Crockett Day Trip (Sugartown)
You might have driven by Crockett many a time if you live in the Bay Area. You can see the town from the Carquinez Bridge or parts of Highway 80.
What stands out about Crockett is the giant plant with the“C&H” logo on it.
Crockett: The “Company Town”
The “C&H” stands for the California and Hawaiian Sugar Company which at one time is said to have employed 95% of Crockett residents. C&H Sugar (as it’s now known) has been operating in Crockett since 1906 and funded many of the town’s schools and civic programs, according to Wikipedia.
Here’s a bunch of their sugar products over their history:
The Hawaiian part of C&H has closed down but the Crockett plant is still humming along.
The Old Homestead
We began our trip to Crockett with a visit to The Old Homestead (995 Loring Avenue), a house built in 1867 by Thomas Edwards. Edwards bought the land in Crockett from California. Supreme Court Judge Joseph Crockett.
The Old Homestead caretaker Jeff happened to see us lurking around and was kind enough to give us a little tour.
The Old Homestead now rents out its facilities for weddings and other parties. Here are some shots of the inside:
Crockett Historical Museum
Next we checked out the Crockett Museum which is just 100 yards from The Old Homestead at 900 Loring Avenue. Manager Dick was a super-kind host.
The Museum used to be the Crockett train station. It’s now full of fun artifacts like this old phone switchboard:
…and this old cash register from The National Cash Register Company (NCR!):
Check out this old fire gear:
Dead Fish
We were super-hungry by now and headed to The Dead Fish restaurant (20050 San Pablo Ave., Crockett, CA 94525) for brunch at 11am.
The Dead Fish is massive with 3 different rooms inside eah with its own decor:
We chose to sit outside to take in the awesome view of the Carquinez Straits:
They brought out this warm Epi bread and butter from Acme Bakery who I believe makes the best Epis in the Bay Area:
We ordered the Crab Louie which was outstanding. It had lettuce, crab, asparagus, beets, tomatoes, avocado, olives and lettuce. It was big enough for 3 people to share.
Next we ate the kid’s portion Fish and Chips which was also sizeable. It was so good that I took a few bites before remembering to take a picture:
Then we ate the Cioppino Stew. It was also delicious.
The Dead Fish was kid-friendly. They had a bib that our son turned into a cape. And they got us a shirley temple:
As we drove downhill into town we caught a cool glimpse of the Carquinez Bridge:
Sugartown Cafe + Yoga
It was time for coffee so we ducked into Sugartown Cafe at 611 2nd Ave., Crockett, CA 94525:
The coffee and service was delicious and the co-owner was super-nice. an
This is a comfortable place to hang out (we noticed they have free wifi).
We wrapped up at Sugartown Cafe with 2 scoops of ice cream:
Doux Yoga
The Sugartown Cafe is run by a husband/wife team and they offer yoga upstairs in the beautiful Doux Yoga studio:
Doux Yoga offers Aerial Yoga which I (Rob) tried out:
Toot’s Tavern
A few doors down from Sugartown/Doux Yoga is Toot’s Tavern (627 2nd Ave. Crockett, CA 94525).
Toot’s is way more than meets the eye. Owner Matthew showed us around the main room:
Check out this real bear:
The back rooms feature a live music stage and pool room:
These posters give you a sense of all the live music going on at Toot’s (anything from Heavy Metal to the Grateful Dead). Many of the shows are put on by Mr. Hat Presents.
I noticed this cool poker table top hanging on the wall at Toot’s — it listed some old Crockett establishments:
Things to do in Crockett next time:
Crockett model railroad club — The Carquinez Model Railroad Society (CMRS) is in Crockett at the historic Odd Fellows Hall at 645 Loring Avenue). They do open houses quarterly and their schedule is here: https://cmrstrainclub.org/services/ (thanks to Matt Seibert (dad of Gwen) who told us they had a good time there).
Clayton Bailey’s Robot Shop — This shop is owned by artist Clayton Bailey. Address: 325 Rolph Ave, Crockett, CA 94525.
Four Corners Pizza and Pasta — One of the yogis told us this was “the best pizza I’ve ever had”.
Teresa Molinar’s Funky Frog — “A unique collection of Handcrafted Treasures featuring local artists. Great location for you to find that “special gift”, or “one-of-a-kind” item“.”
Eckley Pier — We heard it’s fun and that people fish off of it (no fishing license required).
And the Crockett Chamber of Commerce has lots of other options to consider!
Is there anything YOU have experienced in Crockett that we can add?
