Adventures in Old Town Sacramento

Out here in California, many of the cities will refer to the original downtown area as "Old Town."  Old Town Sacramento is one step above the other old town areas, with board walks and subterranean older buildings and such.  This weekend, they're putting on Waterfront Days, with re-creators and entertainers bringing a flavor of 1849 and the Gold Rush.  I keep calling this Gold Rush Days, because a similar event used to happen around Labor Day and was, in fact, called Gold Rush Days.

We had a free day today, so we hauled out to absorb some culture and history.  Kiddo wanted to dress up in her Dickens dress, and we had a dress that my grandmother sent Tiny, so we did a little parking-lot magic (you travel in your period underclothes and throw on the hoop and all the other stuff when you get there).  Somehow, I always forget that a child in period dress is total bait to tourists and photographers, even if the child is clearly not a participant.  I don't mind most of the time, because it's not like these folks are sickos or anything, but the lady who clearly got me breastfeeding in the background of her shot was given a good stinkeye.

We listened to singing groups and did olde-fashionede crafts and bought taffy (Candy Heaven has more taffy than I've ever seen in one place--across Front Street from the reproduction school house) and visited the brothel tent for an hour or so.  The difference of being a fair participant is that your friends at other fairs will invite you to hang out at their spot, even if you're not in costume, especially if you have a cuddly baby in period dress they can use as a prop.  Kiddo got to participate in "gigs," or little character scene bits, and Tiny was christened the "brothelsprout," and was held up next to various willing guests to attempt to determine paternity.

There is a rapid-fire, slightly racy patter to being at a fair--a bit of a combination of broad jokes and subtle humor.  At the brothel tent, the woman at the front had a rotation of things to call out to passersby, such as "You ever need a night off, dearie, you send him to us.  Give us $3 and take the rest of the wallet for yourself!" and "Now I know why I haven't seen you, Charlie!  She's beautiful!"  It's fun to play a role once in a while.

The Waterfront Days are still going on Sunday, so swing by.  There's history and shopping and dining and singing and performing and roping and stuff.  Awesome.  I'm hoping the museum keeps the exhibit about the Transcontinental Railroad Sesquicentennial going until the end of the year so I can drag my mother over. 

Aaaaand, you can ask Zoltar stuff, like to be big or something.  He takes credit cards now.