📜 History in the Making 8/10/25

Hello Everyone!

I was recently in the Blue Moon Brewhouse in the Atlanta Airport, and I when I tried to order a glass of water, I was told that I needed to pay 69 cents. While I was appalled that I had to pay for something that should by all accounts be free, I respected the commitment to the bit.

And, if you thought this week couldn’t get any crazier than that, just you wait. So without further ado, let’s find out What’s Up With Will…

Since I have been living in Walnut Creek officially for over a month now, I figured it was time to explore the city a bit more. First up was a place that I have already been once before: the Bedford Gallery at the Lesher Center for the Arts.

This time round, they showcased a new exhibit entitled, “Beyond Color: The Language of Black and White”. This exhibit highlights 83 works created in black and white, offering an examination of how the artists use bring emotion, depth, and composition to art. On a personal note, I think it made me think about colors’ role in art, and how much can be communicated without it. I guess sometimes the world can be seen in just black and white.

I’ve been enjoying the Bedford Gallery’s unique exhibits, of which they seem to have multiple a year. I can’t wait for the next one.

The other stop for the day was the Shadelands Ranch Museum to learn more about the city from a historical perspective.

Originally, Walnut Creek was nothing more than farmland, and while it would grow a variety of fruits, walnuts were the main crop. Shocker right? The town was incorporated in 1914, and shortly after, the Walnut Growers Association (AKA Big Walnut) built a processing plant downtown. Throughout the years, the city has seen many changes (take, for instance, the walnut processing center, which has since become the Lesher Center for the Arts), but the city still holds to its namesake crop.

The Shadelands Ranch Museum was the home of Hiram Penniman, one of the biggest farmers in the area. It’s now run by the Walnut Creek Historical Society, who give tours sharing a time-capsule of life in the early 1900s as well as a history of this Walnut Creek Pioneer.

While I was touring the rooms, my docent pointed to a bed frame decorated with pineapples and asked if I knew why. I admitted that I did know a reason, but didn’t want to say it.

She pressed me for a guess, and so, against my better judgment, I had to explain to a sweet grandmotherly guide that pineapples are sometimes used as a symbol for swingers.

It turns out things have changed a lot since the early 20th century, as pineapples were instead viewed as a symbol of wealth.

Rylee and I had to fly out of town for the weekend for my brother’s college graduation. If you have been paying attention to this newsletter, you will know that this would be our 4th, and thankfully, final graduation of the year. Nobody else better get any bright ideas…

However, since Rylee had to go to work in person on Thursday, we decided to fly out of the Sacramento airport. This also meant that I would spend the day in the Big Tomato (Not joking, that is one of the nicknames of the city, at least online).

For today, I decided to continue with the historical theme of yesterday by first touring the Sacramento State Capitol. I have always been interested in why Sacramento was the capital of California, as I always thought that either San Francisco or Los Angeles would seem like a better fit. To find out why, you have to go back to 1848.

One day, on a routine inspection of a sawmill, a carpenter named James Marshall saw little sparkling flecks of metal left behind by the running water. Upon further examination, these little specks were determined to be gold. The news immediately spread like wildfire and led to the largest gold rush in American history.

Now, these mines weren’t the easiest to get to back in 1848, as there was no automobile, and the easiest option was to boat up the river as close as possible to the mines, and then get the rest of the way by land. Sacramento, being located on both the American and Sacramento rivers, was an excellent spot as a hub for prospective prospectors looking to get rich quickly. And since California became a state in 1850, Sacramento was a natural choice for the capital.

On the Capitol Building tour, I saw the Rotunda, the Treasurer’s Office, and the General Assembly’s Chamber, all of which were restored to what they would have looked like in 1906. Along the way, our guide told us about the capitol building reconstruction efforts, governmental procedures, and also talked about California’s surprisingly large importance in the Civil War.

Also in the Big Tomato, I walked through Sutter’s Fort.

John Sutter, the namesake of the fort, began construction on Sutter’s Fort in 1840–1841 with ambitions of creating an agricultural and industrial powerhouse in California’s Central Valley. One historian, featured in a video shown in the fort’s orientation room, called him “the worst businessman in the history of capitalism.” Despite this reputation, Sutter initially succeeded as the fort became a thriving hub for agriculture and trade. Its prominence, however, faded after the Gold Rush, as Sacramento’s growth shifted the region’s commerce elsewhere. By the 1860s, floods had destroyed much of the fort.

This reconstruction of Sutter’s Fort I walked through was built in the 1890s, allowing me to see several trades rooms, as well as a live blacksmith demonstration.

After a long day of learning about the history of Sacramento, I picked up Rylee, and we went to celebrate her 24th birthday a day early since we would be focused on the graduation boy for the rest of the weekend. Our place of celebration was juju kitchen & cocktails, which served a grilled peach-infused bourbon cocktail alongside delectable tapas-esque plates like grilled calamari and roasted garlic arancini.

And after that, we started our journey to Auburn. We did make a pitstop to see Rylee’s parents and celebrate her birthday together before driving to Auburn.

My family has always been fans of Auburn. The legend goes that one of my dad’s best friends took him to an Auburn College Football game years ago, and he became hooked immediately. Growing up, my family would pretty much always have the Auburn game on to watch, and I have been to several games. I even considered going to Auburn for my undergraduate degree. In fact, I only applied to two schools, Georgia Tech and Auburn. And while I didn’t go, my brother, who honestly was much more of an Auburn fan than I was, did. After 4 years, he would be graduating with a degree in supply-chain management and had lined up a super cool job at Walmart.

The graduation itself was the shortest graduation that we have been to this year, and I liked the commencement speaker’s quote that we needed to “leave our U-Hauls of self-doubt behind”. You know that we cheered extra loud when Daniel walked across the stage!

Over the course of the weekend, we did a lot of celebrating and partying, mostly at Skybar Cafe, a multi-level bar with two stages, a pool room, and a beer garden. This might be one of the best college bars I have ever been to, and I would say it is almost on par with one of the big ones in Nashville. They also happened to have a trivia night while we were there, with the theme being “National Parks”. It’s a crazy mish-mash of ideas, and somehow, it all comes together.

I am so proud of Daniel and so happy I was able to make it back for his graduation. Here’s to what’s next!

• Toomer’s Drugs is a bit of a local tradition in Auburn, opening all the way back in 1896. Their signature item is a tangy and tart lemonade that is so delicious you cant help but smile while puckering your face.

• Well Red is part coffeeshop, part wine bar, and part bookstore. The lattes are incredible,the vibes are immaculate, and it would be my go-to study spot if I went to school here. This should be what all other cafes aspire to be.

Last week, we celebrated the most important day of the year. It was Cleo’s birthday on 8/7! (We are both Leos, obviously.)

Every year, we go all out to celebrate Cleo’s big day because she deserves it. This was a big birthday too—Cleo is officially 11! This year, we decided to do a movie night in. We sprinkled catnip all over the floor and gave her some treats. After Cleo rolled around in the cap nip and was sufficiently “high,” we turned on her favorite movie, Ratatouille. I’m not sure if she understands the deeper commentary on capitalism, but she does love watching the rats run around the kitchen. We all cuddled up on the couch and yelled at the rats together. It was perfect. This is the 9th birthday that I’ve celebrated with her, and I’m so grateful for another trip around the sun with my best friend. Happy birthday, Cleo!

I have been living in Walnut Creek for long enough now to finally figure out the general layout of the grocery stores around me, but this video makes me realize that there is no reason that the grocery store layout isn’t standardized to allow for ease of use. Why is one product in aisle 3 in one store and aisle 11 in another? This madness needs to end!