The Fascinating Life and Times of Me

Going to the Governor's Mansion State Historic Park was a lot like visiting the Stanford Mansion State Historic Park, except for there was a WAY shorter line and we didn't get to go upstairs. Also they allowed you to take pictures inside.

It was kind of lame, because they herded us through the downstairs of the mansion and right out the back door. But the mansion was lovely inside and very beautiful outside. Plus, they did say if we came back on a day that wasn't free they would let us go upstairs AND tell us interesting stories about the history of the mansion and the 13 governors that used to live there.

Museum #2: Sutter's Fort State Historic Park
Most of my knowledge about forts comes from the classic computer game The Oregon Trail.

Visiting Sutter's Fort cleared up many of my misconceptions about forts, including that forts were really big and that they were an interesting place to visit.

Actually it was a pretty good time. They had people in period clothing doing exciting historic California activities including cooking chicken in cast iron pots, blacksmithing, woodworking, and using looms.

I mentioned my looming expertise to this woman in period dress, and she invited me to show her how a real expert uses a loom. Then she let Lauren try. However, she wouldn't let Jody anywhere near the loom for some reason.Other exciting things that we experienced at the fort included seeing Patty Reed's Doll, checking out old cannons, and skimming over displays about the fort's history. We also hit up the gift shop, where I bough a mug and Lauren bought a harmonica. Jody is lame and didn't buy anything. Here I am next to a marble plaque of Mr Sutter, who is best known for this fort and the discovery of gold at him mill, which led to the California gold rush.
Tired from walking around the fort like suckers, Lauren and Jody hitched a ride on an old-timey wagon. Settlers apparently used similar wagons to travel hundreds of miles across the country in search of opportunities and/or gold. At this point in our day we were thinking about how many miles we would have to travel to find a delicious lunch.

After we had wandered around inside the fort for a while, we took a stroll around the park-like exterior. This is when Lauren almost got us all in trouble when she tried to sneak into the poison room. We hightailed it out of there before the docents came and kicked us out.

Museum #3: Sierra Sacramento Valley Museum of Medical History
After getting a bit lost searching for the museum and enjoying an excellent meal at a fancy sandwich shop, we finally arrived at the Museum of Medical History. I remained pretty un-creeped out because there was minimal grossness. However, the history of medicine is scary. For example, bleeding people with leeches used to be a great cure-all. Plus, many of the "doctors" in the old west had not formal training. And they used to give people all kinds of random "medicines".

Look how happy and healthy we all look thanks to modern medicine! We don't have to worry about diseases like Cholera, Scurvy, Dysentery, and all those other diseases. And syphilis, which seems absolutely horrifying.

It was interesting to look at all of the old medicines and medical tools, and the iron lung was pretty neat. I think my favorite artifact was the Ozone creating machine, which was thought to help people with breathing aliments. Whoops. Mostly I gained an appreciation for how much medicine has improved in the last 100 years, and a greater appreciation for the polio vaccine.

Now seems like as good of a time as any to include a picture of Jody and a tree. It isn't a day trip if there isn't a picture of Jody partially obscured by some sort of flora. This one is from Sutter's Fort, featuring a ginormous palm tree.

So that was our exciting Saturday at Sacramento Museum Day. I really enjoyed going to all three museums, although I wish our trip to the Governor's Mansion wasn't so rushed. Jody and Lauren liked the Museum of Medical History the best. I have now been to eight Museums and State Historic Parks in Sacramento, including the State Capitol Museum and Park, Governor's Mansion, Old Sacramento, the Railroad Museum, the Wells Fargo Museum, the Museum of Medical History, and the Stanford Mansion. But there are a ton more left and I look forward to the next time Sacramento wants to let me inside their museums for free!

The End

# posted by Alison @ 1:20 PM