Ashley is a long-time blog friend. I followed her before she and Aron added two kids to their family and before their move straight across the country. Her blog is an incredible resource for travel, both with and without kids (I took some of her advice for this NYC trip!). But you’ll find a lot more than just travel there. Ashley’s here today to introduce us to Davis, California. Thanks Ashley!
I’m Ashley and I write Hither & Thither, a travel and lifestyle blog, from our home in Davis. My husband and I moved here—to his childhood hometown and the place where we first met and fell in love during college—two years ago with our then one-year-old son Hudson. We had spent the previous five years in New York City and were so worried about moving to a (relatively) small town, worried that we’d miss the pace of the city. But we love Davis. We’ve since had a daughter (Skyler is four months old!) and it’s an ideal place for young families. I chronicle much of our life—and write generally on topics ranging from food and family and fashion and wanderlust—on Hither & Thither. You can also find me, @AshleyMuirBruhn on Pinterest, Instagram, and Twitter.
Some things Ashley and her family love to do in Davis:
Davis is such a small town (particularly as compared to the other places we’ve lived, like Los Angeles, San Francisco, and New York), so it’s hard not to think of the entire place as one’s neighborhood. I love that we can walk downtown, bike anywhere, and that we will usually run into friends or acquaintances (or family, because now my parents live here, too!) when we’re out. There are hundreds of miles of bike paths. One of my favorite routes is the Arboretum loop on campus. It hosts a wonderful collection of native plants—and even has a redwood grove.
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People are really friendly here. And, probably because it’s a University town, most people have come from elsewhere or at least lived elsewhere and have an appreciation of other places and cultures—and of education! I’m grateful for that. Davis is often described, pejoratively, as a farm town; it is, but I love that we can look forward to produce from our neighbors at weekly markets. If you drive just a few miles in any direction, you’ll find farmlands, orchards, and—in the spring—wildflowers.
Thankfully you can spend time outside pretty comfortably year-round in Davis, but I always think about the true range in terms of the months the Farmer’s Market hosts its weekly evening picnics. Markets are also held every Saturday morning, but from March through October, every Wednesday, there’s also a picnic night with live music and things like pony rides and a rock climbing wall beside the farm stands in Central Park. It feels like the whole town comes out to sit on the grass. Sometimes we pass a troubadour playing beside one of the tables piled with strawberries and laugh that we’ve stepped into an episode of Gilmore Girls. I would suggest any visitor plan their day around a morning at the Farmer’s Market.
While I think one of Davis’s best features is its proximity to so many other fantastic places (Tahoe, Napa, San Francisco and, of course, Sacramento are all possible day trips), it’s also just a really sweet place to slow down. I love that our local food co-op hosts cooking classes, new parent meet ups, weekly barbecues, and has pint-sized carts for young shoppers.
Rapid-fire questions:
// How long have you lived in Davis?
Two years as of September
// It’s Saturday morning and you’re starving. Where do you go?
Fat Face (Sandwich stand at the Farmer’s Market)
// It’s Saturday night and you’re looking for fun. Where do you go?
Bike to the Varsity.
// And finally, it’s Sunday. You need to work off yesterday’s food. Where do you go?
UC Davis Arboretum
Thank you so much, Ashley! Any other Davis/Northern California tips? Leave them in the comments!
So happy I stumbled upon this! First off, just found your blog and simply love it!! I live about an hour from Davis and I have quite a few cousins who live there, what a beautiful place! Of course in Northern Cali you have the infamous Bay Area and Napa and Sonoma, but I love to frequent a small historic town by the name of Sutter Creek, it is filled with antique shops, beautiful old historic homes and great food, one in particular would be Hotel Sutter. Please check this place out of you get a chance, it is ahhhmazing 😉 xoxoxo ~Ashley shehimthem.wordpress.com
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