Roots Run Deep

Born and raised in Sacramento, I lived there for the first 30+ years of my life.  Above is the iconic “Tower Bridge”, which first opened in 1935…a bit before my time, mom was 5, dad was 7…but I’ll bet dad remembers it since he was born and raised in Sacramento.

Sacramento has been the Capitol of California since 1854, moving from scenic Monterey.  Above are pictures of the Capitol and Capitol park…it is a beautiful scene.  I always enjoyed a visit to Capitol Park, especially when I was on my bicycle because of the vast size of the park.  The Capitol is an iconic site too…and it is where I met then Governor Pat Brown.  Also met Governor Reagan, but he was not at the capitol, met him at the old Executive Airport near our home…twice.  Got a message from my oldest son Wednesday night…he just landed a job working for the California State Assembly, starting in July.  He will become very familiar with the Capitol and the surrounding landmarks.  His girlfriend has been commuting to Sacramento for nearly a year now, and this has been a planned transition for them moving from the expensive San Francisco Bay Area to Sacramento.

  

Sacramento just opened up the premier NBA stadium in the nation, the Golden 1 Center, in downtown Sacramento…not too far from the Capitol.  My son has already attended a game there…he said the stadium is something else.  I saw my first NBA game in the original ARCO arena back in the mid 1980’s thanks to my brother Bob who had season tickets.  That stadium held around 14,000, and was built as a temporary stadium, which was turned into a business building after the new ARCO arena was built, which was later renamed Sleep Train Arena.  Those first two arenas were nothing to this new stadium, that’s for sure.

  

Sutter’s Fort (above left) and Old Sac (right) date back to the beginnings of the City.  The original fort, built in 1839, has the original main building, built in early 1840’s, and the rest is a depiction of what the fort kinda looked like originally, although it does not look like the original sketches that I have seen.  Still, the fort and Indian Museum are a nice attraction, one which I visited many times as a kid when it was “free”…oh, times have certainly changed.  Old Sacramento was a crumbling mess of buildings most of the time when I lived in Sacramento, with a push to rebuild and create what is now a wonderful Old Town, with many activities throughout the year.  The Railroad History Museum was completed in 1981 on the north side of Old Sac, and I was there for the opening day activity where Jerry Brown, then Governor, and now again the Governor…son of Governor Pat Brown, opened the Museum up.  It too is a fascinating place.

My Second Great-Grandfather and 2nd-Great Grandmother Burdick came to California back in the late 1840’s.  He was on a boat headed for California before gold was discovered, while she was already living in the Bay Area.  They married, and eventually had a ranch where they raised horses used to pull the Newark Train, operated first by my Great-grandfather, and mostly operated by his brother for many years when Great-grandfather moved on to the real trains.  Grandpa Burdick was born in Portland because that is where Great-grandpa was working on the train for awhile…but for the most part Grandpa lived in California, settling down in Sacramento after he married Grandma.  Dad was born in Sacramento, and I was born in Sacramento.  My son’s mother grew up in Sacramento, and he has Uncles and Aunts and cousins from both sides of the family in the area.  It was a good home for me, and I hope it will be a great home for both of them.  Sure looking forward to seeing more of both of them during our yearly visits in Sacramento, that’s for sure.