Local Relaxation: Where to Take the 'Rents

If you want to show Mom & Dad a good time when they come visit you have a lot of fun options.

Of course, there’s our world famous Farmers Market in Central Park.

If you’re an outdoorsy type, you can stroll through downtown, enjoy a guided history walk offered by the Hattie Weber Museum, or take one of the recommended historic bike tours. A walk along Putah Creek through the Arboretum is also a delightful way to burn off the lunch calories. If you want to take a UC Davis tour, there are many different options available, depending on your area(s) of interest. Any golfers in your group might want to check out Wildhorse or the Davis Municipal Golf Course.

Photo: Arneson and BookheadDavis has a lot of public art. Stroll through downtown, UC Davis (the late Professor Bob Arneson posed with one of his famous Eggheads on campus in a UCD photo), or even the public library for examples from some of our internationally famous artists. The Pence Gallery and John Natsoulas Gallery are downtown. UCD has three art museums, and the art students on campus always have something new and exciting.

You can take in a world-class performance or lecture at the Mondavi Center or an Aggie sport on campus, then burn off some energy at one of our many local city swimming pools or tennis courts. Rock climbing more your thing? The indoor rock-climbing gym Rocknasium is open year-round.

All of this activity will require fuel, and Davis is a gourmand’s dream with cuisine from all over the world. Both the Cal Aggie and Davis Enterprise (you can purchase back issues at the DE office at 315 G Street) newspapers have their annual “Best of” lists. They will help guide you toward your perfect breakfast, lunch, dinner, and snacks.

This is only a tiny fraction of what’s available in town. When in doubt, search the Davis Chamber of Commerce calendar or the Yolo County Visitors’ Bureau calendar.