North Bay / Delta

Tour Small-Town America in Two Cities on the Strait

Camels in the North Bay? The Bocce capital of the United States? Nostalgia aside, a day trip to Benicia or Martinez via the Vallejo Ferry and bus or rail links will offer a whole new world of unique experiences not found anywhere else.

Believe it or not, the U.S. Army imported camels from the Middle East to use as pack animals in the 1850s and 1860s. When the Civil War started, the experiment was abandoned and the camels were shipped to the Benicia Arsenal, where they were stabled until auctioned off to the public. Building #9 at the Benicia Arsenal, the home of the Benicia Historical Museum at the Camel Barns, is located on the second floor of one of the two storehouses where the camels were stabled. The museum is open from 1 p.m. to 4 p.m. Tuesday through Sunday. It is located at 2024 Camel Road, Benicia. Visit the Web site at www.flashnet/~cbarn for directions.

Benicia is host to a thriving artists colony, with artists’ studios, glass blowers’ galleries and arts and crafts shops throughout the town. Benicia Glass Studios, a collective of three glass galleries, is the place to go for demonstrations of glass blowing, with items in the showrooms taking shape at the end of the artisans blowpipe. Molten glass is drawn out of the 2000-degree furnace on to the blowpipe, where the master glass blower manipulates the hot molten glass into an innovative shape.

Then tour the galleries for hand blown vases, bowls, wine glasses and a host of other distinctive glass items. The studios are open from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Monday through Saturday, and seasonally on Sunday from 12 p.m. to 5 p.m. Individually, the studios are Nourot Glass Studio, Smyers Glass and Zellique Art Glass, located at 675 and 701 East H St. Each has a Web site: www.nourot.com; www.smyers.com; www.zellique.com. Lindsay Art Glass at 109 East F St. also welcomes visitors from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m., Wednesday through Saturday. The Web site is www.lindsayartglass.com.

Did you know that Benicia is the site of the third California state capitol? In fact, you can tour the building when you walk in downtown Benicia. The Benicia Capitol State Historic Park at 115 West G St. is open to the public from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. every day of the year except Thanksgiving, Christmas and New Year’s Day.

The Capitol Building was built in 1852 to be the Benicia City Hall. The California Legislature met at this building until February 25, 1854. A number of important bills were passed there, including the first labor legislation passed in California, establishing a 10-hour workday, the first Woman Suffrage Act, permitting women to own property under their own names, and a bill establishing the first state prison at San Quentin. Call (707) 745-3385 for directions.

There is even a place to check out hand-screened Victorian wallpaper at Bradbury & Bradbury, where some 140 patterns of old-time and neo-classical wallpapers and arts and crafts are on display. The shop is at 940 Tyler St. #12, and is open weekdays from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m.

Now move across the Carquinez Strait to Martinez, the county seat of Contra Costa County. There you’ll find a charming Main Street, an historic courthouse, now the county finance building, shops full of collectables and antiques and friendly folks who are proud of the quality of life in their small town.

Martinez is also the site of the John Muir National Historic Site, honoring the nation’s first environmentalist and naturalist who is called the father of the National Park Service.

The 17-room Victorian home, built in 1883, is filled with furniture and artifacts of that period restored to what it would have been when the Muir family lived there. The house and approximately nine acres of orchard became a national historic site in 1964. The Martinez adobe, the oldest building in Martinez, where Muir’s daughter, Wanda, and her husband lived, is part of the site. In 1988, the National Park Service purchased an additional 325 acres, originally part of the Muir-Strentzel ranch. This property includes Mt. Wanda, named after Muir’s daughter, who often accompanied him on walks in the valley. The John Muir National Historic Site is open Wednesday through Sunday from 10 a.m. to 4:30 p.m., and is closed Thanksgiving, Christmas and New Year’s Day. Phone: (925) 228-8860.

Preserving the city’s history in the form of an 1890s cottage about to be torn down for a parking lot was the mission that resulted in the creation of the Martinez Historical Society in 1973. The eight rooms and nooks and crannies in the historic two-story Borland House are filled with photographs, artifacts and documents generously donated by descendents of the pioneer families who settled in Martinez. The Martinez Museum is at 1005 Escobar St., and is open from 11:30 a.m. to 3 p.m. Tuesdays and Thursdays, and from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. on the first four Sundays of the month. Group tours may be arranged by calling (925) 228-4495. Visitors to the city and the museum may enjoy a walking tour of downtown Martinez that includes historic buildings and locations. A brochure is available at the museum.

Shaken or stirred, with gin or vodka, the martini has become a world famous cocktail and Martinez is where the first one was poured long ago. Back in 1874, a thirsty miner arrived in Martinez and wanted to celebrate having found gold. At the first saloon he hit, the miner offered a handful of nuggets to bartender Julio Richilieu and ordered champagne. Richilieu advised the miner that champagne was not available, but he could have something better, a "Martinez Special." Richilieu served the miner a mixture of two-thirds gin, one-third vermouth and a dash of orange bitters poured over crushed ice to which he added an olive. The "z" was reportedly dropped from the name of the Martinez-born drink, as it would be much too difficult to pronounce after several of Richilieu’s now famous concoctions had been consumed. A plaque commemorating the first martini can be found at the corner of Masonic and Alhambra Avenues.

Martinez Regional Shoreline Park along the strait is worth walking through. Large open meadows, picnicking areas and a natural marsh environment that includes hiking trails are part of the park district’s areas. Bird watching, bicycling, fishing and hiking are among the delights enjoyed here. The park is located north of downtown Martinez at the foot of Ferry Street. Although this is the largest, Martinez could be called park city because of the number of parks scattered throughout the town.