Don’t Bring a Math Book to a Walkable City

With Elexa attending her conference for the next three days I was free to wander Sacramento until five thirty each day. After finishing we would meet back up to explore and grab dinner together.

On the second day I woke with only the vague plan to have coffee and visit some sort of museum. So, I sent my AIs to scour the web for a trendy, well-rated coffee shop.

I say this as if I have the AIs working for me autonomously.

I don’t, but I do use multiple companies, and plus it’s fun to say I sent my AIs out to gather information.

Coffee is one of those drinks that is easy to make, but is difficult to make well. I’m no coffee snob, but due to drinking americanos and cappuccinos it becomes apparent much faster when the coffee just doesn’t taste good. There just isn’t any sugar to cover it up.

My phone pinged back with search results for a coffee shop by the name of Crème Coffee. I got dressed and then made sure to slather my face and neck in sunscreen. It was forecasted to be one hundred and two degrees later that day.

Okay, so this might sound a bit weird, but I chose to wear long linen pants and a light long sleeve. The thought was that I didn’t want to keep applying sunscreen to my arms and legs. I grabbed my backpack which had my computer and a not so light math book in it which I would soon regret bringing.

After walking for about twelve minutes I rounded the corner and saw Crème Coffee and was pleasantly surprised. Since I used AI to find it for me, I didn’t know what it looked like.

The facade was made up of four white Ionic columns that supported a white deck. Adding to this were two sets of three floor-to-ceiling arched windows.

Inside I ordered my drink and found a cozy spot on the end of a long booth where I sipped my latte.

So, I didn’t get an americano or cappuccino. Why, well I wanted a twelve-ounce drink and this coffee shop was what I could call a real coffee shop. This is because they served eight-ounce cappuccinos. Also they used a manual or semi-manual espresso machine. Though I only gleaned this from looking over the counter, I could be totally wrong. They also served twelve-ounce cappuccinos, but I just couldn’t break from tradition when given the choice.

As I gazed around the shop the white walls, counter, and espresso machine provided a unified upscale feel. Maybe it was the want to look at more beautiful things that day that led me to the Crocker Art Museum.

Again I did not research the museum, I just went. I walked in and paid the twelve-dollar admission fee and then was promptly stopped and told to wear my backpack on my chest so as not to accidentally hit any pieces of art.

It made sense. I had a better idea though.

Why not just ditch the backpack at the front desk, surely they would check it.

The attendant said they would. So, I handed it over and it was set next to another black backpack on the ground behind their desk. A quick thought that this might not seem quite right, so, I followed it up with a “do you give a receipt for the backpack.”

The answer was a lackluster “no.”

Well, I sure as heck didn’t want to haul it around the museum and much less on my chest.

So, past the admission desk I went to explore.

I marveled at the over two-thousand-year-old pottery from Mexico. I thought to myself. Could I create this level of design, durability, and detail with the tools they had back then?

Nope.

As I explored the rest of the museum I came across a portion that did not match the rest and legitimately looked like part of a house. A quick search later proved this to be true. The Crockers created the museum from their house which soon grew to be what it is today.

As I began the walk back to the hotel the heat was real, and I found it was best to take my time and stand in the shade at intersections I needed to cross.

The following day I had to try a different coffee shop for the reason of just because, this one was Temple Coffee. The feel there was warmer and more chill compared to Crème Coffee. The raw concrete wall behind the counter paired well with the warm tones of the wood counter kickplate (the piece that is under the countertop) and the wood tables. Sacramento surprised me once again with a coffee shop that sold an eight-ounce cappuccino option, pour-over coffee, and decaf coffee that was made with the Swiss water process.

If you don’t know what the Swiss water process is, the basis is that the caffeine is removed with water instead of solvents like methylene chloride. I prefer water over methylene chloride, but that’s just me.

So, as I sipped my Swiss water process decaf cappuccino I searched what museum could I visit and the Railroad Museum came up.

This museum was way larger than I imagined. I spent the first hour in the front one-third of the museum that only had one train. The piece that stuck with me above everything else was that the museum was trying to tell history with more accuracy.

How? You may ask.

African American women were cut out of sections of the narrated history intentionally by the people in charge at the time. Unfortunately, this is nothing new and it shows that we have not learned from our previous mistakes. This makes me upset to see that we as a community are continuing to do this. Though there is also some hope that some of it is being acknowledged here in this particular museum. I think one of the main purposes of museums is to help us, the people, remember where we came from even if it is not all sunshine and rainbows.

So, why did I spend so long in the front, well as I was about to move on to the next section a free tour was offered. Our tour guide explained the history of the gold rush and how trains played a large part in it or maybe it was the other way around.

Regardless, my feet were killing me. I was sitting down every chance I got while on the tour. Remember that computer and math book that I told you about? Well I was still carrying them around for some reason. Who is going to do math problems on a vacation anyway?

I thought I would, but didn’t.

The rest of the museum contained more trains than I cared to count. I could just see my ten-year-old self being in awe of the place.

As I stepped back out, I immediately felt the upper nineties degree heat. So back to the hotel I went for A/C.

The following day Elexa and I ate at a place called AfroEatz. The yellow mural-painted facade screamed a food experience was about to start.

We ordered a whole fried fish that was covered in a crust of spices. Honestly I couldn’t get enough of it. It boggled my mind how they were able to get all of this flavor into a thin layer of spice that coated the fish so evenly.

Our other dish was a vegetarian Jollof. I had never heard of or had Jollof. It seemed to be an exceptionally flavored rice dish.

My curiosity got the best of me and I asked the person who brought the food to the table what were these amazing spices?

Well, I didn’t really get an answer. So, I asked what is the main flavor profile of Liberian food. So you know, AfroEatz serves authentic Liberian food.

Our waiter/possible cook said bell peppers.

I took the hint and stopped asking. He didn’t want to give up the ingredients for these mouth-watering dishes, and honestly I couldn’t blame him.

After exploring Sacramento on foot and by transit for a couple of days I think I can sum up the layout.

Sacramento is a fairly spread-out city. Though the curious part is it seems relatively easy to walk, even in the upper nineties, which I don’t recommend doing in that heat. What makes this so is that there are interesting destinations plopped seemingly at walkable intervals.

Just when you need a break, your destination arrives.

-Abe