Oh, Columbia, GEM OF THE SIERRA
Between the stagecoach rides, gold-panning troughs and sarsaparilla sodas, the lovingly restored town of Columbia has always exerted a powerful draw. You’ll find California’s largest collection of Gold Rush-era buildings in this state historic park, where visitors become immersed in the past. So roll up your sleeves. You’re going to get wet, sticky, sweaty — and be delighted.
And if you’ve been here before, you’re about to discover that even the past holds something new.
Columbia has long been a favorite of ours. We’ve panned for nuggets in those silty troughs — seriously, roll up your sleeves or you’ll be dripping all day — and walked those dusty boardwalks, slurped sarsaparilla in the Jack Douglass Saloon and noshed overpriced, not very good food. That was then. This is now — and while you’ll still find bespectacled shopkeepers in period togs, the museum displays are more engaging, the food is tastier, the beer is craft and the activities are distinctly more immersive.
Heck, even the sarsaparilla is better.
Sonora chef Christopher Segarini took over the City Hotel Restaurant and What Cheer Saloon (www.cityhotelrestaurant.com) last year, and gave it a fresh, seasonal, California vibe. The saloon’s impressive bar is the same magnificent antique as before, and the servers are dressed in formal period garb — you may cast a dismayed look at your own dusty jeans, but your welltrained server won’t bat an eye.
What’s changed is the food. The wedge salad is made with tender baby gem lettuces, the short ribs practically fall off the bone, and the produce is fresh and local. You can order burgers and sandwiches from the lunch menu at dinnertime, if you prefer something more casual.
Columbia Kate’s, the adorable 9year-old teahouse and cafe run by Clare Bazley, expanded in 2013, adding a Columbia Kate’s Bakery and Boutique (columbiakates.com) across the street — and giving visitors twice as many opportunities to down those signature apricot scones. The bakery scones, meat-filled runsas and piping hot pasties are indeed addictive. But we’re still talking about the cafe’s incredible chicken salad sandwiches, served on slices of thick, just-made bread and accompanied by a salad of impeccably fresh, beautifully dressed greens and Mason jars of lavender lemonade or iced tea.
If you’re a quilter, a crafter or an American Girl fan, don’t miss the Artificers’ Exchange, on Jackson Street, just off Main and 150 years back in time. Run by retired teacher Danette Oydegaard, the shop is a paean to the past, with patterns, fabrics and stencils to make period clothing, toys and home projects. If you’re a quilter dabbling in this summer’s Row by Row Experience — participating stores (www.rowbyrowexperience.com) around the world offer free block patterns inspired by a theme — Oydegaard’s “Home Sweet Home in Columbia, 1854” pattern celebrates Clementine and Marcellus Brainard, their home and their store.
Of course, there’s more to Columbia than eating, drinking and quilting. Fancy yourself a Gold Rush Sherlock Holmes? During Columbia’s “History’s Mysteries” — 10 a.m. Aug. 20 and Sept. 3, tickets are $5, www.visitcolumbiacalifornia.com — you’ll investigate an actual 1850s crime, subpoena some bad guys and figure out whodunit. (We’re hoping the hanging tree is a metaphor, or this is really going to cut into docent enthusiasm.)
You can also take a ghost tour (Aug. 13, Sept. 10 and Oct. 8) or join the festivities on Boo Boulevard for the illumination of the Halloween jack o’lanterns (Oct. 29).
Or do what we did: Catch a show at the Fallon Hotel Theater, where Sonora’s Sierra Repertory company stages musicals, such as Rodgers and Hammerstein’s “State Fair” — an absolutely terrific production, which runs through Aug. 7 — and the bawdy, bluegrass-laden “Robber Bridegroom” in September. (Find details and order tickets, $20-$32, at www.sierrarep.org.)
After the show, venture out into the cool evening air, as this Gold Rush town settles into slumber. The shops and restaurants are closed, the moon is full, and somewhere an owl is hooting. Then head upstairs to your 1850s hotel room, settle into your high, cozy bed — with a new, cushy mattress — and dream of the past. Maybe a ghost will come calling.