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Apple Hill

Just an hour from Sacramento, Apple Hill is a Fall tradition for many Sacramento families!

The Apple Hill ranches are located north of Highway 50 between Placerville and Pollock Pines, about 1 hour east of Sacramento and 1 hour west of South Lake Tahoe. Recommended exits are Exit 48 or Exit 54, although you may take any exit marked as “Apple Hill Scenic Drive” located between Exits 48 and 54.

There is a map of the orchards on the Apple Hill website that you can print out and use as a guide.  They are open all year round, but the best time to go is in the Fall.  October tends to be more crowded, but the changing colors of the leaves makes it so beautiful, the weather is good and the picking is best early in the month.  Go early to beat traffic and long lines.  In October a free shuttle is available on the weekends from 10 - 5 to take you from orchard to orchard.

Favorite orchards to visit with kids:
Abel’s Apple Acres - (best place for kids) pony rides, hay maze, wooden cut outs for pictures, Abel’s apples, apple butter, candied apples, fudge apple fritters and turnovers
Apple Pantry - watch cows graze
Argyres Farms - pick apples
Boa Vista Orchards - great market, Arkansas Black apples
El Dorado - good place to buy apples - crates and crates of about 15 different kinds of apples, miniature train rides around a big pond
Honey Bear - hay maze, bbq and goodies
High Hill - trout fishing pond, hay rides, pony rides, picnic area under trees, huge cider press and amazing pies
Kids Inc - (despite the name, not known to be that fun for kids) little farm animals, great “Mile High Apple Pie”, buy bottle of “Cider Sauce”!
Larsen - cool farm “museum”
Mill View - pig roasting on a big bbq, pony cart pulled by 2 ponies, apple fritters and apple cider doughnuts
Plubell’s Family Orchard - pumpkin patch, petting zoo, tire swing, great pies & goodies
Rainbow Orchards - good apple cider doughnuts and corndogs

Recommended things to buy:
Barsottis Apple Juice, Cider Sauce, apple peeler, apple cider doughnuts, Arkansas Black apples (tart), apple turnovers, and apple butter.

Click here for the Apple Hill website.

Jelly Belly Factory

This fun factory is just 45 minutes away from Sacramento in Fairfield.

Did you know that it takes more than a week to make a single jelly bean? Visit the Jelly Belly factory to see just how those sweet little treats are made. Take in all of the sights and smells of this colorful candy factory.  During the 40-minute tour, see how Jelly Belly confects 150 flavors of jelly beans using massive sifting machines and conveyors. Learn about the nuances of jelly bean manufacturing, such as, don’t mix jalapeno beans with sweet and fruity ones lest the rest of the bag takes on the spicy flavor!

The factory doesn’t run on weekends, although tours are still held via video as you walk through the factory.
No reservations are required and the tours are all FREE! This is a great day-trip idea for a rainy winter day.

Grab a bag of “Belly flops”, the oops Jelly Bellies that are packaged in two-pound bags at a great deal of $7 or so.
Stop by the Thompson Candy Company, near the entrance to the Jelly Belly factory, and have a quick tour of chocolate-making and some yummy samples. They offer great deals on bags of chocolate as well.

Click here for the Jelly Belly website.

San Francisco

Just an hour and a half from Sacramento, “the city” is a fun getaway!

Here are favorite places to go with kids:
The Exploratorium - The Exploratorium is an experimental, hands-on museum designed to spark curiosity—regardless of your age or familiarity with science. Touch, pick up, and tinker with hundreds of exhibits. Your curiosity will guide you to endless discoveries!

Pier 39 - restaurants, shops, Aquarium of the Bay, Turbo Ride, carousel, street performers, and sea lions.
Click here for more information and to print out a “Fun Pack” with coupons.
High-speed catamaran ferry service is offered from San Francisco’s Fisherman’s Wharf at Pier 39. For schedule information, call the Blue & Gold Fleet at
415-773-1188 or Baylink at 707-64-FERRY.

San Francisco Zoo - The Zoo is home to a stunning and important botanical collection as well as more than 250 species of animals, many of which are highly endangered.
The Fisher Family Children’s Zoo offers an array of experiences and up-close and personal animal encounters.  It includes the Meerkat and Prairie Dog Exhibit, Family Farm, Insect Zoo, Koret Animal Resource Center (ARC), Native American Animal Exhibits, and a Nature Trail.

Click here for a list of San Francisco attractions.

Six Flags Discovery Kingdom

If you want to go to a “real” amusement park, this is the biggest one around and it’s just an hour away.

The park is a one of a kind amusement park, wildlife park and oceanarium offering extreme thrills, popular appeal with Loony Toons cartoon shows and educational displays and exhibits as well
as many children’s rides.

Click here for the Six Flags website.

Stockton Children’s Museum

Located 45 minutes south of Sacramento, this museum is worth the trip!  Especially until Sacramento has its own children’s museum in 2010.

The museum features hands-on, play-based exhibits that will enhance a child’s understanding of how the world works.  On the exhibit floor over a dozen different child-sized environments recreate the ambience of a small city
where merchants, bankers and doctors might mingle among the grocery shoppers.  At each exhibit in the museum’s tiny town, there are tools and/or machines that can be manipulated by the children, who weigh postcards at the
post office, count money at the bank and perform tasks of that particular occupation.

Click here for their website.