several go to hot spots. For the CharisOnFood review of all #sacramentoeats check out The Norm Effect blogpost as soon as it's posted.  Food is the spice of life folks, if you can't enjoy the local tasty treats that a new city has to offer, then I'm not sure why you're travelling. Food is life. The restaurant guide is an eclectic mix of everything from fine dining to the delicious food truck offerings around the city.

Photographic Copyright: Charis Johannson

Here is a list of some of the top festivals and activities that you might want to check out is you make plans to fly to Sacramento next September. I'll meet you there.
1. Farm to Fork Street Festival:  https://www.farmtofork.com/
     https://www.visitsacramento.com/visit/farm-to-fork/
2. Farm to Fork restaurants:
    https://sacramento.downtowngrid.com/eats-drinks/farm-to-fork/
3.Old Sugar Mill Farm to Fork Activities on each weekend. (live music)
     http://oldsugarmill.com/hot-summer-nights.html
4. Folsom Live: Street party and live music: http://www.folsomlive.com/
5. Open Studio Art Tour, two weekends in September
     https://www.vergeart.com/attend/sac-open-studios-2019/
6. Farmer's markets each Saturday: 
     http://www.california-grown.com/Market-times.html
7. SecondSaturdays: 
    Midtown: http:// .org/best-of-midtown/second-saturdays/
    Art Walk:  https://sacramento.downtowngrid.com/2nd-saturday/
8. Midtown Block Party Series: https://www.facebook.com/this916/
    

My go to research tools including favourite APPS, websites, and Facebook pages that I used to find activities, cross-referenced restaurant recommendations are as follows. Some are Sacramento based, others are international. You can connect with many of these right from my website. Many of these you can access events in any location that you happen to be travelling to, they are a great resource.

1. VIATOR APP: Click Viator click below
2. SACRAMENTO365 : https://www.sacramento365.com/
3. THE VERGE ART:  https://www.vergeart.com/          
4. EVENTBRITE:  https://www.eventbrite.com/d/ca--sacramento/events/
5. Visit Sacramento: https://www.visitsacramento.com/visit/vistors-guide/
6. GOLDSTAR APP
7. THE CROCKER MUSEUM :  https://www.crockerart.org/
8. SACRAMENTO FINE ARTS:   http://sacfinearts.org/
9. AIRBNB EXPERIENCES: Click link below
10. TRIPADVISOR:  Click link below
11. The S4: THE BEST RECOMMENDATIONS IS FROM THE LOCALS!
12. INSTAGRAM. Truthfully, I always check out Insta for all the food pics and recommendations. That being said, I had some disappointments this time round as the food looked as good as Instagram but flavour or lack there of, didn’t lend itself to the best foodie experience. #sacramentoeats is a good hastag to check out
13. Click any of these links and they will automatically take you to these resources. 
14. For extra travel deals offered by some of these companies, check out my PROMOTIONS page

This Airbnb link offers you a special deal when you use any of their services.

The Delta King in Old Sacramento.                          Photography copyright: Charis Johannson

The American River with its trail system was s beautiful and winds all the way to downtown Sacramento. Photographic Copyright: Charis Johannson  https://regionalparks.saccounty.net/Parks/Pages/AmericanRiverParkway.aspx       

Old Sacramento: There are a wide variety of things to do in Old Sac, but even just enjoying a stroll through the boutique shops is a treat. For more attractions click this link for a ton o'fun:  ​https://www.oldsacramento.com/attractions

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