Contents
•
Bicycle Tours
• Business Traveler
• Downtown Lodi
• Downtown Lodi Dining
• Downtown Lodi Shopping
• Family Activities
• Farmers Market
• Galt Market
• Golf
• Hill House
• Hutchins Street Square
• Lodi Arch
• Lodi-area Events
• Lodi Facts
• Lodi Street Faire
• Museums
• Rae House
• Sacramento Street
• Sandhill Crane Festival
• Wineries
• Wines
• Younger Generation
Plenty for a family to do
Lodi is a known as a good place to raise a family.
It can also be a good place for a family to visit.
If you happen to be visiting with children, Lodi and the surrounding area offer a number of attractions that will not put too much pressure on the pocketbook.
There is also a variety of locally owned eateries where families will feel comfortable and the tab will not mean indefinitely postponing orthodontia for the young ones.
Places to eat
Breakfast: For hearty breakfasts in a homey atmosphere, try Felten’s Topaz restaurant (369-3276, 215 N. Cherokee Lane) or the Hollywood Cafe (369-4065, 315 S. Cherokee Lane) both on one of Lodi’s busiest commercial strips.
These are long-standing local cafes with loyal local clienteles. (Some people, we’ve heard, eat breakfast, lunch and dinner most days at Felten’s.)
Both of these spots boast good portions and they are close to Lodi’s main motels, also located on Cherokee Lane.
Another favorite local destination for the breakfast crowd is the Country Kitchen (368-6350 1327 West Lockeford St.), also with a faithful group of regulars.
If you drop by the Country Kitchen for lunch, try the California Burger, an enormous slab of tasty meat on two sesame seed buns.
If you happen to be traveling solo, Felten’s, the Hollywood Cafe and the Country Kitchen all boast lunch counters, that increasingly rare concession to individual diners.
Lunch: Should you be looking for a Lodiesque place for lunch, you might try the Butcher Shoppe (412 W. Lodi Ave., 334-4121) with a wonderful variety of sandwiches and deli items.
It’s locally owned and operated and is a bustling scene around the noon hour.
Along with excellent sandwiches, the Soup Ladle (312 S. Fairmont Ave., 368-9587) serves up great soups and wonderful baked goods for lunch.
You’ll want to take a piece of pie or a whole one home with you.
The Soup Ladle is also popular with locals and a short wait for a table at the noon hour is not unusual.
If you’d like to just grab a few sandwiches and head out on a family excursion, you might consider dropping by Salisbury’s Market (2401 W. Turner Road, 333-1177), where Bruce Salisbury offers up some of the biggest and tastiest sandwiches for the money anywhere.
The deli section of the store also has good salads and other deli items.
Dinner: Though Lodi has a strong German cultural tradition, pizza is enormously popular.
Lodi, according to local restaurant authorities, has one of the highest population-to-pizza-parlor ratios in California.
So for dinner, the family might want to consider a pizza stop such as Rick’s (in the Lakewood Mall, Ham Lane and Lockeford Street, 339-9411), with arguably the best toppings in town and a yummy crust, or Pizza Works (100 W. Turner Road, 368-8808), a popular gathering point with excellent pizza and a good salad bar.
If your group prefers Mexican food, the Cactus (18961 Lower Sacramento Road, 367-1632) in Woodbridge is big, well-lighted and festive, with a wide selection of entrees.
Porfi’s (910 S. Cherokee Lane, 369-2416) is also a popular spot with a pleasant atmosphere and very ample portions.
For Italian, Pietro’s (317 E. Kettleman Lane, 368-0613) is a tradition in Lodi, serving up steaming platters of spaghetti and ravioli along with crisp salads and various appetizers.
Things to do
A day at the lake: If you are here in spring or summer, think about a visit to Lodi Lake, the city’s showcase park. It’s a great place for picnicking.
There’s fishing, swimming in the summer months, and a pretty nature area with a trail loop that’s a wonderful spot for hikes.
Paddleboats are also available in the summer.
The city’s Parks and Recreation Department schedules boat trips departing from Lodi Lake up the Mokelumne River on weekend mornings.
They are very serene and scenic (unless the jet skis are out in force) and reveal a hidden view of the river that you cannot see from the park or from a street or highway. Phone: 333-6742.
A kiddie paradise: In Stockton, Pixie Woods is a wooded, unspoiled park with rides and attractions for younger children, including a miniature train.
Pixie Woods, which is owned and operated by the city of Stockton, is scenic, clean and devoid of the commercialism often found at such attractions. Phone: 937-7366 or 937-8220.
A visit to the zoo: Another park, just a short drive away, is Micke Grove, south of Lodi.
There is a small but pleasant and clean zoo, lots of picnic tables, a Japanese garden, and a museum featuring artifacts reflecting the area’s agricultural roots.
Also in Micke Grove is Funderwoods, a mini-amusement park with children’s rides. Phone: 953-8800.
A museum just for kids: The Stockton Children’s Museum, located on the Stockton waterfront, has plenty for kids to experience and explore.
Included are a miniature hospital, a fire truck and a police car. Phone: 465-4386.
A taste of the gold rush: In the foothills southeast of Lodi is Columbia, a state park preserved largely as it existed in the Gold Rush.
Columbia is a prime family destination, with gold mine tours, stage coach rides, a great candy store and a museum.
Columbia is in Tuolumne County and is a good 90-minute drive from Lodi.
But if you drive through Highway 12 and Highway 49 through Angels Camp, you will enjoy some grand scenery. 532-4301.
A birdwatcher’s paradise: Lodi is home to an annual Sandhill Crane Festival, and the Sandhill cranes are numerous in the farmland west of Lodi in the late fall and winter.
There are other birds in abundance in the Lodi area year-round.
A good place to view the Sandhill cranes and other migratory birds is the Phil and Marilyn Isenberg Sandhill Crane Preserve on Woodbridge Road west of Interstate 5 about two and a half miles.
Best times to see the cranes is at dusk or dawn, October through January.
Along with a stop at the preserve, try just driving out Woodbridge Road and looking into the fields for the cranes and other birds.
Tours are also given a few times a month by state fish and game experts. Don’t forget the binoculars.
For further information, call 916-358-2353.