Christmas Delight

I kept the Prospector up past his bedtime this weekend.
We went to town... AFTER DARK. Unheard of.
I made him take a shower so he would stay awake. We met our neighbors at their gate and , together, we drove down to MEL & FAY'S restaurant and found a parking space... one of the last.
It was one of those wonderful California winter nights... not too cold, not too windy... a perfect night to walk up and down the main street of Jackson. A perfect evening to join Amador County for the annual CHRISTMAS DELIGHTS festival on Main Street.

All the stores were open for business. This is a town that usually (except for the bars) rolls up the sidewalks after dark. But this night, once a year, they open their doors and give out goodies and hospitality for everyone. All the stores were lit up with Christmas lights and decorations.

The tree in front of the fire station was lit,
 and SANTA arrived...  in an old fire truck covered with Christmas lights.

 

 Last year we brought our oldest grandson down here. How fast the year has gone.
This year our neighbors had their granddaughter with them. She is eight years old.
It made me really wish that The Bean and Little Bean (our grandchildren) were there too. Maybe we can plan better next year so Mommy and Daddy can come up with them for the weekend.

So.... We met a horse while we were walking around. This was a most beautiful horse.

 I can't remember the horse's name, but the lady who was driving the carriage said that this was a Percheron, from Canada. It's a draft horse breed. This gentle horse was so big and tall that my neighbor's granddaughter was afraid to go up and pet him. With our help, she finally touched his nose. Everyone was gathering around the horse and he was acting like "business as usual" because the driver said he has been doing this all of this life.
He was pulling this carriage.

Last year they were giving rides in this buggy but I didn't see anyone getting rides this year. I did see it later going down the street with some pretty elves in it.

We walked into stores that were so beautifully lit up and even our HOMETOWN RADIO station was open. They recently moved down to Main Street. And there was a wood stove in one store to warm yourself before moving on.

Just a quick note: The photo on the bottom left (above) was a wonderful store window depicting some the towns in Amador Co. There was Plymouth, Amador City, Ione, Sutter Creek, all with a name sign and a lovely old building... and Jackson, on the left with the balcony.
 Now, it's been a long time since Jackson was famous for.... How do I put this carefully, without putting my adopted town in a bad light. Jackson was famous for its LADIES OF THE NIGHT.... and guess who was sitting up there in that little balcony, in all their splendor? Yes... two lovely ladies of ill repute.

 It's blurry and not a very good picture but there they are. Two redheaded hussies waiting for a gentleman's favor.
That's our reputation here.
Not the gold,
or the wonderful weather...
or the quaintness of small town America.
Or the fact that Jackson produced more than half the gold mined in the Mother Lode.
 Oh no!  It's all about the ladies of the night.
I think it's time to take the redheads off of the balcony.

So...

The shops were looking their very best.
The National Hotel is being completely renovated and it's looking very nice.

It's has a new front door that's really beautiful.

The owner has bought quite a few buildings on Main Street. He has a vested interest in making Jackson a destination and attracting tourists again. I hope it works. We need a bright future, like the beautiful leaded windows and doors.
It's fun to say that we have a rip roaring reputation, but we also want folks to be comfortable here. Maybe all of this remodeling and a community effort will revitalize our town.  When we join our neighbors and spend an evening like this, together, we are reminded that this town is a wonderful place... to live in , to shop in and to celebrate in.

We left Main Street and walked back across the highway to our cars. This is a wonderful little town where it's safe to walk around at night. We were on our way to eat Chinese food at one of our local restaurants.
Up on the hill above the parking lot is a house that says it all, year after year.

HO,HO,HO!! 

Christmas is coming.

Santa's on his way.

Life is good

We are so fortunate to be living where we live. 

I make no excuses. 

I'm blessed

Thank God

Amen.

A Lovely Day

Yesterday was one of those Fall days in the Foothills when the weather was just about perfect. This is what we mean by California Dreamin'... it is the quintessential day; that wonderful time of the year when the temperature never goes above 85 degrees and because of the cold nights, it takes all morning to warm up. This is "sweater in the mornings and shorts in the afternoon." weather and... If you're going to be outside you had best use some sunscreen. It may not feel hot but it's still going to do some damage if you're out in it for a while.
I was meeting some friends for lunch. They both live down in the valley so we planned to meet in Ione.
This is an interesting town.

Ione is about 10 miles from where I live. It use to be the supply center on the main roads to the mines during the Gold Rush and was the agricultural hub of the area. It was called Bedbug, Hardscrabble and Freeze Out at different times in the past.
Now it has a population of about 7900 folks and almost half of them reside at Mule Creek State Prison which is located at the north end of town.
Dave Brubeck, the famous jazz pianist, was raised here.

I found a parking place right on Main St. and took pictures while I waited for my friends. This is the Restaurant that we chose to meet at.
It's called Clark's Corner...

While I was waiting I saw a lot of trucks with horse trailers and huge cow trucks come down Main Street. More than any other town in the area. There are lots of farms, horse ranches and cattle around here. It's evident that, even though they put a fancy golf course in a few years ago, the farmers and their critters still rule this little town.
My friends arrived and we went inside to have some lunch.

In the 1800's there were six saloons in this town. (and they thought Jackson was wild.)
Clark's Corner has metamorphosed into a wonderful eatery.. but it was once a SALOON.

Dedicated to the spirits within..? Would that be liquor or ghost spirits?
And how original... Old Red Brick Building. I think that was more of a descriptive way of finding the place that a name for the bar.  As in..."Meet me at the old red brick building on Main St. I'll buy the drinks."
Or...
"I need to be in Ione by Friday. My brothers, James and Virgil are meetin' me there. Can I pay you with some gold dust?"
"What was your name again?", the train station ticket man asked.
"Earp. Wyatt Earp. I need one ticket."
No problem, Mr. Earp. Gold dust will be fine."
I'm on my way to San Francisco. Got some things to take care of."
"None of my business, Mr. Earp. Not at all. You have a nice trip." 

Well, it could have happen. Wyatt came to California a couple of times. He lived in Santa Rosa for a while. He died in Los Angeles in 1929.
He might have had a drink and stayed over night  at the Old Red Brick Building Saloon. It's possible. Isn't it?
I love to think about who visited or worked in these old buildings a long time ago.
I love to think that I might be stepping on the same old floor that Wyatt, or Joaquin, or Mr. Muir. might have.

Now the old saloon is lookin' spiffy.

I'll bet Wyatt didn't get a French Dip and raspberry ice tea.... or a chocolate chip mocha scone for dessert. No he didn't. But we did.... just to name a few delicious lunch items.
The food was very good.
The tables all had a lot of history under the glass for us to read while we ate.

And there were some old photos of local families.

And some tough looking men.
What a great idea to put all those photos under glass so you could read the history of the town while eating.
The restaurant is also a community meeting place for local issues, Internet communicating and just taking about what's happening in town.
We ate lunch and talked. Then we went and got dessert and then... ate and talked some more.
One friend, Sylvia, is the president of the California Gourd Associating and she is also the vice president of our local gourd group. She gardens, grows gourds and makes beautiful gourd art.
Jane, another friend, is a member of our goat group and owns a wonderful herd of Alpine goats. Alpines are really lovely animals. She has a beautiful old horse and two big ol' dogs and lives with a guy named Richard ...so I call their farm DICK AND JANE'S, like the children's book.
There's no SPOT but that's OK. Their two goofy dogs make up for not having a dog named Spot. We wouldn't want to get too silly about this.
Sylvia and Jane have known each other for many years.  We had such a good time together. We laughed and talked about all kind of things... But, as the saying goes...
What is talked about in Ione, stays in Ione... or is that Las Vegas?
It doesn't matter.
We had a great time.
Right ladies?