We were hunkered down for a long drive, which means I had a CD cranked and my wife was patiently ignoring my witty cracks about drivers not using signals.
But then we were there. Barely 40 minutes and we were in Sutter Creek, that calming, charmin town on the cusp of the foothills.
Sacramento, it turns out, really is close to everything. It takes a drive equal to some morning commutes to get to an escape that seems to be time zones away.
That's what we were after. A last-minute attempt at a couple days of escape, of doing nothing but maybe sitting on a shaded porch, sipping a glass of wine and watching the world wander past.
And that's what we found. A blind guess scored a Yahtzee on lodging. We stayed at the Sutter Creek Inn on Main Street, the living definition of a country bed and breakfast. It's a century-old, New England-style house surrounded by green lawn, gardens, patios and hammocks. Most of the 17 guest rooms are in little cottages. And they have hammocks.
We checked in Sunday afternoon, then had lemonade on the back porch and sat while Norman Rockwell painted our scene.
Or he could have. If he were alive. You get my point. Just across Main Street from our gate is the Palace Restaurant and Saloon, an airy bar and restaurant. Next to that is a cafe and deli. A few doors down on our side of the street is another cafe and a wine-tasting room. I'm thinking, "Why haven't I come here sooner?"
Sutter Creek is not an unknown for Sacramento, but for lots of folks, it's just one of those Western-looking towns they roll through on Highway 49 on the way to higher country. That's changed some in the past year.
Highway 49 now has a bypass around the town. It quieted traffic, and, frankly, made it a much better place to visit.
People there say it hasn't hurt business, and in fact may have helped because it feels safer and cozier. That coziness, and the Old West-style architecture and balconies over the sidewalk are selling points for this small town.
The Main Street business district is about three blocks long, roughly the same size as, say, St. Helena's in Napa Valley. But this is quieter and simpler: more antique shops and ice cream parlors, and fewer high-fashion boutiques.
Mondays, Tuesdays and Wednesdays are slow days. Lots of the restaurants and some of the shops are closed, though the restaurants rotate days off so there's always somewhere to go.
But we were looking for a bit of slowness, and the pace we found was spot-on – welcoming, uncrowded, but not unsophisticated.
We met Marcy Miller, a Bay Area transplant who's been in Sutter Creek eight years. She owns Topia, an eclectic and interesting home and garden shop at the eastern edge of Main Street. She was hanging out with her dog Ben, a sweet Australian shepherd with a summer buzz cut that made him look a little geeky.
Miller told us she gets lots of people coming from the Sacramento region just to shop. The Sutter Creek Ice Cream Emporium, a block up on Main Street, has regular customers who drive up from Rancho Cordova and Folsom – maybe 25 minutes away – for the $5 sundaes.
"I figure if they can come here for our friendliness, I can go there for their Costco," Miller said.
At Sutter Creek Wine Tasting, there were potentially 26 free samplings from the Gold Hill, Crystal Basin and Le Moulet Rouge wineries.
"We remind people this is a walking town," said tasting room manager Mary Jo Pingree.
If you're not tasting 26 wines, it doesn't have to be. Sutter Creek is four miles from Jackson and near enough to all of Amador County's wineries to make a good base camp for exploring. But my call is go there, park your car and let it rest.
There are good restaurants besides the ice cream shop. Caffe Via d'Oro on Main Street is well-regarded with classy California cuisine. We especially liked Susan's Place, around the corner from Via d'Oro on Eureka Street, that's a mix of wine bar, restaurant and fantasyland with porches, trees and fountains.
And in our two days there, I decided we'd become regulars at the Palace, which I considered our spot, since it was across the street instead of an entire block away. Plus it has "Saloon" in the name and was a brothel back in the day. I love a place with a past.
Call The Bee's Rick Kushman, (916) 321-1187. Listen to him Thursdays at 8:40 a.m. on NewsTalk 1530 (KFBK) and 8:50 a.m. on Armstrong & Getty, Talk 650 KSTE.
