Saturday, June 26, 2010

The Delta Communities

The Delta is a popular spot for boating and partying, especially on a hot summer day. However, the Delta is also home to a lot of interesting and rich history from California's past. If you've never visited Walnut Grove, Locke, or Isleton, you've missed out on a lot. These small towns sprung up along the Sacramento River and attracted many Chinese and Japanese immigrants who worked on the levee construction, railways, and then in agriculture or small businesses. Locke, constructed by Chinese workers, is now a National Heritage Site and a wonderful place to catch a glimpse of this colorful past. On Saturday I took a car trip with two friends and we explored this charming territory so close to the San Francisco Bay Area...

We started out in Walnut Grove
where we had a delicious lunch in one of the local diners...



Then we headed over to Locke.
Surprisingly it was not very crowded at all...
































Lastly we hit up Iselton,
known for its Crawdad Festival and annual Spam cook off...















Finally we headed back home.
We saw lots of wind farms taking advantage of the strong winds
that routinely pass over the Delta...

Then we got stuck at a drawbridge...
it only took a few moments for the small pleasure craft to pass underneath
and we were on our way again.
It's great living in the San Francisco Bay Area!

4 comments:

soulbrush said...

what a crispy clean and neat looking area, i so enjoyed this tour.

Louis la Vache said...

«Louis» hasn't taken that drive in probably 20 years...It appears that the same buildings that needed painting then remain unpainted now! And, Al the Wop's seems to still be going strong!

Janice / Dancing with Sunflowers said...

What a great afternoon! Locke in nparticular looks like a fascinating place to visit.
Hope you're enjoying your summer break, Linnea. I'm assuming it has started...?

Photo Cache said...

I've been to Isleton twice both instances for the crawdad festival. But I liked its old buildings and always promised to return, but never did.