Wine, beer, classic cars, good eats; it's Lodi, CA

Wine, beer, classic cars, good eats…it’s Lodi, CA, of course.

And, Fall is the perfect time to visit! It’s the wine grape harvest season, the Lodi Road Trip Passport is back for its second year (more, below) and the weather is at its finest! But, add beer, good food and classic cars and you have reason to visit for several days, or several different trips!

Food can include a number of great stops. For breakfast, chose the iconic Richmaid Restaurant on Cherokee, serving Lodians since 1938! For lunch, try Phillips Farms Café and Michael David Winery on Highway 12 just west of Lodi. Lodi Beer on School Street offers a varied selection of award-winning beers and always tasty food for lunch or dinner in a classic brew-pub setting.

If classic cars are your interest, check out the Vintage Reserve Garage on Cherokee, right across the street from Richmaid! This new “Gasoline Alley-style garage” (in beautifully remodeled space, formerly a Salvation Army location) shows off about 50 antique, classic or muscle cars from the 1920s to the 1970s; these stunning specimens like the 1939 Ford convertible pictured are timeless treasures.

The Lodi Road Trip Passport is back for its second year. This September 1-30 event features Lodi Appellation’s vintners with fun activities like cycling and vineyard tours, grape stomps and barrel tastings, live music, winemaker dinners and many more reasons to visit the 45+ participating wineries and a host of restaurants! Passports are currently on sale for $20; visit www.lodiroadtrip.com, or call the Lodi Wine & Visitor Center at 209.365.0621.

Also, download the Lodi Wine app for your smart phone, LoCA, which will feed you steady updates on all the glorious happenings throughout Lodi in the fall. See you at a wine tasting!  For more ideas for getaways in central California, see LittlePlacesIKnow@blogspot.com.

Classic 1939 Ford convertible is typical of 40+ cars at the Vintage Reserve Garage on Lodi's east side

Michael David Winery and Phillip's Farm Cafe are just west of Lodi on Hwy 12

Lodi wine appellations are gaining a world-wide following for quality and tasty wines

Gold Rush history; Jackson and Mokelumne Hill, CA

Looking for a nearby dose of 49er’s history and the Gold Rush?  Take the 1.5 hour drive to Valley Springs, Jackson and south to Mokelumne Hill!

The most scenic way to get there from Stockton: take Hwy 26 east to Valley Springs, then go north on Paloma Road to Watertown Road and turn onto Pardee Dam Road. This takes you right across Pardee Dam, with stunning views of the lake and past a wonderful EBMUD campground (if you are into camping and/or fishing, make a note to return).

Continue on Stony Creek Road, up a beautiful valley and right to the south edge of Jackson. Jackson is county seat and a very vibrant old and new town. Check out old Main Street, deep in Sierra gold history for a variety of cute shops, and stop at the National Hotel at the south end of Main. Built in 1852 and visited by many noteworthy guests over its history, this Gold Rush Hotel was extensively renovated a few years ago; stop in Stanley’s Steakhouse in the hotel’s lower level for libation or lunch. Once refreshed, visit the old Kennedy Mine and the historic Kennedy Mine Tailing Wheel #4, for a short dose of early mining history. And, if you like the casino scene, the Jackson Rancheria Casino is a big part of “new Jackson”. 

Continue south on Hwy 49 to the wonderful old town of Mokelumne Hill. Along the way to “Moke Hill” you cross the Mokelumne River; just across the bridge is a lovely waterfront park where you can get an up-close view of the river. At the top of the hill is the old town, with a variety of well-preserved Gold Rush buildings. Check out the Leger Hotel; a portion of the building served as Calaveras County Courthouse from 1852 to 1866.

When the courthouse was moved to San Andreas, George Leger made it part of his hotel; and when fire damaged the building it was restored in 1879 and renamed the Leger Hotel. Today the Leger offers quaint rooms and delicious meals in its Whitewater Grill. Take the time to walk the four blocks of old Mokey Hill and you will feel the ghosts of Gold Rush days!

Pictured below are diners in Stanley’s Steakhouse, a part of the National Hotel in Jackson, the scenic Mokelumne River off Hwy 49, the historic Leger Hotel in Mokelumne Hill, and the east end of the city, still rich in Gold Rush architecture!

Diners gather at the bar in Stanley's Steakhouse in Jackson's National Hotel

The historic Leger Hotel in Mokey Hill is a gem, dating to the Gold Rush



Mokelumne River is scenic and offers rafting, swimming in season

Historic east Mokelumne Hill retains much of its history, dating to heart of 49ers Gold Rush

Mokelumne Hill's downtown area offers a shady park with activities for the kids!

Virginia City, NV, town built by, and on, the Comstock Lode



Gould and Curry Mining offices, now Mackay House, with St. Mary's Church in distance

Fourth Ward School dates to 1875

C Street is Virginia City's main drag, with quaint shops and restaurants

Silver Terrace Cemeteries, just north of town, are a collection of 11 cemeteries

After silver and gold was discovered in 1859, Virginia City, NV (just 30 miles south of Reno) boomed for over 20 years and was vital in bringing Nevada into the Union. The storied Comstock Lode produced gold and silver valued at $400 million in today’s values; its riches also helped build San Francisco through miners who began their fortunes here like George Hearst.

Seven major mines worked the ore deposits during the boom, from both ends of the lode. Today, mining continues, tied to the vacillating price of gold and silver. Virginia City offers a veritable “living history of mining”. The Comstock Keystone Mine Head Frame, once located on Gold Hill, is now part of a Comstock Lode Park on the city’s C Street (Hwy 341). Between 1933 and 1939, the Keystone Mine produced gold and silver valued at $67 and $7 million in today’s prices, respectively. Then the mine was used by Dayton Consolidated to produce millions more, ceasing production in 1942.

Just south on C Street are blocks lined with quaint shops, restaurants and several more museums celebrating the town’s booming and bawdy history! Established 1859, the Gould and Curry Mining Company would produce over $15 million between 1860 and 1881 (Curry relocated to Carson City, where he is considered founding father). The beautiful mining office, built in 1860, was home to the mining superintendant - the first was George Hearst, who soon moved on to other mining interests – the vast Hearst fortune began here! In 1875, Bonanza King John Mackay moved into the building when his home was destroyed in the great fire of 1875. Today the Gould and Curry Mining Company offices, later called the Mackay House, are a museum with tours of the mining offices.

To educate its burgeoning youth, the Fourth Ward School was finished in 1875; with four stories and 14 classrooms it was both a grammar/high-school combination. The stately school graduated its last class in 1936 after educating thousands!

Vast riches brought the appreciation of God to the population and Virginia City blossomed with churches in its boom years. St. Mary’s in the Mountains, known as the “mother church” of the Comstock Lode, traces its history to 1858 when Rev. Gallagher celebrated the first Catholic mass; his brother opened the first Roman Catholic Church nearby in 1860. This stunning church was finished in 1868, damaged in the great 1875 fire and rebuilt in 1876. St. Paul’s Episcopal Church was established 1861, destroyed by fire in 1875 and rebuilt and rededicated in 1876. It was the first congregation in the diocese of Nevada and stands today as a marvelous architectural treasure.

Of course, the miners venerated their dead. Silver Terrace Cemeteries, just north of the city, is a combination of 11 old cemeteries grouped together. The 30 acre grounds were irrigated and sustained a variety of native and imported plants; a walk through the grounds was meant to be a contemplative experience. Today a local foundation works to reestablish the cemeteries’ grandeur.

For more “Weekend Getaways”, see my blog; LittlePlacesIKnow@blogspot.com!

Travels with...Scotty

In an earlier post, I noted that we had had a June auto trip planned to Gettysburg, for a Civil War bike ride with brother and four pals, I was intrigued to find a "repro Scotty" on eBay, a 1958 Scotty Junior model, built in 2011 by a West Virginia high school shop teacher. It was listed for a good price, looked perfect, so I bought it on-line, picked it up enroute to Gettysburg, and my spouse and I, over three weeks, towed it all the way to Long Island, NY, then back across the US to California. Camping and living out of the Scotty Junior takes a bit of adjustment. Like all the early teardrops made in the 40s and 50s, they were built on a 4'X8' plywood foundation. That makes them 4' wide, 4' tall, and 8' long, with an interior sleeping compartment 6'4" long by a little less than 4' wide. Cozy for two, but we sleep very well! In the back is a small "kitchen hatchback" where we store camping gear, pots and pans and the like. Overall, we have learned to travel pretty light, storing other camp gear like small table, chairs in the interior compartment, and storing "chilly weather gear" in the interior cabinets. We each get a clothing bag, which we toss in back seat of a 2013 Focus Hatchback, our tow vehicle. Barring wet or really cold weather, a very pleasant way to travel (of course, we toss in a stop at relatives/friends or a motel every so often, so we are not camping continuously)! Getting 26 MPG is also likeable, compared to 7 MPG for those diesel pickups pulling giant 5th wheels that we often pass!

California Coast, Bodega Bay north to Mendocino

From Stockton, the N. California coast, from Bodega Bay north to Mendocino, is both easy to reach (about three hours) and offers some of the most stunning waterfront in the United States! We have been there several times, on both day trips, camping trips, even a few motel overnights. This piece of California offers impressive vistas, spectacular food, great camping options and wonderful places to stop for the night, if you are not into camping. 10 days ago, we headed north with our Scotty teardrop in tow. Bodega (the town is different than Bodega Bay), is just off Hwy 116, and offers the old school with the 1963 Hitchcock classic 'The Birds' was filmed. This cute little town is worth the short detour, for both the quaintness of the town and the cinematic history. Just six miles further, one comes to Bodega Bay, on the water, home to a variety of fine restaurants and several nearby beautiful campgronds. Stop at the Tides Restaurant for delicious breakfasts or lunches, and check out a myriad of state parks for tenting or trailering options (our favorite, Wright's Beach State Park, between Bodega Bay and Jenner, is right on the ocean)! Heading north on Hwy 1, one soon crosses the languid Russian River and reaches the cute town of Jenner, where the Russian spills into the Pacific. Stop at River's End Restaurant for great food and stunning views; looking down from their deck above the river, a cadre of harbor seals usaully is visible sunning themselves on a sandy spit near river's end (the restaurant offers a telescope for a closer view. One soon reaches Ft. Ross, the old Russian outpost from the early 1800's, then you will pass through a host of cute coastal towns like Sea Ranch (stop at the Sea Ranch Lodge for breakfast or lunch), Gualala (Bones Roadhouse a fine lunch choice for BBQ or fish dishes, and Gualala County Regional Park just south of town, very pretty and secluded campsites), Point Arena (check out the Point Arena lighthouse, for stunning coastal views). Further north, one passes through Manchester, then Elk, Albion, then Mendocino. Mendocino is the quintessential California coastal town, with trendy shops and several restaurants - but don't miss Mendocino Headwaters State Park, just west of town for superb ocean views and rocky bluffs. If you are camping, Van Damme State Park is just south of the city, with secluded campsites in deep riparian forest, and Ocean beach just steps away, including kayak rentals! Ft. Bragg is just north, if you have time to extend your journey on the gorgeous California coast!