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berries to Detroit dark red beets and crisp cucumbers. But since it’s not a market day, my mom and I split a raspberry scone from the plaza’s popular Café Soleil. One word: delish. We stroll to nearby Capitol Park.
Within minutes, we find ourselves gazing up at a coast redwood planted in memory of the longest-serving chief clerk of the California Assembly, Arthur Ohnimus. Across the way, my mom spies a sculpture of the Sisters of Mercy, who once owned the land beneath the Capitol Building. Nearby, the California Firefighters Memorial stands etched with more than 1,000 names of the fallen. The monuments just go to show that in the capitol’s backyard, service is everything. Our next stop is 166-acre William
Land Park, backdrop to many of my family reunions, picnics with friends, and impromptu naps on shady plots of grass. But today my mom and I are hitting up the Sacramento Zoo, which shares one of the city’s largest green spaces with an amusement park, a golf course, a rock garden, an amphithe-
ater, and a couple of lakes. By the time we leave the zoo, I’ve gazed into the yellow eyes of a ruffed lemur and my mom has laughed at the lopsided grin of an inquisitive giraffe. My sister, niece, and nephew join
us at Garcia Bend Park, last stop of the day. We share a picnic table on the banks of the Sacramento River. As the sun dips behind the trees, the park still buzzes with joggers, dog walk- ers, bicyclists, and even water-skiers. Tomorrow morning, I’ll power-walk the two-mile levee trail that leads to one of my favorite landmarks: the UFO-shaped water tower remind- ing everyone that Sacramento is truly “The City of Trees.”
Want to explore these parks for yourself?
Get a closer look at our local experts’ itineraries.
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