McReynolds Real Estate Team · Your PCS Partners
Love Where
You LiveSolano County
Our fall launch issue. The good stuff to do, eat, see, and explore. September 2026.
Hey you guys! Welcome to something new.
We are Sarah and Ben, and after helping so many of you land here, we kept hearing the same thing. I love it here, but I had no idea all of this was going on. So we fixed it.
Love Where You Live is our love letter to Solano and everything around it. Where to go, what to eat, the little-known gems most people never find, and the trips worth taking when you want to get out and explore. Twice a month, in your inbox, no fluff.
This first one is the big one, a taste of all of it. Grab a coffee and come wander with us. We got you.
Sarah & Ben
Start Here
Mark Your Calendar
The ten we would not want you to miss this month, in order. All of it is spelled out below.
Town Square Thursdays
Downtown Vacaville. Free outdoor live music. Bring a chair.
Downtown Shakedown Car & Art Show
Vacaville, noon to 6. Classic cars, local artists, a Power Wheels parade for the kids.
2nd Saturday Art & Wine Stroll
Downtown Winters, 3 to 5. Artists and wine specials up Main.
Piano Men: Generations
Vacaville Performing Arts Theatre. A live tribute to the piano greats.
Pleasants Valley Open Farm Day
Vacaville, 9 to 3. Six farms, one route. The valley at its best. (Big feature below.)
Benicia Oktoberfest & Marketplace
First Street, 11 to 6. Beer, a market, a great day by the bay.
4th Friday Kickback & Classic Car Show
Downtown Winters, 5 to 9. Cars, music, and open storefronts.
Authors in the Square
Vacaville, 10 to 2. Local authors meet the farmers market.
Dog Daze: Tail Waggers' Day Out
Fairfield. A whole day built for you and your dog.
National Alpaca Farm Days
Menagerie Hill Ranch, Vacaville. Yes, alpacas. Our hidden gem this month.
Local Love · Small Business Spotlight
HvH Specialty Growers
Suisun Valley · Veteran-owned
A flower farm run by one of our own
Out in Suisun Valley there is a working flower farm you can visit, and it happens to be veteran-owned, which we love. Come for the u-pick blooms, the farm-stand bouquets, and the seasonal events they host right in the field.
This is the sort of place that reminds you what living out here is really about. Bring a jar, cut your own, and go home with something that beats anything on a grocery shelf.
hvhspecialtygrowers.comDon't Miss · Sept 19
Open Farm Day
Pleasants Valley · 9am to 3pm
Six farms, one epic route
Mark your calendars, Solano. Open Farm Day is Saturday, September 19, from 9 to 3. One gorgeous drive through Pleasants Valley connects six working farms, and you can plan your own route between them.
Morningsun Herb Farm · Brazelton Ranch · Summerfield Cattle Company · Pleasants Valley Riding Arena · Joyful Ranch · Menagerie Hill Ranch
Grab your friends, your family, and your sense of adventure. This is the valley at its best.
The Heart Of It
Things To Do
Home base, by city. Tap an event for full details and times.
Vacaville
Downtown Farmers Market
Andrews Park. The reliable Saturday-morning ritual. Produce, makers, coffee.
Town Square Thursdays
Town Square. Free outdoor concert, family-friendly, no ticket needed.
Downtown Shakedown Car & Art Show
Town Square & Main, noon to 6. Cars from 1979 and older, an art show, and a scavenger hunt.
Authors in the Square
Town Square, 10 to 2. Meet local authors alongside the farmers market.
Winters
Winters Farmers Market
Main Street, 9 to 1. Small-town Sunday done right.
2nd Saturday Art & Wine Stroll
Downtown, 3 to 5. Artist meet-and-greets, demos, and wine specials.
4th Friday Kickback & Classic Car Show
Downtown, 5 to 9. Cars, music, and open storefronts.
Benicia
Oktoberfest & Marketplace
First Street, 11 to 6. The Chamber's big fall party by the water.
Fairfield & Suisun
Dog Daze: Tail Waggers' Day Out
Fairfield. Bring the dog. The whole day is for them.
Reserve The Table
Things To Eat
Local and small-biz forward, the way we like it.
Live Music at Carboni's Ristorante
316 Railroad Ave, 5:30 to 8:30. Dinner and a band twice a week. The easiest good night out in town.
Wine country in our backyard
Suisun Valley. Tasting rooms, u-pick, and roadside farm stands like Larry's Produce. Ten minutes out and it may as well be a weekend away.
Go See Something
Things To See
The sort of evening that makes a place home.
Sole Italiano: Poetry in the Palazzo
The Vacaville Museum. An evening of poetry with a featured reader and an open mic.
Fall Color on Putah Creek
Winters & Lake Solano. The cottonwoods start to turn gold along the creek. A short, pretty drive with a coffee in hand.
The Signature
Hidden Gem
Sept 26-27 · 10am to 3pm
National Alpaca Farm Days
Here is one almost nobody knows about. On the last weekend of September, Menagerie Hill Ranch in Vacaville opens its gates for National Alpaca Farm Days. Meet the herd up close, watch fiber-arts demos, and shop goods made right there on the farm.
It is free, it is family-friendly, and it is exactly the sort of "wait, that is ten minutes away?" find we started this whole thing for.
4071 Norman Ct, VacavilleWithin Three Hours
News & Noteworthy
A few things worth knowing from the sibling and extended-family towns.
Harvest season is on
The valley is in full crush. Grape stomps, winemaker dinners, and the best smell of the year. If Napa has been on your list, this is the time.
The Girl & The Fig
The new Sonoma spot to try. This plaza favorite is French-country cooking and a patio made for a slow afternoon. Worth the drive for a proper wine-country dinner.
Wednesday night at the market
The Davis Farmers Market in Central Park turns into a full picnic on Wednesday evenings. Food trucks, live music, a lawn full of families.
Get Out And Explore
The Escape
A taste of the explore side: a Halloween mansion, an easy win, a getaway, and a "did you know."
The Halloween One · Through Nov 1
Nightfall at Filoli
New on our radar. A historic mansion in Woodside lit up for Halloween, with a Redwood Trail of 1,000 carved jack-o-lanterns, a Witches' Village, fire pits, and live music. Spooky-not-scary, so bring the whole family. Running now through November 1, nightly from 5:30.
About 1.5 to 2 hoursThe Backyard
Free museum days in San Francisco
The city is closer than you think and cheaper than you think. A handful of museums run free community days, and if you bank with Bank of America, the first full weekend of every month gets you into the de Young, the Legion of Honor, and more for free through their Museums on Us program.
About 1 hourThe Getaway
Bodega Bay
September is quietly the best beach month on the Sonoma coast, warm and clear and past the crowds. Clam chowder on the harbor, a walk on Doran Beach, and the whale-watching overlook out at Bodega Head.
About 1.5 hoursDid You Know
Dr. Hart's Mansion, Pacific Grove
Down on the Monterey Peninsula sits a storybook Victorian mansion you can walk right up to. If you are already down there for the aquarium or Point Lobos, it is worth the detour. Proof that the wild finds are not always local.
About 2.5 hoursBook a surf lesson in Bolinas
This sleepy little Marin beach town is one of the most beginner-friendly places around to catch your first wave, and fall water is the warmest of the year. Book a lesson and check it off the list.
That's me and my girl, catching our first waves in Bolinas.
Before You Go
One More Thing
That is the month, you guys. If you make it out to any of these, hit reply and tell us about it, we honestly love living through your adventures. And anytime you need something home related, or just a good taco rec, you know exactly where we are.
Talk soon, Sarah & Ben.
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