About Sacramento's Old Sacramento

Celebrate New Years with a Hornblower Cruise!

Cruise along the historic Sacramento River on an elegant Hornblower Cruise Ship on New Years Eve. Bring in 2013 with a toast while enjoying the spectacular views of the annual Sacramento fireworks display. Dine and Dance the night away for a evening to remember forever.

I still remember my Hornblower Cruise in San Francisco Bay several years ago.

TWO NEW YEARS EVE CRUISES TO CHOOSE FROM...

*Call For Details and Additional Charges

NOTE: Doug Bullwinkel is a licensed California Mortgage Loan Originator, NMLS #281609 for Vitek Mortgage with over 30 years in the Real Estate and Mortgage Industry. He specializes in Niche loan programs including the CalPERM-CalPERS Member Program, VA and CalVet for Veterans, FHA, USDA, FNMA Homepath, CalHFA and down payment assistance programs. His website is LenderSolutions.com. Doug can be reached at (800) 636-8910 for more information

Raley's Theatre of Lights

Old Sacramento is the holiday headquarters for the greater Sacramento region. With major holiday attractions like The Polar Express and the Raley's Theatre of Lights, a visit to Old Sacramento is on many resident's lists of "must do's" during the holidays.

The Theatre of Lights is a magical way for families to celebrate the holiday season. This is the third year for this presentation.

Raley’s Theatre of Lights blends the historic charm of Old Sacramento with modern day sound and lighting technology to create a truly magical holiday experience.

Last year there were around 50,000 guests from all over Northern California that enjoyed the holiday magic of Old Sacramento’s Theatre of Lights. Old Sacramento is the location for visitors to get all their shopping done and more.

From the Gold Rush to the mid-1960’s when this first historic district in the West was created, its prime waterfront location has become a unique, one of a kind shopping experience that can’t be found anywhere else in the region. With over 100 shops and 53 historic buildings, Old Sacramento is bringing traditional holiday cheer to this national historic landmark with this annual event, not only for locals, but for the entire region.

• Monday, Dec. 19-Friday, Dec. 23, nightly at 6:15 and 7:45
• Christmas Eve, Saturday, Dec. 24, one show only at 6:15 p.m.
• New Year's Eve, Saturday, Dec. 31, 8:45 and 9:15 p.m. as part of the Sky Spectacular fireworks show.

The show blends a symphony of lights, sounds and visual effects which will take the audience back to a time when the beloved poem ‘Twas The Night Before Christmas was first introduced in Sacramento in 1857 in The Sacramento Bee. The beloved poem comes to life on the balconies and rooftops of Old Sacramento’s historic buildings on K Street between Front and 2nd Street.

This year’s show includes many technical upgrades to the lighting and sound for the production. “Audiences will be blown away by the professional quality of the sound and lighting effects,” added Troy Carlson, owner of Stage Nine Entertainment and creative director of the Theatre of Lights. “With lighting by Sacramento Theatrical Lighting and sound effects by Skywalker Sound, it will rival any theme park holiday attraction, and Theatre of Lights is free to the public!”

NOTE: Doug Bullwinkel is a licensed California Mortgage Loan Originator, NMLS #281609 for Vitek Mortgage with over 30 years in the Real Estate and Mortgage Industry. He specializes in Niche loan programs including the CalPERM-CalPERS Member Program, VA and CalVet for Veterans, FHA, USDA, FNMA Homepath, CalHFA and down payment assistance programs. His website is LenderSolutions.com. Doug can be reached at (800) 636-8910 for more information

In late November, there was a wonderful and festive Christmas tree lighting ceremony in Old Sacramento. It was a beautiful tree and Old Sacramento was very proud of it.

Then came the windstorm, felling neighborhood trees, damaging homes and causing all kinds of destruction. One of the victims of the storm was the Old Sacramento tree, which had been obtained from Carlton Enterprises.

At least three-quarters of its needles were stripped, some branches were stripped bare even of twigs, and pine cones were even stripped. People were saying it looked like a Charlie Brown tree. Really sad looking. I’ve been searching for video of the old tree, but all the videos I found were about 10 minutes long – too long for this post.

When Carlton heard about what had happened, they were right there, and took down the damaged tree, replaced it and decorated it themselves, all at no expense to the city, the Old Sacramento Business Association or anyone. The new tree is gorgeous, and if you didn’t know the story, you would never guess what had happened. Now that’s customer service! Here’s a short video of the new tree being installed.

And the new tree will be in place and fully decorated for the famous annual Raley's Old Sacramento Theatre of Lights. This is a unique state-of-the-art live staging of the classic ’Twas The Night Before Christmas hosted by Mark Twain.

You might know that Mark Twain first came to Sacramento in 1866 and he worked at the Sacramento Union newspaper.

The show blends a symphony of lights, sounds and visual effects. The beloved poem comes to life on the balconies and rooftops of Old Sacramento’s historic buildings on K Street between Front and 2nd Street.

Theatre of Lights begins December 15 and continues through the holiday season with two 20-minute light shows at 6:15 p.m. and 7:45 p.m.

If you haven’t ever seen the show, make a point to see it this year. And bring the entire family. It will be exciting and fun for all ages.

**************

Susan Neal “Happy Clients make me happy!”

Broker/Realtor

Century 21 Noel David Realty

Fair Oaks, CA 95628

(916) 705-8951

Susan.Neal@Century21.com

The next time you are in Sacramento, you should stop by the California State Railroad Museum in Old Town Sacramento. The museum is part of a huge area that looks and feels like the wild west.

The museum was able to aquire on consignment, the lost golden spike of the Transcontinental Railroad... It was thought to not exist, but after five generations, the Hewes family had it for five generations. The original spike is housed at Stanford.

This picture is of May 10th, 1869 in Promontory Utah... Where the symbolic spike was driven into a polished cross tie. The painting is by Thomas Hill, and oil-on canvas painting titled, "The Last Spike"

This is a picture of the two locomotives meeting... Again in Utah. At the ceremony of the joining of the transcontinental railroad.

And here it is, in all of it brilliant glory. Shiny and polished... Greeting you as you end your trip in the museum. The LOST Golden Spike of the Transcontinental Railroad

Have a great Wednesday!

Chris Alston

Some of you may know that Mark Twain started his writing career as a reporter and columnist writing for the Sacramento Union in Sacramento California. I hadn’t known that until I became a real estate columnist for the same newspaper (now one of the defunct papers that were killed off in this economy, unfortunately).

So what better place to launch a brand new U.S. Postage stamp honoring mark Twain than in Old Sacramento Historic State Park (aka Old Sac). The stamp will be dedicated with a ceremony this Saturday, June 25, at 1 p.m. in the historic Passenger Station.

Participating in the program with be a professional Mark Twain re-enactor, a local Boy Scout color guard, and there will be an opportunity for you to be among the first to purchase the new stamp after its release.

Best of all, the public is invited to attend the ceremony, and you can stay and watch one of the final and highly entertaining theatrical rehearsals for the “Time Travel Weekend” program -- featuring Mark Twain -- that debuts the following weekend.

Designed to entertain and engage Old Sacramento visitors with good, old-fashioned fun reminiscent of the Gold Rush era, “Time Travel Weekends” are offered weekends July through August from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. (with expanded performances during Gold Rush Days over Labor Day weekend).

The “Time Travel Weekends” program is presented by the Historic Old Sacramento Foundation (HOSF) in partnership with the City of Sacramento, California State Parks, Old Sacramento Business Association and participating merchants and businesses.

For more information about the new Mark Twain postage stamp, visit www.usps.com/shop and for more information about the “Time Travel Weekends” program and other summertime fun activities in Old Sacramento, visit www.historicoldsac.org/timetravel.

There are also ceremonies at the Mark Twain Boyhood Home and Museum in Hannibal, MO, but you will have to check with them for more info about that. I will probably be attending the one here in Sacramento.

******************

Susan Neal
Broker / Realtor
Century 21 Noel David Realty
Fair Oaks, California

Full time real estate services in Fair Oaks CA,
with friendly professionalism, 30+ years experience.
I work hard to give my buyer or seller a low-stress
transaction.

"Happy clients make me happy."

For all your real estate needs or questions, call me at (916)705-8951or visit my website at www.SusanNealFineProperties.com.

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