Summer Guide 2012

SN&R’s 2012 Summer Guide is your 99-step instruction manual for maximizing good times. We bet you didn’t know your summer plans included falcons, blimps, meteor showers, zombies, bull riding, avocado popsicles, indoor surfing and basement punk shows. Just make this issue your official summer to-do list, and come Labor Day weekend, you’ll be looking back on the wildest summer you’ve ever spent in Sacramento.

Jay-Z gives you 99 problems. SN&R gives you 99 solutions. Not that we’re saying SN&R is cooler than Jay-Z, but does he know where to find the best popsicles in the 916? Didn’t think so.

2012 Summer Guide staff:

Editor: Becca Costello

Art Directors: Hayley Doshay, Priscilla Garcia

Web: Joe Kakacek

Writers: Kimberly Brown, Kyle Buis, Becca Costello, Lovelle Harris, Rachel Leibrock, Jonathan Mendick, Nick Miller, Kel Munger, Anthony Nathan, Kate Paloy, Shoka, Amy Wong

Copy Editors: Kyle Buis, Shoka Shafiee

Food & Drink

1. Cool off with Davepops. Dave Feldpausch invested years of research in the recipe for his delicious, dairy-free popsicles.

2. Go hyperseasonal at Blackbird Kitchen & Bar. Carina Lampkin, proprietor of the new Blackbird Kitchen & Bar, improvises fresh gourmet cuisine from farmers market treasures.

Also
3. Try every flavor of Hagen’s Freeze
4. Drink a fair amount of wine.
5. Savor Squash blossoms
6. Maintain your diet with soft serve
7. Fire up the grill after hours
8. Learn a Japanese tea ceremony
9. Get your takeout buzz on
10. Season fruit with salt and pepper
11. Toast Midtown Cocktail Week
12. Achieve vegetarian nirvana
13. Get thee to Gunther’s
14. Cook outdoors
15. Save room for barbecued shellfish
16. Drink smoothies for breakfast
17. Eat dessert for dinner
18. Go bananas
19. Lick an avocado popsicle
20. Battle triple-digit temps with a Merlino’s Freeze
21. Learn your wines
22. Dine with your dog

Nightlife & Entertainment

23. Surf a wave of light. Indoor surfing in Elk Grove? Surf Xtreme offers heated waves with a light show and a rockin’ soundtrack.

24. Step into country line dancing. Dance parties at Stoney Inn get pretty wild, but instructors Kat Painter and Kurt Senser keep everyone in line.

Also
25. Ride the Double Dare in the dark
26. Dance in outdoor air conditioning
27. Make your summer playlist
28. Return to the past
29. Lay on the grass, and watch the stars come out one by one.
30. Park at the drive-in movies
31. Walk with the dead
32. Tame a mechanical bull
33. Show your dirty dance moves
34. Rock harder with Joan Jett
35. Turn on your heartlight
36. Get a room (for karaoke)
37. Read for prizes
38. Set up lawn chairs in a parking lot to watch the Fourth of July fireworks at Cal Expo.
39. Belt it out
40. Rock out in a basement
41. Chill on the most popular patio

Health & Beauty

42. Consult a fashion expert. Find your sense of summer fashion with help from Juniper James blogger Kari Shipman.

43. Accessorize sun-kissed skin with Freya jewelry. Sacramento artist Pamela Anderson creates original jewelry for goddess princess warriors.

Also
44. Grow way too many zucchini. Leave them in the break room at work.
45. Put an avocado on your face
46. Fix your bike
47. Stop dripping
48. Have a block party
49. Get a massage
50. Stay active
51. Increase your flexibility
52. Get a free sauna treatment while sitting in your car waiting for the AC to kick in.
53. Treat your toes
54. Protect your dog’s paws
55. Bring home the bronze
56. Celebrate independence with a 5-mile run
57. Slow down and appreciate the little things
58. Cover your eyes
59. Upgrade your wheels
60. Admire the grace of Midtown girls riding bikes in sundresses and heels.

Travel & Recreation

61. Bond with a falcon. The staff at West Coast Falconry can teach you to fly a falcon onto your glove in just half a day. Truthfully, the bird does most of the work.

62. Take up logrolling. Rancho Cordova’s Swimstitute amenities include water exercise classes, swim training and a 600-pound floating log.

Also
63. Peek underneath the sidewalk
64. Go skateboarding
65. Run through someone else’s sprinklers.
66. Admire majestic vistas
67. Hug Dinger at a River Cats Game.
68. Stay on a farm
69. Rappel into a cave
70. Incite a water fight
71. Take your dog to the beach
72. Watch the Sierra foothills turn from green to golden brown.
73. Ride a blimp
74. Plunge into a saved pool
75. Float down the American
76. Catch a falling star
77. Take your kids camping
78. Drive down the delta
79. Brave Bumpass Hell

Arts & Festivals

80. Prepare for a 2012 apocalypse with scary beach reads. Sacramento’s booksellers share their favorite end-of-the-world novels for summer reading.

81. Commit to all six days of Launch 2012. The newly expanded Launch festival celebrates art, music, design and architecture with six days of showcases throughout Sacramento.

Also
82. Practice your French
83. Start your weekend with live music
84. Add an art gallery to your pub crawl
85. Do the time warp
86. Rediscover The Little Mermaid
87. Enter the 10x10 Filmmaker Challenge
88. Tip your hat to the Folsom Pro Rodeo
89. See the bard under the stars
90. Get medicated
91. Drive to S.F. for a concert
92. Party with fire dancers
93. Wrangle a ticket to the Outlaw Country BBQ
94. Walk the dusty streets of Old Sac
95. Take a chicken to a play
96. Laugh long
97. Horse around
98. Van Gogh for it
99. Dance over the rainbow