Posted February 25, 201510 yr In October 2013 I took a trip out west by a mix of Megabus, Greyhound, and Amtrak. I stopped in Omaha, Boulder, Salt Lake City, Sacramento, and San Francisco before flying home to Cincinnati. Each city will be linked below once I finish uploading the photos. There are higher resolution/more photos in my flickr profile linked in my signature if you're interested. Part I: Omaha, NE Part II: Boulder, CO Part III: Amtrak DEN-SLC Part IV: Salt Lake City, UT Part V: Amtrak SLC-SAC Part VI: Sacramento, CA Part VII: San Francisco, CA Sacramento, California City Population: 475,122 Land Area: 97.9 square miles Population Density: 4,700 / square mile Metro Population: 2,600,000 Nicknames: Sactown, America's Most Diverse City, Sack-My-Tomatoes After the train ride from Salt Lake City there was plenty of time to explore for the day. I stayed a total of 2 nights and enjoyed my time there. Pretty drastic change in scenery with all of the palm trees. PA161631 by ryanlammi, on Flickr PA161632 by ryanlammi, on Flickr PA161634 by ryanlammi, on Flickr PA161636 by ryanlammi, on Flickr PA161638 by ryanlammi, on Flickr PA161641 by ryanlammi, on Flickr PA161643 by ryanlammi, on Flickr PA161647 by ryanlammi, on Flickr PA161645 by ryanlammi, on Flickr PA161648 by ryanlammi, on Flickr PA161649 by ryanlammi, on Flickr PA161650 by ryanlammi, on Flickr PA161651 by ryanlammi, on Flickr PA161653 by ryanlammi, on Flickr PA161654 by ryanlammi, on Flickr PA161659 by ryanlammi, on Flickr PA161661 by ryanlammi, on Flickr PA161662 by ryanlammi, on Flickr PA161663 by ryanlammi, on Flickr PA161664 by ryanlammi, on Flickr PA161665 by ryanlammi, on Flickr PA161667 by ryanlammi, on Flickr PA161671 by ryanlammi, on Flickr PA161673 by ryanlammi, on Flickr Rather sad looking Chinatown portion of Sacramento. The area was completely deserted. Though it isn't as bad as Detroit's Chinatown... If I remember correctly, I believe the city and Southern Pacific Railroad pushed the Chinese out of the original Chinatown and built a rail yard there (where I arrived!). Some good old 19th Century racism... Anyway. PA161674 by ryanlammi, on Flickr PA161675 by ryanlammi, on Flickr PA161676 by ryanlammi, on Flickr Leaving Chinatown now. PA161678 by ryanlammi, on Flickr PA161679 by ryanlammi, on Flickr Now we enter "Old Sacramento", the touristy area. It has some legitimately old buildings, but doesn't feel too authentic. PA161680 by ryanlammi, on Flickr PA161681 by ryanlammi, on Flickr PA161684 by ryanlammi, on Flickr PA161685 by ryanlammi, on Flickr PA161686 by ryanlammi, on Flickr The old rail station. Now I believe it is the California Railroad Museum. PA161687 by ryanlammi, on Flickr PA161689 by ryanlammi, on Flickr West Sacramento in the background. It looks like a giant office park. I didn't go there. PA161690 by ryanlammi, on Flickr PA161691 by ryanlammi, on Flickr PA161692 by ryanlammi, on Flickr PA161693 by ryanlammi, on Flickr Separated by the interstate. PA161694 by ryanlammi, on Flickr PA161695 by ryanlammi, on Flickr PA161696 by ryanlammi, on Flickr PA161697 by ryanlammi, on Flickr PA161699 by ryanlammi, on Flickr PA161700 by ryanlammi, on Flickr PA161701 by ryanlammi, on Flickr Cesar Chavez Plaza PA161705 by ryanlammi, on Flickr PA161707 by ryanlammi, on Flickr PA161709 by ryanlammi, on Flickr PA161710 by ryanlammi, on Flickr The hostel I stayed in PA161713 by ryanlammi, on Flickr PA161715 by ryanlammi, on Flickr I went up to the top of a parking garage to watch the sunset. PA161717 by ryanlammi, on Flickr PA161720 by ryanlammi, on Flickr A couple of guys participating in "extracurricular activities" PA161727 by ryanlammi, on Flickr PA161752 by ryanlammi, on Flickr PA161731 by ryanlammi, on Flickr PA161743 by ryanlammi, on Flickr PA161741 by ryanlammi, on Flickr PA161766 by ryanlammi, on Flickr PA161768 by ryanlammi, on Flickr PA161776 by ryanlammi, on Flickr PA161778 by ryanlammi, on Flickr That's it for Sacramento... Last but not least, San Francisco, California!
February 26, 201510 yr I always found Sacramento to be highly underrated, nationally. I have family there and visit it every couple of years. It really could be California's version of Portland (tight street grid; Victorian homes; light rail; breweries and sh!t). Just needs more streetcars and infill and it'd be fine. Oh, and yeah, their Chinatown is atrocious along with their downtown mall. "You don't just walk into a bar and mix it up by calling a girl fat" - buildingcincinnati speaking about new forumers
February 26, 201510 yr Nice collection! I like their Sister Cities signage. Yeah, I think every city should have some prominent place where they promote their Sister Cities. Preferably in their "Public Square" type space. I always found Sacramento to be highly underrated, nationally. I have family there and visit it every couple of years. It really could be California's version of Portland (tight street grid; Victorian homes; light rail; breweries and sh!t). Just needs more streetcars and infill and it'd be fine. Oh, and yeah, their Chinatown is atrocious along with their downtown mall. I've never been to Portland, but it definitely has a very different feel from the other big California cities (I've been to SF and SD). It felt more down to earth. And apparently the rent is pretty cheap because it will occasionally drop below freezing in the winter and no one else in California can seem to handle that.
February 26, 201510 yr Nice pictures! I grew up less than 45 minutes south of Sacramento and lived there until I was 18 until moving to Cleveland. I never thought of Sacramento as a "city" in the sense of going downtown or anything... it was basically the place you drove through to get to the airport and saw a couple tall buildings. That or going to the "big mall" with a Nordstrom (which isn't even in downtown) :P There are some neat areas and I think there is a lot of potential, but it definitely never felt like the capitol of California. There used to be an open air downtown shopping mall that was very nice when I was young, but sadly it went downhill rapidly over the last few years and I believe was finally shut down and demolished since I left. If you want to see a real Chinatown drive west a couple hours to San Francisco ;)
March 6, 201510 yr interesting to see. i've never visited this city, but always been curious about it. did you spend any time there? how did you like it? i'm wondering if, as the michelin guides say, it's "worth the detour."
March 6, 201510 yr I was there for 1.5 days, 2 nights. I enjoyed my time there and think it has quite a bit to offer. It gets hot in the summer though (like averaging a high in the mid 90s). Most of my time was spent wandering the city and not really doing anything in particular. But I went to a good brewery and it's a very pretty city. I would recommend going to all of the cities I went to on my trip.
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