2 minute read
Travel
Tarmo Hannula
HISTORIC Downtown Grass Valley includes older style architecture and early day charm.
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Wrapping up a trip through gold and silver country
Tarmo Hannula
By TARMO HANNULA
In the last days of the weeklong road trip my wife Sarah and I took in October, as reflected in my series of stories in this magazine, we drove west from Reno on Highway 80 back into California through mountainous terrain, sprawling ranches and minimal traffic.
We switched on to Highway 20 and were reminded, once again, of aggressive California drivers, tailgaters and those in a rush. The hardwood trees along the drive added a blaze of brilliant yellows, reds and oranges.
We’ve heard of Nevada City for years (yes, it’s in California) so we dipped into the small city for a glimpse of Old Town. We’ve come
to learn, through our travels, that some of these colorful and historic towns around California are often transformed into trendy spas, gift shops, antiques stores and the like, often sidestepping the overall genuine feel of the place in favor of commercial interests.
Nevada City felt like that. Meanwhile, Grass Valley seemed to maintain a modicum of day-to-day businesses, barber shops, hardware and grocery stores, candy and book shops that made it feel less like a tourist trap.
Sarah found a room on the internet at the Gold Miners Inn, 121 Bank St., in downtown Grass Valley. It was a gold mine, to use a pun. The folks at the front desk were kind and welcoming. They handed two passes each for free drinks at their regular happy hour at 5pm. It was refreshing to settle into their comfortable lobby and check out the folks coming and going and enjoy the free slices of hot pizza and such during their happy hour. We walked up Main Street to get a glimpse of the older style home where the former managing news editor of The Pajaronian, Jon Chown, once lived and worked in town as a copy editor for the Grass Valley Union. We noticed that some streets downtown were closed off to motor traffic, making way for easy strolling around town.
We wrapped up our journey the next day with a visit to Sacramento to see our son, Stu, his wife and their 1-year-old child. It is here that my family, on my mother’s side, goes back to the Gold Rush days, a major theme of our trip, through the Sierra, into Nevada and back to the Golden State.
