Toddling in Tuolumne: A Sweet Visit with Mr. Twain, Followed by Psychedelic Bowling

Buffet option at the Black Oak Casino (Photo: Bonnie Kamin Morrissey)

While in the historic town of Columbia, I chanced upon Mark Twain (who preferred to be addressed as Mr. Clemens, his birth name). Mr. Clemens entertained with amusing stories of his time in the foothills and answered questions so authentically that I forgot our Samuel was really actor MacAvoy Layne, visiting from the Mark Twain Cultural Center in Incline Village, Nevada, where he appears regularly. If you love Twain and his humor, Layne's performance is worth a trip to Tahoe. I left him as he wandered off to find his "carriage" in the parking lot.

Inside Kate's Tearoom

Nelson's yumbos! Chocolate porn!  (Photo: Bonnie Kamin Morrissey)

Columbia has a few unique places to visit: Columbia Kate’s Teahouse on the outskirts of town is the perfect spot for ladies who lunch; they also sell a plethora of tea blends. The nearby bakery offers killer scones and other baked goods. 

As a true sugar connoisseur, I feared Nelson’s Columbia Candy Kitchen was going to be another of those places that sold bulk wrapped candies in barrels, but was delighted to find they made most of their confections—for five generations, since the 1930s. In fact, they were named among the top ten sweet shops in America by USA Today. The chocolates, fudge, jellies and many other types of candies are all made in-house: a rare find these days. I remember with great fondness the milk chocolate/caramel/pecan turtle I devoured there. Between Thanksgiving and Christmas, the Candy Kitchen holds a “make your own candy cane” event that’s so popular participants are chosen by lottery—go to their website (below) for information.

While in Tuolumne County, I stayed at the Black Oak Casino Resort Hotel. The hotel is new, the rooms are clean and spacious, and it’s a non-smoking facility located a sufficient distance from the casino that makes it both quiet and convenient. The casino is…a casino. Smoky, busy, loud and full of action: this is the place to go if you’re craving excitement. The two restaurants within the casino have filtered air, the better to enjoy decent quality meals. There’s a special occasion restaurant on another floor for big spenders. In the lounge, a rocking cover band (the Spazmatics) played hits from the 80s, put on an energy-filled show, and whipped the crowd into a dancing frenzy. The bowling alley in the basement is a party in itself.

It had to happen: folks who live in the old mining towns of the Sierra foothills want to enjoy a lot of the same distractions that urban dwellers do, from local theater productions to boogeying down in front of ear-shattering speakers, but it’s nice to know that the foothills have retained a lot of their rural and historic charm—the real gold these days--that makes the area so nice to visit.

Mark Twain Cultural Center, 760 Mays Blvd., Ste. 10, Incline Village, NV 89451 (775) 831-2820. This is a small bookstore and theater. Call to make sure a performance is scheduled.

Columbia State Historic Park, 11255 Jackson Street, Columbia CA 95310 www.visitcolumbiacalifornia.com/

Columbia Kate's Teahouse, 22727 Columbia St., Columbia CA 95310 www.columbiakates.com/:

Nelson's Columbia Candy Kitchen, Main Street, P.O. Box 191, Columbia, California 95310 www.columbiacandykitchen.com/

Black Oak Casino Resort, owned and operated by the Tuolumne Band of Me-Wuk Indians www.blackoakcasino.com

All photos by Joanne Orion Miller unless otherwise noted.

Gold Country/Father Knows Best: Railtown 1897 State Historic Park

Photo: Bonnie Kamin Morrissey

Conductor Brian gives us the goods (Photo: Bonnie Kamin Morrissey)

My dad was a railroad man—he worked for the Southern Pacific for many years, and loved it. You can see that ardent love of the rails in all the volunteers who populate the Railtown 1897 State Historic Park in Jamestown, one of only two fully operational roundhouse complexes left in the country (the other is at East Broad Top Railroad in Broad Top City, PA—yes, it’s in my book, Moon Travel Handbooks: Pennsylvania). A roundhouse is the shop facility that maintains and repairs rail engines and cars; equipment that's being restored is on display. The roundhouse is open for tours year-round, but there’s far more here. Most of the repairmen and "rail personnel" are volunteers, many of them former rail employees like my dad.

Our engineer by his locomotive (Photo: Bonnie Kamin Morrissey)

Hollywood saved this historic site from being scraped during the Great Depression. Starting in 1919, more than 200 movies and television programs were filmed using the former Sierra Railway's steam engines, buildings, and other equipment. This historic landmark hosts regular round trips on a three-mile long-track Saturday through Monday from April through October: steam trains pull passenger cars on Saturdays, and vintage diesel locomotives operate on Sundays, plus Wednesdays in July and August (tickets $10-15, under 5 free). Each passenger car has a “conductor” that tells of rail days gone by. There are multiple events held throughout the year, and volunteers dressed as passengers during the hey-day of rail travel wander through the park and answer questions. One of the most popular and fun events is the Polar Express Train Ride in December; families can enjoy hot chocolate and cookies with costumed characters from the animated film, Polar Express. When passengers reach the North Pole, Santa comes aboard and gives each ticketholder a silver sleigh bell, “the first gift of Christmas.”

Photo: Bonnie Kamin Morrissey

 The singular smell of the roundhouse—grease, dirt, steel and smoke—though rooted in a long-distant past--brought back so many memories of my dad returning from work, bearing a whiff of engines and rails on his clothes. The people who dress up and give their time and energy to this bit of American history, engineers in their stripped caps and Victorian ladies with parasols alike, are equally dedicated to the gritty romance of trains. This is a special place.

Railtown 1897 State Historic Park, 
10501 Reservoir Road, Jamestown, CA 95327

www.railtown1897.org


Map to the location