Downtown Sacramento.
The River City has plenty to offer when the temperature drops. If you're used to staying here on your birthday, venture out to some of Sacramento's oft-overlooked landmarks. From an outdoor ice rink to a floating hotel to the best cake in town, the city's all lit up and waiting for you.
Skates and Snacks
Kids, teenagers and adults alike can enjoy a birthday party that involves ice-skating and the biggest slices of cake you've ever seen. Head to the Westfield Downtown Plaza Ice Rink, open from early November through late January, and work up an appetite. The plaza is beautifully lit and the walkway that leads from the K Street Mall to Old Sacramento lets you wander down to an old-time saloon for a refreshing sarsaparilla if you need a break from skating (or if you forgot to buy the birthday girl a gift).
When everyone's feeling good and hungry, pile in the car and drive to a Midtown landmark, Rick's Dessert Diner. Sacramento Magazine and the Sacramento News & Review have voted Rick's the "Best of Sacramento for Dessert" every year since 1986. This is where you go to celebrate a birthday. Styled like a 1950's soda shop, this diner offers more than 285 varieties of delectable dessert. Feel free to share a slice--they're ridiculously big and incredibly rich. You can wash it all down with coffee or espresso.
Mystery and Mayhem
Gather a group of friends and plan a birthday dinner on board the Delta King, a 1920's paddle boat that still cruises the Sacramento River. The boat is a floating hotel as well as a fine-dining restaurant and murder-mystery dinner theater. It's the perfect setting for a themed party that ties in with the murder-mystery.
If you plan far enough in advance, you can ask your birthday guests to snatch up a dapper 1920's costume at Evangeline's Costume Mansion, just steps away in Old Sacramento. Open from late summer through Halloween, this is the place to buy your flapper dress, zoot suit, spats, hats, feathers and more. When your guests come to the party in costume, the mood will be just right.
Dinner and a Movie
For a relaxed downtown vibe, invite your friends to join you at the Tower Theater and Café, near the serene Land Park neighborhood. More artistic and bohemian than the mega-plexes around Arden Fair, this old theater still has a bit of that Art Deco Hollywood glamor (the theater opened in 1938). You probably won't find the latest blockbuster here, but you will find indie movies, documentaries and foreign films that keep the love of cinema alive.
Adjacent to the theater is the Tower Café, a tropical-looking hideaway that's a welcome change of pace from over-exposed family dining chains. Palm fronds, fountains and Mediterranean-style tiles decorate the interior, while there's plenty of outdoor seating for those who want to people watch. There are menu items suitable for kids or picky eaters (hamburgers), but enough to tempt the palate of more adventurous diners, too. You'll find plenty of dessert options here, including cakes, tarts, pies and flan, each perfect for an after-movie birthday celebration.
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