Daffodil Hill {Date Day}

Hello All!! Happy Tuesday to you, hope it is a fabulous one. :)

**WARNING!! LONG POST AHEAD**

Last week my husband took me to this amazing place called Daffodil Hill. It is in Volcano, CA {cool name, huh?}.  I had never been and he had been once before when he was like 10, so it was almost a new experience for the both of us. The drive there is about 2 hours, but we had a blast talking, flipping through the radio and planning out our day {which is a surprise b/c normally I LOVE to sleep on road trips-ha!}. If you live in the Northern CA region, you should definitely take a trip to Daffodil Hill. It is a great little date spot or place to take the kiddos. I do not like the myth that couples can't go on dates because $money$ is tight. Who says date days have to be rough on the pocketbook? We did this one for close to nothing! I'll do a budget re-cap later in the post. Anyways...

 Here is a little history I found on their website if you are interested... 

Arthur Burbeck McLaughlin and Lizzie Van Vorst McLaughlin, established McLaughlin Ranch, now Daffodil Hill, in 1887. The ranch was purchased from an old Dutchman, Pete Denzer, who had planted around the homesite daffodils from his native land. These yellow blooms were Lizzie's most prized possession, and she divided and replanted the bulbs each year to increase the size of their garden. Arthur was the supervisor of his district in Amador County; this – with mining, farming and "inn-keeping" kept the family in food, clothing and supplies. They also hauled logs to the lower county to help in the building of the mines and manufactured charcoal for use in nearby gold mine. Arthur passed away in 1912 and soon thereafter in 1923, the 17 room, 2-½ story house burned and a small cabin was built for Lizzie. The original bunk house and larder room has been remodeled into living quarter for the present caretakers. Lizzie passed away in 1935. Following their mother's death, Jessie and Mary decided to plant other daffodils in her memory. Daffodils were planted every year, just a few at a time – and soon people began to stop to admire the blooms. As groups of tourists grew, so grew the plantings until the few hundred planted annually, grew to a few thousand. Now every year we plant from 5 to 6 thousand new bulbs – both daffodils and tulips. There are approximately 6 acres in daffodils – 300 varieties and 400,000 blooms. The number planted depends upon the donations we receive each year from the tourists. Jesse and Mary carried on this planting, with the help of Mary's children, until 1981 when Jesse passed away. Mary passed away in 1973. It is now overseen by Mary's two children, Arthur Lucot and Mary Lucot Ryan, their spouses, her grandchildren, great grandchildren and great-great grandchildren. These generations are still planting thousands of new bulbs each year in memory of their parents, grandparents, great-grandparents and great-great grandparents. Find more info at their website HERE.

Now onto the fun stuff... Pictures of our day! 

Entrance into Daffodil Hill

Awesome looking barn to the left as you walk in... 

The Babe and I

These antlers and old truck were pretty cool to me :)

We enjoyed a little picnic before we toured around too much...

These GORGEOUS flowers were everywhere reminding us all that spring is here!! :)

I was loving this guy!! He made me in the mood to go horseback riding!! {This is the best pic we got with him, as there were about 10 little girls jumping in all our photos-HA!}

Pretty amazing, huh? Just rows and rows of them!!

This colorful guy was so beautiful, he would let us get so close to him and it didn't even phase him!! Awesome!! I had no idea if peacocks attack, but as for this experience, we were safe!!

 Getting close to where all the action was.. :)

Re-cap of our day at the Hill!!

After we left Daffodil Hill we decided to see what else this area had to offer. We heard of this neat Indian Reservation/Grinding Mill so we took off there next. Well, to make a long story short, we couldn't find it! Ha! So we meandered into downtown Sutter Creek. Such a  cute town!! We loved browsing through old antique stores and even got a bit of a history lesson from one of the shop owners. We went into just about every store and then we came to an ice cream parlor. By this time, we were in the mood for a snackaroo, so we ran in and got ourselves a waffle cone. :) Mmm.... On our way home, we decided to stop at the many thrift stores we saw on the way into town. The first one was a dud. :( Boo... But the next few were amazing!! At the very last one we stopped at, I found an amazing set of dishes that are made in France. They are simple yet elegant {in white, of course} To say the least, I was ecstatic!! I have been searching for new everyday dishes so I can save my good ones for company and special occasions. I totally scored!!

Here are a few more pics of our day {I warned you this was a long post!} Hope you enjoy!!

 Downtown Sutter Creek

 This is and AMAZING boutique called "Tomorrow's Heirlooms". The address is 49 Main St. Sutter Creek, CA. My sister-in-law is about to have a baby and they have the most adorable baby section!! I wanted to buy everything I saw for her, but my wise husband reminded me we were on a budget! Ha! :) I might have to stop back in here before her shower, wink-wink... ;)

 B outside the ice cream shop and this charming little bed and breakfast we were so tempted to stay the night in. Darn work the next morning!!

 This was a really neat warehouse store for vintage windows and doors!! {Run by an old, Irish carpenter} So cool!! We thought it was an abandoned warehouse until we heard a guy working inside and he let us in. He only opens the shop certain times of the year because he takes several trips a year to Ireland to purchase these doors and windows. He also had many other little gems and treasures in here! 

{Aren't these green chairs below just to die for?!?}

Feel free to comment below on some of your favorite dates you and your hunny go on!! 

I love getting new ideas!! :) 

Much Love, 

Sarah

COST OF OUR WONDERFUL DATE: Admission into Daffodil Park: donations only {We gave $5.00}. Picnic lunch: we just packed what we had in the fridge and picked up our sandwiches from Podesto's {little over $12.00}. Walking around town into cute antique stores and boutiques: free. Ice cream in downtown Sutter Creek: {$6.00}. Gas money: {$20.00}. So a day trip out of town cost us barely over $40.00!! That's including gas!! Pretty amazing, huh? And if you pack your own sandwiches from home you can shave off $12.00!! Take that!!