Wednesday, June 15, 2011

Attempting to like this city

It's been a little over 3 months since I moved to Sacramento. I was able to secure employment, thankfully, within 30 days of moving here. Our apartment is fully furnished now (sofa was delivered 3 weeks early - yea no more flat bottoms from sitting on the futon). I still have some additional downsizing to do, get over my soap hoarding and I need to get the art hung on the walls.

But a girl can decorate only so much before going stir crazy indoors.

This isn't my first rodeo with moving to new cities/new adventures. However, Sacramento is proving to be a difficult transition because honestly there isn't much to do.

Yes, it's the gateway to San Francisco and the wine country.  Yes, it's very close to Lake Tahoe and Reno. But I don't want to spend my Sundays driving 2 hours for entertainment. I want something right in my backyard that won't cost a fortune, that I can enjoy in a few hours, that wont involve long bike rides or hikes each Sunday.

So I thought why not check out the various museums/art galleries in town. Let's face it - I won't trek Downtown/Midtown late afternoon on the 2nd Saturday of each month for the gallery open houses - I'm old and tired and usually by 6pm, I'm ready to have dinner, a glass of wine, sit back and relax with a good movie. Not tromp around Midtown/Downtown hunting for parking and getting lost looking for gallery.

So I decided to pick a museum each Sunday to explore, beginning with the Contemporary Art Museum (plus, I am looking for a piece to hang over the sofa). Hmmm, museum is used loosely in the title.  Wait, it's actually called the Center for Contemporary Arts. Essentially, it's a tiny-ish 2 room studio and the current exhibition consists of approximately 10 pieces - completely lacking depth.

I refused to let this location be the defining factor of what Sacramento has to offer. I did decide to take in the neighborhood and walk a few blocks. The architecture on many of the homes and apartment buildings on the tree-lined streets of Midtown Sac are beautiful - ranging from early 1900s to art deco. 

So this coming Sunday I plan to venture to the State Capital Museum and promise to bring along my camera.

There's bound to more to this town that 3 malls, strip centers and chain restaurants.

3 comments:

The Merry said...

The train museum in old town was pretty cool... but I might be biased, since I went through with two uncles (one from each side of the family) who'd both worked all their lives for train companies, so they knew a lot of details. Sounds boring seeing it in the comment box, but it was actually quite interesting. Trust me.

Also, there are quite a lot of rivers around Sacto. Ever tried kayaking or something like that?

to dream the KIMpossible dream said...

I, for one, appreciate the effort you are putting into accepting your new surroundings. Some people just sit at home and mope about there being no place like home. Not my friend LaShaune...she goes out there to create a new home.

LaShaune said...

Hey Merry:

The train museum boring? As long as it's bigger than the Wells Fargo museum in Old Town Sac, it should be fun. So it will be on the list. Funny thing is that I have searching for a train trip to take in July. Thinking of Reno or Ft Bragg.

As far as Kayaking, I've been thinking of stand-up paddleboarding but to be honest, I'm searching for cheap/free entertainment. I do enjoy riding my bike along the trails along the American River.

I hope you are well. Are you searching for a new job? Have you considered writing for WebMD or eMedicine? I can put you in touch with a few people I know at WedMD, if you're interested.