National Hotel in Jamestown, California
Great Place to stay near Yosemite Valley
My car keychain has a bit of California memory attached to it:
National Hotel
The National hotel is a historical hotel right in the center of downtown Jamestown, California - It located right in the middle of Gold Country. It's about a 2.5-hour drive from San Jose, California.
Don't know if downtown changed much, but I remember some antique shops and some kitchen stores. The hotel has a small restaurant, with some good food and a bar. You can buy the keychain I have at the bar, get one with a room number that you are staying in.
When you visit the hotel, make sure to stay in room 6. (My Keychain has that room number on the back!) That room is supposed to be haunted, although I never encountered any strange encounters during my stays. Check out the room guestbook for my guest entry. I hope that the book is still there.
I have kept the National Hotel keychain as a reminder of my time in California. I do plan to go back someday and show my family all the places around Jamestown.
It seems very appropriate that I would post this on Easter Weekend because that's when I would visit the area in the late 1990s.
Easter Weekend Celebration
Between 1998 to 2001, this was my Easter routine:
I would head up to Gold Country after work on Good Friday. I checked into the hotel and then spend Saturday exploring various sites around Jamestown. ( Moaning Cavern, National Bridge (Near Moaning Cavern), Railtown State Historic Park, Columbia State Park, and downtown Sonora) I would then attend church services at St. Patrick's Church in Sonora.
On Easter Sunday, I would have a nice breakfast at the hotel and the head over to Yosemite to spend the day. While there, I remember stopping at the General Store and get some lunch. Then have picnic on the grass at the base of El Captain.
Lord Have Mercy
Here is the choir from St. Patrick's Church in Sonora, singing the 'Lord have Mercy' song: