After the Vineyards, the Orchards...and a Brewery

                                                  by Andy Murphy

A tour of Californias wineries ranks high on vacationing Americas list of ideal adventures.  And with good reason.  Its a fabulous experience, delighting both the eyes with lush vines stretching to forever and the palate with the sensuous varieties of reds and whites for every taste.

Every year vacationers revel in a driving tour of the inviting wine regions that stretch from Santa Barbara to north of San Francisco in the well-known Napa Valley. And the success of the recent film Sideways has only increased our interest.  But theres more.  Particularly above Sacramento.

The drive north from the state capital opens the adventurous vacationer to the orchard towns, still exhibiting a frontier way of life.  The John Deere equipment reaping the walnuts may be modern and super-efficient, but the life style is still early California.

Two spectacular, north-south mountain ranges (the Sierra Nevadas and the Sierra Madres) split the northen part of the state into distinct regions, creating the astonishingly fertile Sacramento Valley with topsoil 40-50 feet deep.  Everything grows here.  Everything.  Peach farmers have to take care that their trees dont self-prune by breaking under the weight of an abundant crop.

Most of our nations nuts come from this undiscovered region, and a drive through Yuba City, Marysville, Oroville, Red Bluff, Redding, or any of the other 100+-year-old orchard towns can prove to be a reverential  eye-opener, even for the I've-seen-everything tourist.

Chico is the best of the lot. 

My wife and I return yearly to this fertile valley just to experience the awe of walking in an orchard geometrically lined with 90-year-old,100-foot walnut trees, or reading a book in a shaded almond grove surrounded by stunningly noticeable silence.  And the occasional rabbit.

Nestled in the heart of downtown is Chico State, a branch of the 10-school University of California, widely respected for its departments of agriculture, teacher training, and art.  Its 28,000 students and professors give the town a lively college town atmosphere.

Even the mundane becomes extraordinary in this sunny, comfortable valley.   A trip to the Chico Safeway, for example, may involve parking under a crepe myrtle covered with such abundantly profuse blossoms as to make you want to forget shopping and have a picnic in the parking lot.

Thursday evenings, a 4-square-block area of downtown becomes a street fair, with hundreds of craftsmen, entertainers, farmers, and modern-day hippies peddling their wares, singing and dancing, offering the bounty of the earth, and proffering their ideas and philosophies.  Lemons as big as grapefruits; hand-crafted jewelry, stoneware, and pottery; magicians on unicycles; and roses, roses, roses: all competing to entertain your senses.

And instead of wine-tasting, try beer-tasting at Americas premier craft brewery, the Sierra Nevada Brewery on the outskirts of town, producing the countrys fastest growing lagers and ales and recipient of the 2004 Brewing Industrys American Champion beer, Pale Ale.   The daily tours are complimentary and are appropriate for all ages.

The complex includes an extensive gift shop and a taproom and restaurant where you can sample the entire line of year-round, seasonal, and specialty brews on tap. 

So, no surfing, no skiing, no theme parks.  Just the peace and quiet of an old California town amidst the charm of restored elegance, the vibrancy of a hip college culture, and gambling.

Gambling?  Yes, no fewer than 6 Indian casinos service the North State region, with all the glitz and glamour of Las Vegas.  Three are only 20-30 minutes from Chico.  Feather Falls in Oroville, for example, is a 100,000-sq-ft casino with over a thousand slot machines, a dozen single-deck blackjack tables, and even a non-smoking poker room.   Its 950-seat showroom attracts some top name entertainers, like Wynonna Judd, Peter Frampton, and Willie Nelson.

Where to stay:

All the major chains are represented in Chico, like Days Inn, Best Western, Holiday Inn, etc., several a short walk to downtown.  From the perfectly adequate to the more luxurious, motel rooms range from $36-$100 a night, a nice break from high-priced resorts.  But do consider the crown jewel of downtown, the Diamond Hotel, originally built in 1904, and recently lovingly and exquisitely restored in early-20th-century detail.

Getting there:

Best bet: fly into Sacramento and rent a car.  The 90-minute drive north is worth the effort, as you pass spectacular buttes and mesas and get the feel of how the two mountain ranges off to both sides have fed this valley with their snow melt for millions of years.  Also, youll pass through Gridley and other small towns that give off the feel of old California with their ramshackle charm.

Next best: fly directly into Chico on a commuter line out of San Francisco.  Rental car companies deliver to the airport.  The 45-minute flight brings the delight of passing between two of Americas serious mountain ranges with snow-capped peaks and dramatic gorges clearly visible out of both windows.

Bring your open mind and your open heart and explore the orchard towns and the wonders of the Sacramento Valley

                                     __________________

Andy Murphy is a free-lance writer from Arlington, Virginia.  His latest books, both available from Amazon, are The Rain Tree, a metaphysical, murder mystery, and The Husbands Manual, a users guide for husbands and men trying out for the part.