Page 163 - 2017 Travel Guide to California

SPECIAL
»
EVENTS 2017
»
MUST
SEE,
DO
Nearly three dozen El Dorado County wineries participate in TALES FROM THE CELLAR,
a blend of wine tasting, live music, food and literary-themed events. April 22-23 and 29-30
passporteldorado.com
Wager on a jumping frog as Mark Twain’s most beloved story is commemorated each year
at the CALAVERAS COUNTY FAIR & JUMPING FROG JUBILEE in Angels Camp.
May 18-21 frogtown.org
Sacramento’s legendary Memorial Day weekend jazz festival is now the SACRAMENTO
MUSIC FESTIVAL, with a broadened program that includes everything from big-band
music to zydeco, along with plenty of jazz in its varied traditions. May 26-29
sacmusicfest.com
ANGELS CAMP returns to the days of Samuel Clemons for the Mark Twain Wild West
Fest, with period costumes, blacksmithing and saloon dancing girls. Oct. 21
marktwainwildwestfest.com
AMY THE NURSE/CREATIVE COMMONS/FLICKR; JAKE GUILD/CREATIVE COMMONS/FLICKR; MARC VENEMA/SHUTTERSTOCK. OPPOSITE: ANDRIY BLOKHIN/SHUTTERSTOCK
TOWER BRIDGE across the
Sacramento River in
Sacramento, opposite;
shoppers in the farmers
market, Nevada City, left;
dancing at the Sacramento
Music Festival, below; the
spot of the infamous
Hangman’s Tree in
Placerville, bottom right.
» All Aboard Rail buffs will want to lay tracks
for the California State Railroad Museum, one of
the best of its kind in the nation. It’s located in Old
Sacramento, which preserves a district of the state
capital pretty much as it looked in Gold Rush days.
› csrmf.org
» Eureka! Pan for nuggets at Marshall Gold
Discovery State Historic Park, where California’s
gold rush began.
› www.parks.ca.gov/?page_id=484
» Bottoms Up Sample rich, jammy Zinfandels
and other wines without the crowds at dozens of
wineries in California’s up-and-coming wine
region—Amador, El Dorado and Calaveras counties.
› discovercaliforniawines.com/
discover-california/sierra-foothills
» There’s an Apple for That Allow the
aroma of freshly baked apple pies, fritters,
turnovers and strudel to lure you off Highway 50
east of Placerville to a place called Apple Hill. More
than 50 growers participate in a celebration of the
apple harvest—and of autumn itself—with cider,
hayrides, pumpkin patches, hay mazes and other
family fun. It runs from Labor Day to Christmas.
› applehill.com
» Star Tracks Ride Hollywood’s favorite steam
train at Railtown 1897 State Historic Park, near
Jamestown. It’s appeared in everything from “High
Noon” to “Petticoat Junction.”
› railtown1897.org/index.php/train-rides
2017 T R AV E L G U I D E TO C A L I F O R N I A 161