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Travel
Trips, Trails, Paddling and Cycling
New this summer, Squaw Valley is offering free, guided hikes on the upper mountain, Friday, Saturday and Sunday at 12:30 p.m. and 2:30 p.m. The one-hour guided hikes leave from High Camp, at an elevation of 8,200 feet, and travel across Squaw Valley’s mountaintop meadow. Navigating...
North Lake Tahoe News & Events
It’s late July, and it’s going to be another beautiful week in North Lake Tahoe with clear and sunny skies with highs predicted to reach 83 degrees by Friday. Here are some highlights for the coming week: Lake Tahoe continues to boast environmentally friendly transportation...
A Hike in Squaw Valey Punctuates Lack of Water
It's good to get out of Benicia if you want a really good vertical hike, and Squaw Valley is my favorite disctractions. Its majestic bowls and rare granite outcroppings awe-inspiring. As much as I enjoy a good hike just about anywhere that poison oak doesn't grow, Squaw has an added...
Healdsburg Offers Unique Wine-tasting Experiences
Healdsburg is always a fun day trip on its own, but getting outside the downtown shopping area adds a new level of enjoyment. A recent trip found us scoping out the Russian River Valley wineries, then meeting friends for dinner Downtown. Two winery gems just up 101 to the north that share...
Decoding Online Travel Reviews
Before booking a trip where I’ll be staying somewhere new, I consult the ever-expanding industry of online reviews. Navigating the different sites can be annoying, there are so many of them, each with different posting protocols. Some sites can be manipulated to favor advertisers, so I...
Fresh, Flavorful and Filling, bite Serves up Scrumptious Small Plates
Restaurants in small mountain towns have all the usual challenges that city eateries do, and then some: they also face the additional problem of navigating the seasonal ebb and flow of tourism, even when they are located around Lake Tahoe, and even when they are in affluent towns like Incline...
Best Biscuits and Gravy on the Lake
On Tahoe’s North Shore, locals and visitors rave about their favorite breakfast hangout.
Style
Style of all types
Preparations Underway For Annual Art Gala
Arts Benicia has two big reasons to revel at this year’s annual art auction, one of Solano County’s most significant and fun events. The premier arts organization is celebrating their silver anniversary, and the 20th anniversary of the auction itself. This is an opportunity for...
Shop Benicia First - Win Prizes!
The 3rd annual SHOP BENICIA FIRST SCAVENGER HUNT is on! Sponsored by the Biznet Committee of the Benicia Chamber of Commerce, this year’s entry forms will highlight the logos and photos of 14 local businesses to be identified. Entry forms can be picked-up at the Chamber...
Local Artist Mernie Buchanan
Mernie Buchanan, a local artist with a downtown studio for twenty five years, is best known for her fine art painting series, the ‘Faux Louvre’. Buchanan travels to fine art museums in Europe and the United States and sketches original masterpieces, then paints watercolor...
Bistro Jeanty a Perennial Favorite
Most of us have a favorite dining spot we return to over and over again. For my money, Bistro Jeanty never fails to entertain or to provide exemplary French food in an authentic, unpretentious atmosphere. Mike and I have been going there for years, and it’s still our number one go-to...
Port Sheds its Stuffy Image
Here in the US, and in other world markets, port wines seemed, for a time, to fall out of fashion. As the stodgy end of a formal dinner party or perhaps your grandmother’s nightcap, port has had a rather stuffy reputation. But the fortified wines appear to be enjoying a...
Post-Season Thoughts on Bocce Ball
Bocce Ball is a simple game, or one would think. Until I was asked to join a Bocce Ball Team this season I didn’t think much about it. I thought it was a game played mostly by older people to occupy their time after retirement. I was told that I should try out for the team...
FUR-ocious Fall Fashion
This season we seem to be revisiting the early 1970's, and recapturing the mood of the era with paisley, worn denim, crocheted trim, burn-out velvet and a renewed interest in fur. Fur, worn as protection by prehistoric man, has, as fashion, waxed and waned throughout history. From the days...
Free, Fresh and Organic - Blackberries Grow Wild in Benicia
Attention blackberry lovers: you can find fresh, local, organic blackberries, free, with exercise thrown into the mix. Take a stroll along the waterfront on the west side of downtown, where wild blackberries can be found in pockets here and there. Even better, try the entrance to the State Park,...
Restaurant Meals Delivered in Under an Hour
Sometimes you just need a break in the dinner routine. We usually head to First Street on Friday nights, but the June Gloom is insisting on a different approach: comfy sweats and a couple good movies. I’m hungry but don’t want to cook—what to do?Here’s one solution....
Currents: Market Fresh
Get Your Superfoods HereThis year’s Farmers Market is off to a rollicking start. Now in its 19th year, cooked meals at homes all over town have been supplanted with al fresco dining at the Market. In addition to the returning Mexican food vendors, Fox and Fawn Bakehouse, new this year, is...
Sustainability
Benicia State Parks Association 2012 Annual Update
The Benicia State Parks Association was successful in meeting its biggest challenge of 2012 by keeping the Benicia Capitol State Historic Park open and fully accessible to the public. This achievement was made possible in large part by the hard work and overwhelming volunteer support in...
Benicia Expo Entices Clean Tech to the Arsenal
Members of the City of Benicia's Sustainability Commission are gearing up for the CleanTech Exposition to be held later this month at the Benicia Historical Museum. The Expo is a two-day celebration of Benicia's existing clean tech businesses, such as Bio Rad, as well as an enticement...
Recycling Just A Few More Items Helps Reduce Greenhouse Gas
We can all be doing more to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by recycling items we are currently throwing away. It’s getting easier to recycle curbside now that Allied Waste is collecting brown carts every week. And if that’s not enough to contain your recyclables, get an additional...
Best Western Plus Heritage Inn, Benicia joins “Clean the World” Campaign
Best Western Plus Heritage Inn, Benicia has teamed up with the Clean the World campaign to help save lives of children around the world. Every day in the United States alone, 1.5 million bars of soap are discarded along with other bathroom amenities. These unused soaps and bathroom...
Tips For Green Cleaning
Do you associate a clean home with the lingering fragrances from commercial household cleaning products? According to Deirdre Imus, best-selling author and founder of the Greening the Cleaning program, household cleaning fragrances could be harmful to your health. The Deirdre Imus...
Oops! Correct Information for Household Hazardous Waste at Devlin Transfer Station
Devlin Road Facility no longer accepts household hazardous waste from Benicia Residents
Butternut Squash Soup: A Winter Take On A Fall Favorite
Cool winter evenings demand that curvaceous flesh- toned beauty, still readily available in supermarkets for hearty, warming meals. That’s right, the sweet, long-lasting and bodacious Butternut and other squash varieties make for a delicious soup that never fails to please....
Cub Scout Pack 108 Leads Tree Planting Event
Benicia Tree Foundation held a tree planting in the Community Park on Thursday, October 13th, with the very motivated Cub Scout Pack 108 taking the lead. Pack leader Jeff Conner was there with Gretchen Burgess and many other Cub Scout Parents to support and witness the scouts plant a 24”...
Winter Vegetable Gardens
Whether you are a serious backyard farmer or just a dabbler in seasonal vegetable growing, you probably experience a pang of regret over the demise of garden-to-table summer produce. In California, however, we are blessed with weather that’s warm enough to sustain a winter garden,...
CODA and Amports Partner to Assemble Electric Cars in Benicia
For the past several years, Mayor Patterson and the Benicia City Council have discussed trying to bring green technology companies to the Benicia Business Park. On September 12 at a press conference at Amports, it was announced that a partnership between Amports and CODA, an electric car maker...
Bites & Sips
A blog about all things food and drink
Sauvignon Blanc: Perfect For Warm Autumnal Days
Though the nights have cooled the days are still hot here in Northern California and nothing goes better with the autumnal sun than a sublime glass of Sauvignon Blanc. These wines can really hit the spot, offering the precise quantities of fruit, florals, acidity and balance. ...
Squaw Valley’s Plumpjack Café Hits all the High Notes
For all it’s fame and glory as a former Olympics town, and its majestic beauty ringed with 8,200’ peaks, Olympic Village at the base of Squaw Valley is quiet on a Friday night in August. There’s lots to do here in summer; you can pick your vacation poison. Hiking, bungee...
Jazz-up Grilled Salmon with Fresh Corn Salsa
Try this recipe to lift ordinary grilled fish or chicken to a guest-worthy level. Fresh salsa makes a perfect accompaniment to summertime meals, especially grilled salmon. With just 5 ingredients, it’s a 5-minute salsa or side dish that requires no cooking. Top fish, chicken...
Happenings
Casino Night and Texas Hold 'em
This year's annual Casino Night & Texas Hold-em event will be held at the Commanding Officer's Quarters, Saturday, March 16 from 6-10pm. Benicia Rotary and Benicia Soroptimist team up to produce a The evening promises to a delightful evening of gaming, finger food & fun!...
Win dinner for two at Sailor Jacks!
Courtyard Customs, a downtown merchant, invites Benicia residents to enter to win a slogan contest for a new Benicia slogan. Winners will win prizes. The first prize winner will be treated to dinner for two at Sailor Jacks waterfront Restaurant, along with a variety of other prizes bearing the...
USS Olympia Historic Ship Clears Another Hurdle To Return To Vallejo
USS OLYMPIA completed another major milestone leading to her first passage through San Francisco’s Golden Gate in 117 years. On November 1, 2012 the Mare Island Historic Park Foundation’s (MIHPF) submitted a Phase II Application interim report on the effort to acquire the USS...
William Harsh, Beloved Benicia Artist and Teacher, Dies Peacefully at Home
Dear friends, As many of you know, Benicia’s beloved artist and teacher Bill Harsh passed away peacefully at his home on the evening of Saturday, October 27. His family thanks you for the outpouring of your love and support during his illness, and during this difficult time of...
Halloween Auction & Costume Contest
Put your costume on and join the Halloween fun on Friday, October 26 at 5:30pm! Got pride in this year's halloween costume? Unleash it for one more fun event - the Benicia Chamber of Commerce Halloween Party and Costume Contest! The annual fundraiser draws hundreds of revelers who will...
Community Blood Drive - Blood Donors Needed
45 units of blood were donated in September. Our thanks to the donors! Help increase these numbers by taking the time and effort to donate or encourage others to donate at the next Community Blood Drive on NOVEMBER 15, 2012 from 1 pm to 6:30 pm at the First Baptist Church located at 1055...
Phil Joy House Moves Again: Image Recreated on Southampton Home
Benicia’s travelling Victorian house can be spotted in yet another Benicia locale. Little did homeowners Monique and Jim Moench know when they commissioned a mural from local artist Mernie Buchanan that Phil Joy’s Queen Anne would inspire the transformation of the back of the...
Expanding Experiences a Big Success
Liberty High School, the Rotary Club of Benicia, and Arts Benicia would like to thank the following sponsors for their support of “Expanding Experiences” September 12, 2012, for a successful event that brings art, culture and creativity to students. Allied Waste Bank of the...
Recommended Reading From Local Book Clubs
Featured Book Club: No official name, formed in 2010 Number of Members: 12 Accepting New Members: With two new members, the club is currently full Frequency: Once a month on Wednesday at 11am Location: Rotates at members’ homes for a “yummy” lunch & book...
Benicia’s Annual Antiques & Collectibles Fair Returns This Month
With only one more year until the Fair’s golden anniversary, the annual event is still packing in the crowds. One of the largest fairs of its kind in Northern California, First Street is closed to vehicle traffic from J Street to the waterfront each year. It is said to attract upwards of...
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