Benicia deserves a closer look as history and art haven
Once a dominant crossroads both geographically and historically, this town at a bend in the crooked strait between Vallejo and the delta is easy to overlook today because the main road doesn’t so much cross Benicia’s heart as bypass it.
About all you notice from Highway 780 is the former military arsenal and an oil refinery, neither of which offers a visually compelling reason to take your foot off the gas.
-in-the-park small-town vibe, a burgeoning arts community, a low-key wetlands preserve and a surprising historical timeline that crosses paths with the Pony Express, the Gold Rush, the Transcontinental Railroad and Jack London’s drinking habits.
Despite offering enough diversions for a laid-back weekend on the water, Benicia has a comparatively small share of tourists, which means you’re not fighting crowds.
Backstory:
Because of its location on the Carquinez Strait, Benicia has been a popular ferry stop, steamer port and general waypoint for travelers and supplies moving between San Francisco and Sacramento (and beyond), from Gold Rush times through the first half of the 20th century.
San Francisco-bound Pony Express riders ferried from here when they missed the boat in Sacramento, and when the Transcontinental Railroad arrived, entire trains were loaded onto massive barges and ferried to Port Costa (which explains the former Southern Pacific Depot a few feet from the water).
The town also was shaped by the Benicia Arsenal and Benicia Barracks, the military munitions base that stored weapons and explosives from the Civil War through the Korean War and that was decommissioned in the 1960s.
Today the property is home to about 100 artists and crafters in live-work studios and galleries, making the town an arts magnet.
The Shorelight Inn has eight large suites, a dining room and a lounge, but still feels like a cozy bed and breakfast.
The Union Hotel on First Street, built in 1880, has 12 rooms, a dining room, a bar and, supposedly, ghosts.
Lucca Bar & Grill bills itself as “a neighborhood bar,” but is the most contemporary restaurant in town, with a chic dining room and “gastro-pub style” cuisine that seems to draw as many residents as visitors.
Specialties include bacon-wrapped meat loaf and a dish colorfully titled “Chicken Under a Brick.”
After waffles or the house-made corned beef hash at First Street Cafe, stop by the Chamber of Commerce (601 First St.) for the walking tour map for Historic Downtown Benicia, then stroll and browse up one side of First Street and down the other.
The map helps: A striking number of historically significant structures in downtown are not at their original site, including a portion of the Jurgensen Old Corner Saloon (now in the 500 block of First Street), a favored hangout of author Jack London that provided material for his autobiographical novel “John Barleycorn.”
Said to be the oldest original California statehouse still standing, the building housed lawmakers between Feb. 9, 1853, and Feb. 25, 1854, before the state government was moved to Sacramento.
The interior pillars in the Assembly and Senate chambers were carved from the masts of ships abandoned in San Francisco Bay during the Gold Rush.
Most of the artist studios at the Benicia Arsenal and Benicia Barracks (known simply as the Arsenal) are open only during special Arts Benicia events, although an increasing number of shops and galleries have year-round hours.
Bike or drive out to the Arsenal to see who’s around and to explore the base, then follow the road under the highway to the Benicia Historical Museum (at the old Camel Barns).
In the afternoon, bike or drive out to the Benicia State Recreation Area, a 447-acre park with trails and picnic spots that includes (and forms a buffer around) the Southhampton Bay Wetland Natural Preserve, a fragile salt marsh popular with migratory birds.
The park closes at sunset, so make your way back to downtown and the palm-lined promenade at the end of First Street, a prime spot for watching the sunset over the strait — or for getting the same view and a cocktail from the lounge at Sailor Jack’s.
Turnbull Park on the marina isn’t large, but it is home to Robert Arneson’s comical “Benicia Bench,” a bronze art piece — and actual bench — that depicts a surfboard and a duck atop the artist’s head.
First Street Cafe: 440 First St., (707) 745-1400, www.firststcafe.com.