After Napa, we headed to the town of Benicia to stay with Lee and Margaret for our first visit there. This Bay Area city's rich history – as a former state capitol, a busy seaport, the first Army ordnance supply depot on the Pacific Coast and an inspiration for some of Jack London's literary works – is a treasure trove for history buffs and families wanting to learn more about national and California history. Oh and play Pickle Ball!

Our first stop was at the old high school gym for the extremely fun game of Pickle Ball.

What fun! It's a combination of tennis and Ping Pong and we loved it. Great camaraderie and exercise all in one.

Our next stop was a picnic at the harbor. Benicia's proximity to the water sparked development of ship building and fishing industries that were an integral part of the city's early, colorful history. Its location along the Carquinez Strait attracted the shipyard of Matthew Turner, the well-known shipbuilder who moved from San Francisco to Benicia in 1882. He launched more sailing vessels than any other man in America – 228 of them in 33 years – and 154 of them were built in Benicia. This town is also full of art and this whimsical bench, by Robert Arneson, is just one of many open-air pieces we admired.
Another one of Benicia’s colorful mariners was renowned author Jack London. As a teenager, London worked out of the city as an oyster pirate, and later as an officer on the Fish Patrol, whose role was to catch people engaging in illegal activities on the water – such as pirating oysters! London, according to local historians, was known to tie up his boat, Razzle Dazzle, at the end of Benicia’s First Street. London would write about these and other Benicia adventures in his short story collection Tales of the Fish Patrol and the nonfiction work John Barleycorn. More about Mr. London tomorrow.
This is a town of incredible artisans. We stopped by Lindsay Art Glass because we heard there was blowing happening today- Wow!
Since 1998, artist David Lindsay has been here, where he uses this ancient art form to create work inspired by the sea and nature with movement and flow in their many shapes and designs.

One of California's "Wandering Capitals": Benicia served as the state capital for nearly 13 months from 1853 to 1854 (Monterey, San Jose and Vallejo also took turns until the seat of California government finally settled in Sacramento).
Everywhere we turned there was a historic home. In the yard of this one, we found this 160+ year old Wisteria. So very interesting... all of it.
Dinner in the heart of town was followed by a driving tour of the city and more history lessons. The Clock Tower Fortress, built in 1859, this sandstone military bastion was strategically built atop Army Point to control the key passageway of Carquinez Strait to the gold mines of the interior and was designed to protect the post from Indian attacks, although the "Old Fort" never fired a shot in anger, even during the alarms of Civil War days.

Oh what fun we are having discovering new places with great friends as guides!