Train of Lights - Niles Canyon Railway

Here's a post that's intended more for families with kids, rather than just couples.  The Niles Canyon Railway is one of the great hidden gems of the Bay Area.  It describes itself as "a railroad museum where the exhibits come to life," which is entirely accurate.  The Railway operates vintage railroad equipment along the Niles Canyon between Fremont and Sunol.

Each November and December, the Railway operates the Train of Lights.  The old trains are strung with holiday lights on the inside and out.  The trains are full of kids and parents; it is a really great, mellow way to spend a late afternoon with the family over the holidays.  

Two trains operate each night -- one leaves from Niles in Fremont at 4:15pm.  The other leaves from Sunol at 7:15pm (heading in the other direction).  The ride usually lasts around 90 minutes.  This seems to be just about the right amount of time for this sort of thing; by the end of the ride, most kids are ready to get going.  Tickets are $25 (early in the season you can get reserved seating, or even rent out an entire train car/caboose for a private party).

We recommend the 4:15 train out of the Niles station.  You get to enjoy the ride in the daylight, looking at the scenery along the steep Niles Canyon.  You can see the river, the steep hillsides, the old train equipment on parallel tracks, and the equipment yard (which is also the turn-around point for the train).  By the time you get back to the station, it is dark; you can see the amazing lights on the outside of the train.      

Here's a view of our train car:    

Facing the other direction:

Here's a shot of the canyon:

Argonaut Hotel, Fisherman's Wharf, San Francisco: The Pictures

Pictures from our stay at the Argonaut Hotel, between Ghiradelli Square and Pier 39 on San Francisco's Fisherman's Wharf:

The distinctive Argonaut star pillow in the room:

A seashell display on the 4th floor, by the elevators:

Down in the lobby -- a tic-tac-toe board game, which our 3 1/2-year-old son loved:

Festive lobby pics:

Toasty fire and interesting clock in the comfy lobby:

Another pic of the distinctive star on the bed:

Nevada City

Has anyone seen the Hallmark Channel's The Christmas Card?  It is such a sweet movie for those romantics out there! Yes, some would say it is a "chic movie."  The movie is airing on December 8th, at 10:00PM and December 9th at 4:00PM.  The best thing to do is DVR the movie and then watch it at your leisure!  The Christmas Card was filmed in Nevada City, a gorgeous gold rush town with fun festivals, gorgeous bed and breakfasts, and yummy restaurants.

Nevada City holds a Victorian Christmas festival each year (www.nevadacountygold.com/events/winter/victorian.html.)  The dates for the festival are Wednesdays on Dec. 7,14,21, from 5 to 9PM.  On December 11 and 18th the festival is from 1:30-6PM.  The festival has holiday activities, carriage rides, savory yuletide sweets, and even Father Christmas!

There is also a bed and breakfast holiday tour on December 15th from 4:30PM to 7:00PM.  In grass valley the B & B's on the tour are the following:

Elam Biggs  B & B

220 Colfax Avenue

Grass Valley, CA  95945-6844

(530) 477-0906

The Swan Levine House

328 South Church Street

Grass Valley, CA  95945-6709

530-272-1873

and in Nevada City, the B& B on tour is the following:

Deer Creek Inn

116 Nevada Street

Nevada City, CA  95959

530-264-7038

Where stay in Nevada City?  

Deer Creek Inn

116 Nevada Street

Nevada City,CA  

95959

Piety Hill Cottages Motel and B& B

523 Sacramento Street

Nevada City,CA

There are many wonderful places to stay in Nevada City, as well as the surrounding gold country towns such as Sutter Creek and Grass Valley.

Maritime Museum

The Maritime Museum on Fisherman's Wharf is literally in the same building as the Argonaut Hotel.  It is a great museum; not too big and so you can see everything pretty quickly.  Awesome piece of history.

Every Saturday and Sunday at 10:30AM, the museum offers a historic waterfront walking tour, led by a national park ranger (wide-brimmed hat and all)!  The tour is free.  The ranger meets to start the tour in the lobby of the Argonaut.

Argonaut Hotel, Fisherman's Wharf, San Francisco (Part II)

On our first night here at the Argonaut Hotel, we were on the second floor.  The room was small and no view.  It had a nautical theme, with a porthole-like mirror dominating the center of the room.  The bathroom had wooden nautical-themed wood as detailing on the area near the sink; very tastefully done.

Unfortunately, none of us slept well; something in the room triggered an allergic reaction in my husband and son.  The second day, when my son was trying to nap, we heard banging above us.  My son thought it was "Santa on the roof."  Santa or not, it scared him a little!  I called the front desk and told them about the noise.  The hotel was renovating above us on the 4th floor, and said they could move us, we just needed to come down and get a key.  We went to the front desk, my son charmed them and they gave them a sailor hat, rubber ducky, and a ball.  Plus, the costumed attendant really put on a theatrical show for William, it was fun.  We got the new key to a room on the 4th floor, and got help moving our stuff to our new room.  It was a hassle, but they were really kind and helpful!  My recommendation would be to ask for a non-pet friendly room if you have allergies, and also to be away from renovation noise (sounds like it will probably be done by January 2012, but you may want to ask about it; we're looking forward to seeing the updated new rooms).

For breakfast in the morning, we walked up the street to Starbucks, just around the corner on Bay Street.  My son got a hot chocolate with whipped cream and a protein bistro box.  I got a gingerbread soy decaff latte with one pump of syrup ( I love the gingerbread lattes at Starbucks, but they are too sweet with their normal flavor).  Unfortunately, I couldn't find a local (non-Starbucks) coffee shop walking distance to the hotel, as I usually like to give places like that my business.  The Buena Vista, birthplace of the Irish coffee, is just around the corner (but we're not up for Irish coffee with our 3-year-old early in the morning).

The biggest asset to this hotel is clearly the location.  It is right along Fisherman's Wharf, just beside the cable car and only a very short walk from Ghiradelli Square (also just a few blocks away from Pier 39)  It is a wonderful jumping off point to explore San Francisco.

Chanty Singing at Hyde Street Pier

Tonight (October 3), at 8pm -- and every first Saturday of the month -- the Living Museum at Hyde Street Pier (part of the National Park Service) hosts chanty singing.  We've done this before; it is a lot of fun.  It provides a real taste of maritime history, and is fantastic in the atmosphere of Fisherman's Wharf in San Francisco.

Wear warm clothes -- it is cold on the ship.  Also, bring your own mug (or a to-go cup) if you can -- for hot cider!

Call 415-561-7171 to reserve a spot.  See www.nps.gov/safr/historyculture/chantey-sing.htm for more details.

Argonaut Hotel, Fisherman's Wharf, San Francisco

We stayed at the Argonaut Hotel at Fisherman's wharf in San Francisco for two nights.  It is morning, we haven't checked out yet, and I'm writing this in the lobby.

The lobby is decorated beautifully with a nautical theme; sails lit by slowly changing-colored lights are on both sides of the room.  The colors and theme triggered memories for me of the book, Where the Wild Things Are, by Maurice Sendak.  A well-proportioned fireplace with a decorated mantel is at the center of the room.  A Christmas tree stands nearby.  It is hard not to feel festive!

I've been wanting to stay here for awhile.  Timing is the key to staying here at a reasonable price.  At this time of year, one night in a king room with no view was $224.00 during the week; the same room on Friday night was $139.00!

I looked on Expedia, hotels.com, etc.  But, I finally got the best rates by just calling the hotel directly and asking for the best rate.  The attendant was really nice and gave me the San Francisco Maritime National Historic Park museum rate.  The museum is next door, and you can see it through windows walking down the hall from the entrance of the hotel to the lobby.  is run by the U.S. park service, and is open daily from 9:30AM to 5:00PM.

We brought my 3 1/2 son with us and we found this to be a very family friendly hotel.  They are also pet friendly!

My son loved the bell desk uniforms; they are dressed in a nautical/sailor theme.  When we arrived, the bell captain dramatically and theatrically greeted our son, and our son was captivated.

Across the street from the hotel is a tourist store.  They have pirate statues out front (climbing the building), and so our son thinks of it as the "pirate" store.   He got a toy boat there, which he loved and played with in the room.  The hotel has free hot chocolate for children each day at 4:00PM and wine-tasting for adults at 6:00PM.  The lounge is really comfortable for hanging out and relaxing (and blogging)!