Solano County, California (2nd Visited of 58 Counties)

Established in 1850, Solano County is one of original twenty-seven California counties. Artifacts dating back to 2000 BCE have been found in Green Valley. Solano County was home to the Patwin Indians at the time of the Spanish arrival. The county was named after a local Native American chief, Sem Yeto, who was given the name of a Franciscan missionary, Father Francisco Solano, in baptism. The county seat is Fairfield. Vallejo, Vacaville and Benicia are other major cities.

The county population in 2003 was just over 410,000. The land area is 829 square miles with an additional 77.5 square miles of water within the county boundary. Solano County sits midway between San Francisco and Sacramento. The county limits residential and commercial development outside of cities, preserving about 80 percent of the land for agriculture or open spaces. The county encompasses Suisun March, a wetland at the northeastern edge of San Francisco Bay

Solano County represents open space and recreation to me. My husband has been an owner of a duck club on Grizzly Island (part of the Suisun Marsh) for almost twenty years and spends a great deal of time there. While there are no grizzlies to be found on the island, there’s plenty of other wildlife including a herd of tule elk. I really like this great video found on Doug McConnell’s OpenRoad.tv. Check it out to see Grizzly Island for yourself.
My visit to Solano County began with a visit to the Suisun Wildlife Center where we met Bob the Kestral and Weshawee the Red-Tailed Hawk along with others. Next was lunch at La Cabana This Mexican restaurant has a terrifically obnoxious website (gotta have your sound on!) and delicious food. This was my second visit and I’d gladly return. They’ve moved down the street from their original location pictured above as Suisun city is being gentrified. Well, I guess so!

Our main event was an afternoon of striped bass fishing on Frost Slough. Steve & John are serious fishermen, while I fished while rowing a small boat all around the slough. It was great fun in truly a magical place. It’s hard to believe we’re only 50 miles form San Francisco! Here's a picture of Steve with his limit.

We spent the night and John put us to work the next day pulling motors off the boats and hauling the boats up on the bank. There’s always a catch!

For more information:

http://quickfacts.census.gov/qfd/states/06/06095.html
http://www.co.solano.ca.us/

Suisun Marsh History: Hunting and Saving a Wetland by Anthony Arnold (1996, Monterey Pacific Publishing Co., ISBN: 1-880710-04-8) is a terrific look at the early history and preservation of a wildlife habitat.