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By Emma Krasov, photography by Yuri Krasov
The city of
Davis is first and foremost known for itsUniversity of California campus. Future winemakers, micro brewers, sustainablecrops growers and humane husbandry proponents are studying here, making theirfamily members proud. Also – giving them a reason to visit often. My firstvisit to
Yolo County made me realize that there were many wonderfulthings this flowering fertile land had to offer, and not just in terms ofagricultural bounty.
Farm-to-table restaurants, intriguing wineries, excellentart galleries and festivals, crafty gift shops, a year-round farmers market,and even a state-of-the-art bicycle museum make a weekend trip to Daviswell-worth a ride from the San Francisco Bay Area.
Here is my modest account of what can be accomplished in oneweekend in multifaceted
YOLO, which some fans prefer to see as anabbreviation of “You Only Live Once.” And if you live in California, there isno excuse to miss out on this experience – rich, inspiring, and one of a kind.
Staying at
Hallmark Inn in Davis means that you arein the very center of the city, a walking distance from everything. On the nightmy husband and I checked in and checked out the swimming pool and the hotellounge featuring mildly hoppy, crisp and clean
Aggie Lager produced by the UC Davis students, we went fordinner to the
Seasons Restaurant on the premises.
Crisp refreshing
Albarinofrom the local winemaker
Route 3 Wines was nicely paired with baby spinachand strawberry salad made with walnuts, dates, goat cheese, and dressed withhoney and balsamic vinaigrette. I also liked my thick smoked bone-in pork chopwith velvety Route 3
Grenache.
Since it was the second Friday of the month, right afterdinner we followed the route of
Second Friday ArtAbout, an evening of art viewing and artistreceptions at galleries and businesses coordinated by the Davis Downtown Business Association. 
A four-story building of
John Natsoulas Gallery ischockfull of amazing contemporary art pieces – ceramics, photography, paintingsand drawings – many created by the UC Davis students. On every corner of thesafe walkable downtown there is a sculpture by a young local artist, andregularly happening art events bring out more and more talent. 
On Saturdaymorning, we visited the overflowing with fresh produce Davis Farmers Market. It’s an amazing institution that putstogether an array of entertainment events, like annual Fall Festival, Pig Out (incelebration of the National Pig Day), various Cookbook Days, and seasonalweekly Picnic in the Park with live music concerts. 
Next to themarket, there is U.S. Bicycling Hall of Fame,occupying 8,000 sq. ft and containing the most exciting bicycle models fromthe first three-wheelers to the latest world record breakers.Our further explorationof Yolo County outside the city of Davis started with a short visit to Woodland known for its many well-preservedexamples of the Victorian architecture. 
It’s also home to Heidrick Ag History Center and Hays Antique Truck Museum with the mostcomprehensive collection of agricultural machinery used in the area since thetime of its farming pioneers. After a lightlunch of classic pulled pork sliders with house made barbeque sauce andcoleslaw at Mojo’s Kitchen 428, we leftWoodland for Esparto. 
Here, we took partin the Second Saturday Farm Tour atthe Capay Organic Farm known to the SanFrancisco dwellers through its home delivery service, Farm Fresh to You. 
The monthly eventincluded tractor tram tour of the peach and pistachio groves, live music, amarket stand, a petting zoo, and gathering sweet pea blossom bouquets in thecolorful field. 
In Brooks we visited the brand new
SekaHills olive crush facility and
tastedorganic oil from Arbequina olives produced by the agricultural holdings of the Yocha Dehe Wintun Nation based in theCapay Valley. The oil won a gold award at the 2012 Olive Oil Competition fromthe California Olive Council. The tribe also produces wine from its own grapes,and operates the Cache Creek Casino Resort. 
From the tribalart-decorated Yocha Dehe Golf Clubat the resort we observed the green-and-gold patchwork of the surrounding valleysframed by the blue mountain ridges.Then wedrove to the small picturesque
Winters, where at the city park localartists and vintners were presenting the fruit of their labor to the public aspart of the
Roots to Wine Art in the Park festival. The festival was wellattended by the weekender crowd that spilled onto the main drag, next to thepark, studded with wineries, restaurants, and boutique shops.
At the artfully decorated tasting room of
TurkovichFamily Wines we sampled the nuanced
GSM(Grenache, Syrah, Mourvedre) and barrel select
Tempranillo paired with the
Winters Cheese Companycheeses.
For dinner, we stopped at
Putah Creek Café, attractedby the sight of a pizza chef pulling hot pies out of a sidewalk clay oven.
We realized that we came to the right place as soon as wetried
Horseshoe Chardonnayfrom the local
Berryessa Gap Winery paired with a house specialwarm goat cheese salad made with lightly breaded and fried Sierra Nevada cheeseand lots of fresh arugula, spinach and berries.
Across the street, at
RootStock Specialty Gifts and Tasting Room we indulged in wine-and-truffle pairings as well as in some giftshopping before heading back to our hotel for the night.
Our Sunday started with a farm-fresh breakfast at
MonticelloSeasonal Cuisine in Davis, a supporter of the Slow Food Movement. Allproduce comes to the restaurant’s kitchen from Yolo County vendors, so spinach,asparagus or broccoli grace your omelet depending on the morning supplies.
On our way back to San Francisco we headed toward the SacramentoRiver Delta into historic
Clarksburg to visit the
Old Sugar Mill,a local landmark built in 1934, and currently home to six tasting rooms servingeight wineries. Another weekend festival, called
Wine, Berries, and Chocolate was happening there. We had to stay and taste some more of
Clarksburg WineCompany excellent
Chardonnayand
Chenin Blanc.
Driving home I caught myself regretting that we didn’t havea family member who would be studying at UC Davis and whom we’d have to visitalmost every weekend. On the second thought, nothing precludes us fromtraveling to Yolo County as often as we wish. YOU ONLY LIVE ONCE!Additional information at: www.yolocvb.org.
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