Old Sac & VD

Good Morning Ladies & Gentlemen,

And a happy Valentine's Day to you all!!! Hopefully you're spending it with somebody that you care about. Please don't be discouraged by the title of this entry, this isn't going to be a disgusting discussion about a middle-aged man's recent checkup. It just sounds digusting...because that's what you get with nicknames & acronyms sometimes. Old Sacramento & Valentine's Day. That's all. Anyway, so yesterday I made a nice little road trip over to the capital of the Golden State of California, Sacramento a.k.a. Sac Town (2Pac alleged that it is where we put our mac down). The journey is about a hundred miles from Truckee...and it's a gorgeous drive when the roads are clean (but I wouldn't try it during a blizzard, even in Gretchen). When I left around 9 AM, it was 31 degrees according to my thermometer...and about 90 minutes & over a 6000 foot drop in elevation later, it was 71 degrees in Sacramento around 11 AM. Beautiful day to go wandering around town. First off, I wandered around a nice little neighborhood around the Capital and met some nice people briefly. There was a gentleman who asked me for a cigarette, "Sorry man, I've got a lighter but I don't smoke." He looked at me for a second with a quizzical look, "Why the f**k would you have a lighter if you don't smoke?" "To help fine people like yourself who would have a cigarette but no lighter." "Ah, I see. Well, in that case," he pulled what appeared to be a home-rolled cigarette from his pocket, "You wanna blaze this with me?" "No thanks, man. I'll light it for you though." I'm just going to assume it was sweet tobacco or something since it was in broad daylight...or for medicinal purposes.

Down the road a bit, I heard a feminine voice yell out, "Hey Mister!!! Mister!!!" I looked around and say a young lady down the street a bit. "Happy Valentine's Day!!!" "Happy Valentine's Day to you too." "Happy Valentine's Day!!!" "Thanks, you too. Happy Valentine's Day." I couldn't tell if she was under the influence of something or "special" but it was still a sweet sentiment. Anyway, after a stroll through the beautiful Victorian homed neighborhood, I had lunch at Sandra Dee's, which was a soul food place that I found on my phone's GPS. I knew this was the place for me for two reasons. One, it had soul food...and I loooooove soul food. Two, when I got to the building, the outer wall had a mural of great soul singers like Billie Holliday & Marvin Gaye. So I went in, had a delicious gator po boy (really just amazing), hush puppies & some creamy mac & cheese. I highly recommend it. Anyway, here are some pictures...

This is the capital...and there's not a lotta

gold on top for being the Golden State

This temple a few blocks away seemed to have more

My favorite thing about California (besides the girls)

is that the Fruit ACTUALLY grows on trees out here

and the flowers too. Happy Valentine's Day!!!

This guy's name is Starr King

War Memorial

Creepy faces by the convention center

Chinatown...but only because of the gate really

Sandra Dee's Bar B Que & Seafood - "All That & the Stars"

After lunch, I went down to Old Sacramento...or as it's popularly (and comically) referred to, Old Sac. Oh yes, it's ripe for parody...and you really don't need help with establishments like Old Sac Candy & Old Sac Tattoo. I was mildly disappointed that the liquor store was not called Old Sac Liquors (don't judge me, that's just where my mind goes...to positive or funny). Could you think of a better gift for Mother's Day than a T-shirt from there? Didn't think so. Anyway, here are some pictures...

Pedestrian Underpass to Old Sac

Sounds painful...

Delta King Hotel, converted steamboat

Now for my noble deed story of the day. I had just exited my second haberdashery of the afternoon when I was momentarily following four teenage boys, probably 16 or 17. They were your standard homeboy looking white kids wearing jackets that were meant for a football player, pants that I can only assume were their father's & hair slicked back like they starred on Jersey Shore. You know what you think of when you hear the word "douchebag"? These were them. Anyway, coming the other way were two attractive girls...and the lead blonde made his move. "Hey baby, how're you doing?" They ignored his comment. "What're you shy or something?" They walked past them obviously ignoring them now. "F**king lesbians!!!" This is where $teve, the superhero in his own mind stepped up to the plate. "Hey now, that's uncalled for. No need to be a douche." He turns around, cocks his head to the side, realizes he's looking at my chest and then goes up to the face, "Yeah, what the f**k are you gonna do about it?" "Boy, I will give you the ass-whoopin' that your daddy should've given you years ago. And if your buddies wanna get in on it too, more the merrier." It was about that moment where I thought to myself...it's been about twelve years since I was in a fight...and oddly enough it was a douche about as old as these guys...but just one. This could get interesting REAL quick...but I stood my ground unflinching. Thankfully, my machismo must've been strong with the essence of devoured spicy gator flesh on my breath because he did a cowardly "pssh", turned and walked away. Behind me, I heard one of the girls say "Thank you" so I turned...and wished them a happy Valentine's Day (and followed behind the douches until they turned the corner and went into a store). So there you go. I celebrated Single Awareness Day by defending the honor of two female strangers from four douchebags. How am I still single?

On the drive back, I decided to stop by the town of Auburn, since I needed gas anyway. It's a very nice mountain town, quite similar to Truckee. There's a quaint downtown area with murals & shops and some cool statues and what-have-you. There's also some nice buildings and just a great atmosphere overall. Unfortunately, my camera's battery decided to die about two pictures into the visit so...more on a later date, I'm sure...but here you go...

So then I spent the rest of the night watching TV & hanging with the roommate. The Olympics were okay...and NBA All-Star Weekend was...well, pretty disappointing actually. They really need to do something to the Slam Dunk Contest to get the real dunkers in there. I think that the NBDL Slam Dunk Contest was better. We need to get LeBron, Dwyane Wade & some of these other big time guys back into the mix. This morning I played basketball too...and that was a lot of fun. I still have a Passion for that thing, as discussed earlier this week. Can only think of a few better ways to start off Single Awareness Day. Oh well, maybe next year. Hope you've all had a wonderful weekend & enjoyed our little trip to Sacramento. Have a great day everybody!!!