My Unlikely Love for Sacramento – Yes, THAT Sacramento

Even I would raise an eyebrow at the title of this blog post, yet here I sit writing it in all honesty and earnestness. It was just one of many surprises though during a week of fun exploration touring with Globus. With many decades of experience from which to draw, they were the ideal partner as I left my home/prison of two years and hit the road, this time trekking across gorgeous Northern California on Globus’ California Dreamin’ tour.

Why partner with a tour company for this domestic trip? Through their other businesses (Monograms and Avalon) I have traveled with them before and knew I could trust them for an amazing travel experience. I also looked forward to the ease in experiencing some of the highlights on the trip, namely Yosemite and Mammoth Lakes. I love to explore though and what perhaps interested me the most was learning about new places, which included the capital of California, Sacramento.

Prior to this trip I didn’t have much of an impression regarding the city, except that I anticipated it to be dull, drab and hardly worth my time. As is so often the case though in the travel experience, I was totally and completely wrong. Thanks not only to the expert guiding of Globus, but also the options presented to me while visiting I enjoyed a lovely visit that I know won’t be my last.

If you’re familiar with Sutter’s Mill, then you’re familiar with the history of Sacramento, at least partially. He was one of the early Western settlers to call the valley home and of course it was at his mill where, in 1848, gold was first discovered. Sacramento’s location was ideal and within a few years it had grown to a population of 10,000. In the 1850s the state legislature moved to the city, forever confirming its existence and importance in the history of the state.  Today Sacramento is home to more than half a million people, making it one of the largest state capitals but none of this really hooked me. No, it wasn’t until I experienced the city on my own, with the help of Globus, that I really began to understand its charm.

Globus has a touring option that it calls Choice Touring, or YourChoice. The idea is to add in elements of travel that people love, namely the opportunity to choose what they see and do in new places. Sure, some of the stops on the tour were locked in, but at three stops there were excursion options from which to choose. Each option was very different from the other, ensuring…