Bridgeway Island Park

The Bridgeway Island Park at Golden Gate Dr. and Promenade St. has a playground,
sheltered picnic area; turf area for athletic fields; basketball court; BBQs, and is adjacent
to Bridgeway Island Elementary School.
Photo by Barbara

The Lunch Ladies of Westmore Oaks Elementary School!

The lunch ladies of Westmore Oaks Elementary School start cooking while the students are still fast asleep, making sure that the kids have a freshly made healthy breakfast and lunch every day. Hooray for the lunch lady crew!
Left to right: Chris Schaffer, Candace Ritter, Paula Tapia and Carrie Mummert.
Post by Christy

Saturday Sunrise

Top Photo by Anneke Moresco "What a cool start to a day caught in between showers."


Bottom photo by Florene Kunder "....it was about 7:10AM when I saw a colorful glow out my north window, so I grabbed the camera and shot. Wish I could have gone outside, but there was no time for that. I didn't think too much about it until later when I heard Donna Apidone on Capital Public Radio talking about seeing it on her way to work, and how customers in the coffee shop were going outside for a view".

Jr. NBA /WNBA Basketball in West Sacramento

The city of West Sacramento sponsors the Jr. NBA/WNBA Basketball program open to boys
and girls 5-14 years. Play action is briefly halted to tie a teammate's shoe--
Post by Barbara

Metro Place at Washington Square

Metro Place at Washington Square in the old Broderick area of West Sacramento is located less than two blocks west of the Sacramento River, very close to the foot of the I Street Bridge and across the street from Sal's Tacos. It looks like a great neighborhood for a block party!

Trivia: "In 1917, after a $40,000 school bond passed, a new Washington Grammar School was built between 3rd and 4th Streets on C Street to replace the school built in 1856. This site is now Metro Place at Washington Square."

Later, the school building was converted to office space and was home to the Yolo County Social Services for the East Yolo area.

Post by Barbara

Hollywood Hardware on Merkley Avenue

A favorite stop for locals, is the Hollywood Hardware on Merkley Avenue in West Sacramento. They have a good selection of paint, lumber, gifts, plants, trees and gardening supplies. And if you need one screw, nut or nail--they have it..
Post by Barbara

SPD: SWAT Commemorative Coin

My nephew gave this commemorative coin to his father. Mike serves on the City of Sacramento Police Department SWAT Team. Top photo is the front and bottom photo is the opposite side.
Photo by Barbara

Ikea-Always Kid Friendly

Too cold and rainy for a day at the park...so take the kids to Ikea (kids meals are .99 cents)

Broderick Boat Ramp in West Sacramento

The Broderick Boat Ramp on 4th Street is a great launching facility for access to the Sacramento River. It is free to the public and open from dawn to dusk. The sign posted looks like a vandal tried to set it on fire.
Photo by Barbara

The Mecca on Sunset

Located in the old part of Bryte just around the corner from where the old Quonset Hut once sat, is the Mecca Club on Sunset Avenue. It has recently become a popular hangout for the younger crowd including some of the folks from the TV station around the corner. . You might even find yourself sitting on the barstool next to Nick or Marianne from CW31's Good Day Sacramento.

Disappearing Relics-Too many to count!

Call me sentimental - I took this photo of the old Quonset Hut on Lisbon Avenue last September, ......when I drove by today it was gone! A chain link fence surrounds the property and a bulldozer was parked there, so it looks like another one of the old unique structures that has helped to make up our town is now a part of our history. See this link for photos of the new church that was constructed on this lot.

Our friends Cathy and Marv say this was once a Russian Church.

Trivia: In 1941 the United States Navy needed an all-purpose, lightweight building that could be shipped anywhere and assembled without skilled labor. Between 150,000-170,000 Quonset Huts were manufactured during WWII. After the war, the U.S. military sold the surplus Quonset huts to the public for $1,000 each.

Goodbye to Miss Sophia

We said goodbye to our good friend Sophie on Thursday. This photo was taken in September when she was still feeling pretty chipper for an old girl.

Being an extremely shy person, she spent many of her 16+ years in the shadows. Most folks who came to our house never saw her, because she would stay hidden until they left. Sharing in the mystique of Greta Garbo, Sophie just "wanted to be let alone". So, we respected her privacy until the end, only now publishing her photo for posterity.

How did she come to live with us? Scott came home from a friend's house and told us they had a really cute Calico kitten in the litter and he wanted to adopt her. Already the mother of 2 dogs, I hesitantly agreed -so Tom took Scott to pickup the kitten, but when they came home they had two cats -seemed that if we wanted the Calico--we had to take one of the males too...So that is the story of how Sophia (Sophie) and Robert (Bob) came to the live with the Smith-Bartley's.
(19 Jan 08)

California State Capitol Turns Pink for the Cure!

This photo was shot from in front of the reflection pond and fountain in the circle across the street from Capitol Park. Photo by Barbara

"At a symbolic pink lighting of the State Capitol building on January 17, California Assembly Speaker Fabian Nunez, Assemblywoman Patty Berg and Assemblyman Roger Niello voiced support for closing the healthcare gaps that cause breast cancer to be deadlier for low-income women, minorities and the uninsured."

"The event marked the 18th stop of the Komen Community Challenge, a campaign to elevate breast cancer on the national agenda and draw attention to disparities in breast cancer mortality for women with little or no health care."

"Flocked" by Church Lady-Pass it on!

A "Flock of Pink Flamingos" were sighted on several lawns this week. Members of the First Baptist Church of West Sacramento are sponsoring a fundraiser to help with expenses for their mission team's travel to Africa. Wayne & Denise Duncan were responsible for a "Flocking" at the Merica's house on Wednesday. Photo by Christy

Top photo is of Debbie's house after they were "Flocked" by Chris & Luba Merica...uhm...wonder who is next?

FatCat Scones: From freezer to fresh-baked in about 15 minutes

FatCat Scones located on Northport Drive in West Sacramento was founded in 2002 by owners Erik Finnerty and Anthony Van Rees (who have been friends since childhood). The above photo was taken in the walk-in freezer where the scones are individually frozen before packaging. Their product can be found in most finer and specialty food stores, or see ordering information on their website: Fat Cat Scones .
Photo by Debbie

15th Street Fitness-Bob's Angels

Photo by Lindsay Williams

Photo by Debbie.
Pictured above and looking great, thanks to their new training regimen, are Jamie Luna, Ja'net Williams & Lindsay Williams with their Fitness Instructor and Personal Trainer Bob Randel from 15th Street Fitness in West Sacramento. Open since 2006, the gym offers state of art weight lifting and body building equipment, treadmills & bicycles etc., spin, yoga and aerobic classes for all ages and sizes. Stop by and see Bob for a tour.

Trivia: The new gym is located in what the old timers in West Sacramento will remember as the old Willie's Market. When we were kids we used to hang out at the store and pester owner "Willie" DaPrato. He was kind of the neighborhood guidance counselor and I think he hired many of those kids to work in his store to get them off the streets.

Cathy Clay reminded me that there was a snow-cone shack on the corner that Mrs. DaPrato ran. Willie's reopened in the 1990s' by Luanne and Joe as the 15th Street Market.

Uno Mas Cerveza -Corona at Puerto Azul Restaurant

I love the Corona Beer sign at the Puerto Azul Restaurant on West Capitol Avenue. It is also rumored that I usually enjoy a couple of them with the great seafood cocktails that Vince makes!
Photo by Barbara

Trivia: The Puerto Azul (now closed) was located in the same building that at one time housed the infamous "Yolo Club" on West Capitol Avenue (endearingly known as "The Strip" in the old days). They served the greatest BBQ ribs in town. There was a rotisserie in the front window to show off the delicious ribs and chicken cooking, and there was a rotating circular bar in the center of the restaurant. My dad used to take us there for dinner when we were kids, then would disappear down the street for a quick one at the Hawaiian Hut to visit the Stathos Brothers who owned that Hut.

The above photo was shot by Tom Spaulding. Too bad the old Yolo Club sign is now
gone due to the new sign ordinance in West Sacramento.

Mom's Helper

Hal enjoys helping Christy in the kitchen--especially when it entails cleaning up after making a chocolate dessert!
Photo by Christy

Historic Bertagna's Standard Station: 1934

Located in a discreet curve on C Street just just around the bend from the Senator Garage in Broderick is the old Bertagna's Standard Station building . (Listed on the Historic Sites and Buildings of West Sacramento as built in 1934.)

Post by Barbara

This old building has had many business tenants over the years. I remember when there was a tattoo parlor there. Christy said she would love to have her office there. Let me know if you have anything to add to this post.

River Walk: A View from the Grand Staircase

The view from the walkway above the Grand Staircase at the River Walk Park in West Sacramento. In the summer the staircase becomes the seating area for the many different entertainment venues sponsored by the City Parks and Recreation Department-free of charge- for our community.

Station 45-West Sacramento

West Sacramento Fire Station 45 located new Jefferson and Lake Washington Boulevard was completed in the Summer of 2007 and was the first completely new fire facility constructed in West Sacramento since becoming a city. This modern state of the art facility is 27,000 square feet and cost $6.9 million.

Debbie says that one of the reasons the stations is so big is because our police department has an outpost in the building.
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I have been tagged by Jana at Susanville Daily Photo (Susanville (USA) by Jana) to comment on my New Year's Resolutions. According to the game, I am then to tag 3 other blogs to do the same.

"When it comes to New Year’s Resolutions we seem to fall into four categories: 1) quite serious about them, 2) flippant about them, 3) pressured to do them, or 4) do not do them. So, the purpose of this little game is to let us know which category you are in. I will give mine, then tag 3 other sites to do the same thing."

For me--simply put--I'm a category 4-I do not do them anymore. More appropriate for me would be Category F (for failure)...

So now to continue the harrassment, I tag the follow:
San Diego (USA) by Felicia
Mazatlan (Mexico) by Kate
Bellefonte (USA) by Barb-n-PA

1955 Studebaker President Coupe or ?? "Speedster "

"The President Coupe (maybe Speedster??) was built for one year only, during that year they produced 2,215 cars. The Speedster was Studebaker's response to Fords' Thunderbird and Chevrolets' Corvette. The car was equipped with a 259 cubic-inch Passmaster engine. The car weighed 3,301 lbs and had a base price of $3,253. " (From Conceptcarz.com) This particular model is usually parked in my parking lot at UCD.
Post by Barbara

Lowe's Grand Opening on Lake Washington Boulevard Scheduled

The Business Journal reports that Lowe's Cos. Inc., the nations' second-largest home improvement retailer, has scheduled the grand opening of the new store in West Sacramento on Jan. 12.
Photos and post submitted by Florene Kunder of West Sacramento.

"Geese on Parade" at Touchstone Lake Park in West Sacramento

"Ducks and geese and pigeons better scurry, before I take you out in my surrey, with the fringe on top!" Photos by Debbie (taken with her new Nikon).

Sal's Tacos Mexican Restaurant

Sal's Tacos (named for owner Sal Galvan ) is located at 400 C Street in old Broderick, just across the street from the new Metro Place homes. Tom loves the giant carne asada burrito and I enjoy the eclectic salsa bar! Be sure and stop in to see the unique tile murals.

The I Street Bridge Built in 1911

The Historic I Street Bridge is a swing bridge crossing the Sacramento River connecting West Sacramento with Sacramento. I posted the above black and white version because the day I shot the photo, the sky and river basically looked the same color. It seems much more interesting to me now and has the look of an old photo. Below is another version of the I Street Bridge shot the same day posted in color.


On the lower level there are railroad tracks and the upper level is for pedestrian and vehicle traffic. Built in 1911, this historic bridge has a vertical clearance of 14 feet 8 inches and was originally part of State Route 16 (California) and is listed on the National Register of Historic Places.See The History of the I Street Bridge written by Frank Norton.
Photos by Barbara

A "Perfect Storm" hits the Sacramento area

Monday Update: Workers removing the tree that fell on a school district maintenance building on West Acre Road. Photo by Debbie.

Friday PM; Just a couple of shots of damage in our neighborhood from the second in a much-anticipated series of systems forecast to pass through our area in the coming days.
See Sac Bee: Mother Nature delivers a wallop

This morning it sounded like the wind gusts were strong enough to blow the roof and the back of the house off. I debated about whether to drive to Campus because the weather forecast was so dire, but was in my car and ready to commit to the trip when my daughter called me on my cell phone. She told me to turn around and go home because many big rig trucks were stopped on the side of the freeway, not daring to venture across the bypass in the high winds (gusts of 40 mph + were reported). I decided to stop at Starbucks and get coffee, but all the power was out at our shopping center-- with the exception of Target whose lights were ablaze and ready for customers--seems they build their stores with back-up generators. Oh did I tell you that our new Target has a Starbucks too!
Post by Barbara

OLG: Our Lady of Grace Parish and School

Our Lady of Grace School and Convent on Linden Avenue enrolls students in grades K through 8. This parochial school is sponsored by Our Lady of Grace Parish on Park Boulevard, West Sacramento (top photo).