Down By The River

On Saturday night, a couple of weeks ago, I left my favorite karaoke spot, Marie Callendar's (closed the joint) and then went down to the river along the Garden Hwy, to a place called Crawdad's, a restaurant and lounge floating on a big barge on the Sacramento River. Getting to it involved crossing an elevated pier bridge and then travelling down to water level by elevator.

(Crawdads - 1375 Garden Highway. Call(916)929-2268 for more information or click here)

It was a tad slow that night, at least at 11:30 (maybe the crowd had come and gone already), but the band played on - Paradox - formed in 1988 by Arden Elicker, lead vocalist. Other band members include Perry Clark (Vocals/Guitar/Keyboard), Greg Atkins (Vocals/Guitar), Christian Wise (Vocals/Drums)and Paul Hawley (Bass). They are regulars at Crawdads and you can see by the picture they inspire the crowd to join them on stage now and then, as these two ladies, not members of the band, demonstrated that night.

What was really fun was discovering that there's a whole nightlife scene right down by the river. The Riverbank Marina, of which Crawdad's is a part, also hosts Chevys and the Blue Gecko. The Gecko had heavy sounds drifting down to the water, too.

The riverside experience is better enjoyed while the weather's still mild, so consider squeezing in a trip before the heavy rains come. Wear your party gear, because that's the mood at Crawdads.