The Stansbury House

No visit to Chico is complete without a visit to the Bidwell Mansion State Historical Park, the home of Chico’s founders … John and Annie Bidwell. The docent led tour was educational and just long enough not to be tiring. We enjoyed even more our visit to the Stansbury House. We were the only ones on the docent tour of this 1883 Italianate Victorian so we were able linger and ask a lot of questions. It felt like we were in a 19th century time capsule since just about everything in the house was original ... even the knickknacks. Because Dr. Stansbury's youngest niece lived here until 1974, the house had a personal atmosphere. We felt like we were trespassing when we viewed the artistic niece’s bedroom … she was quite the bohemian.

Near the center of town is the 2,500 acre Bidwell Park, the second largest municipal park in the country. It contains areas for every conceivable activity from baseball, golf to pistol shooting. We picnicked along the banks of the Big Chico Creek. Here the creek has been ingeniously dammed to create a public "swimming pool". The area is lush and green and is where the 1937 movie Adventures of Robin Hood with Errol Flynn was filmed; along with extensive parts of Gone with the Wind.

Just outside downtown we viewed the craftsmen at the world-famous Orient and Flume Glass Studio. We also couldn’t pass up stopping at the Blue Diamond Almond outlet. The variety of flavors was overwhelming so we ended up purchasing a sort of "his & hers" … a little 12 oz can of Honey Roasted almonds for Danny and an enormous 4 pound can of Smokehouse almonds for Sherry.

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