Sacramento, CA

For me, the Christmas season is the perfect excuse to become a child again. It’s even EASY because there are always all kinds of activities to help you relive those lost days when everything was viewed with innocent wonder. In fact, it’s as easy as a trip to Old Sacramento today.

The fun will begin at Stage Nine Entertainment Store, Inc from 12:00PM to 4:00PM. Stage Nine will be celebrating the 55th Anniversary of Disney’s Peter Pan with a couple of special guests of honor. Kathryn Beaumont–the voice of both Wendy and Alice–and Margaret Kerry–the original model for Tinkerbell–will both be present ot help celebrate. Tim Rogerson will also be unveiling his newest Sacramento-themed Disney piece, Flying Over Sacramento. In the painting, the characters are depicted flying over Sacramento’s Tower Bridge instead of London’s classic bridge. Canvas editions of the painting will be available for $395.00 and lithographs will also be sold for $119.00. They may sound expensive, but I can guarantee that their value–both monetary and sentimental–will explode as everything else Disney is wont to do. In addition, they will be collecting gifts for needy children so that you can help to make it just as special for someoen else as it is for you.

If you’re not comfortable with the blatantly childish, there is also something a bit more subtle to attract your attention in Old Sacramento today–the Capital City Yacht Club’s Annual Holiday Lighted Boat Parade. All decorated boats are welcome to join in the parade regardless of whether you are a member of the Yacht Club. If you’re like me and you’d rather just watch, then you can do so from one of two points. The boats will meet up at Miller Park at 6:00PM and will then travel down the river to Old Sacramento at around 7:00PM. The best viewing areas are of course on the waterfront and on board the Delta King so you will want to find a spot early on. Anyway, I’m sure it will be just as good as Disney’s Fantasmic so you can be a kid again without admitting to it!

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I don’t know about the rest of you, but one of my all time favorite parts of Christmas is getting to share all of the classic stories with the next generation. The Polar Express has always been one of my favorites–the BOOK mind you and NOT the movie. Anyway, I’m pretty excited because the California State Railroad Museum in Old Sacramento is hosting the very first West Coast appearance of the Polar Express Train Ride. On this special train ride, the classic tale will be told and brought to life anew as you travel to the North Pole to see Santa Claus. Santa will even be giving special gifts to all of the children on board the train. To completely surround you in the wonders of a child’s innocence, they will even be serving hot chocolate!

If you can’t get tickets–because they are rather hard to find right now–don’t fret too much. After all, they have recently announced that they will be continuing this new tradition next year as well. Tickets for 2008 will go on sale on October 1st, 2008 and are expected to sell just as quickly as these ones have. In any case, it is one of those things that you just shouldn’t miss out on during the holiday season…like driving around to look at Christmas lights or ice skating under a star filled sky so that even “though I’ve grown old, the bell still rings for me as it does for all who truly believe.”

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