DAY 1 - Driving to Sacramento, California
After passing our interview last May 3rd, we decided to take a break, relax and spend my birthday and Mother's Day in Sacramento. We thought it was a great excuse to leave our small city as well. And I have been dying/craving for Filipino foods and wanted to stock up many Filipino groceries as I could. But eventually, I ended up buying more Japanese snacks and foods. Lol. I would say it's cheaper there.
We left the house at 10 a.m. and arrived in Sacramento at 12:15 noon. We had a ten minute restroom break. From our hometown this is the shortest drive we could be to a bigger city. It was quick and fun. The first stop, of course, a lunch to a Filipino fast food chain, Jollibee. I love their burger steak and peach mango pie! It was heaven. I missed how it tasted. Tip one: Never ever convert your money wherever you are.
Our experience driving through streets of Sacramento and the freeway was a little bit of a challenge for us because we were not familiar and we only relied to our navigator. Since we came from a small city, the volume of the cars are not so many and there are less traffic. So in Sacramento, it was the opposite but to me it wasn't horrible compared in my home country. Here is better. Way better. Tip two: Always put the most patient and reliable person in the front seat.
After having our lunch in Seafood City, we went straight to our motel. We stayed in Lexington Inn in Howe Ave. It was very accessible in our itinerary and at that time we had a pretty good deal.
Day 1 itinerary:
Seafood City - 15-20 minutes drive from Lexington Inn depending on traffic situation
Vacaville Premium Outlets - 44 mins. to 1 hour drive from Lexington Inn depending on traffic situation
Tip three: Keep in mind. Sacramento is one of the busiest cities in California plan your trip accordingly. You don't want to be stuck in freeway traffic for more than an hour and still have more places to go.
After lunch, we rested for few minutes and hit the road again. We went to Vacaville outlet. I was so thrilled to shop at stores we don't have in our city such as Cole Hann Outlet and Tumi. There's a lot of people because it was Mother's Day.
We wanted to leave early so we could still have dinner in Seafood City. We really wanted to try their grilled foods. And to our surprise, the pork barbecue was very delicious. I couldn't resist eating more of it and.... the white rice. To end our night, we just chilled under the stars while in the pool. Unfortunately though, my legs were very itchy and turned red. I think they've put too much chlorine or the water wasn't clean. Boooooo!!!!
DAY 2 - Cathedral of the Blessed Sacrament and grocery shopping
For our last day, we didn't have much plan so we attended the mass in Cathedral of the Blessed Sacrament, it was 11 in the morning. After that we walked around the block and witnessed a cycling event/marathon. It was okay. You can really feel the city is big and very much alive compared to our hometown. So many things to do and foods to try! There was a part of me not wanting to leave. It felt like I was just in Manila. ;'()
We had our lunch in Chowking. Goooooosh guys, I missed Chowking! I love their lauriat combos!
Tip four: If you're a Filipino and don't have much access to Filipino foods and restaurants, just dine in and stuff yourselves with all the goodness and enjoy every bite! ;-P
Day 2 itinerary:
Cathedral of the Blessed Sacrament - 20 mins. drive from Lexington Inn
Seafood City again, as usual
All in all, I really enjoyed this short trip. We will be back for sure and to my lovely readers who lives in Sacramento. I would love to hear from you! Please recommend restaurants we should try, stores/malls, parks to visit or fun attractions we should see. Thank you!
