Heed the siren call of Crockett, the Bay Area small town that time forgot

Crockett is a small town with an oversized pull Its intriguing history threads through the cross-Pacific sugar bargain perilous smelting of precious metals and strange crimes involving an Ocean s Eleven -style gold heist and intricate networks of underground smuggling tunnels With charming restaurants and a bustling music scene it s also a great place to have a day trip But where to begin Filling up the caffeine reserves is obviously Priority No for numerous folks In town the new Calaca Coffee pours strong java with a Mexican twist Try a cafe de olla cold brew with cinnamon and piloncillo raw sugar syrup or a Xoco latte with cacao and espresso and if you re feeling naughty top it off with banana or tres-leches cream Glommed onto an old church like a retro barnacle Revival Coffee farther down the road is a trailer-based operation with a bohemian feel thanks to an open-air porch with comfy furniture and board games Liquid pie is a good way to describe the coffee There s a Cherry Jubilee with white chocolate a Coconut Cream Pie Latte and a Huckleberry Mocha giving customers the chance to slyly comment to their considerable others No you re MY huckleberry The fruit-forward drinks seem cast down from the berry-rich fields of Oregon and for a breakfast snack there s biscuits and gravy An Amtrak train speeds past the C H Sugar Factory in Crockett Calif on Sunday June Jose Carlos Fajardo Bay Area News Group The sweet offerings around town seem appropriate given its raison d etre for a long while was sugar The California and Hawaiian C H Sugar Refining Company will celebrate its th year in Crockett also called Sugar City in While it in the last few days stopped importing from Hawaii it s still a major participant in the region producing percent of the cane sugar in the United States In local vintage shops you ll find its logo emblazoned on Hawaiian shirts also in timeworn cookbooks with recipes like Hawaiian coconut pudding and frosted grapes on pine boughs Hungry for more history Head down to the Crockett Historical Museum squeezed into a former railroad station by the C H factory Note it s closed for repairs until July Inside you ll find treasures like California s last telephone switchboard and a -pound taxidermied sturgeon the largest ever caught in San Pablo Bay There are informative news articles like one whose headline reads UFOs Buzz Crockett Six Say Soberly That s supposedly not true the soberly part as Crockett is a historical hotbed of drinking activity Among the -plus bars that hung their flag in this tiny population during the last century were Chuck Henry Dick Johnny Toots and Gully and the by-comparison-lonely-sounding Ray s Corner which poured booze for years until closing in A train transporting wine stopped in Crockett in the year Prohibition started The effect was like something out of Days Later with alcohol-enjoying locals scenting blood in the air When the car was discovered on a newest Sunday multiple of the populace dashed madly to the railroad yards equipped with spigots garden hose and hand axes the Los Angeles Herald disclosed at the time The car was entered and selected gallons siphoned into buckets bottles kegs demijohns and all manner of containers There s fun history to be gleaned here about the old Selby smelting works once the largest refining company in the West for gold silver and lead It was bulldozed in the s but locals keep it alive sharing fond memories on the population Crockett-history Facebook page When you woke up there was unfailingly a layer of gray dust on the porches recalls one person Laments another M y great grandfather fell into a smelting pot I believe never made it home soo sad A woman walks her dog outside Toot's Tavern in Crockett Calif on Sunday June Jose Carlos Fajardo Bay Area News Group Selby was the scene of one of the biggest gold heists in contemporary U S history In a former worker named Jack Winters spent weeks tunneling through dirt and brick to reach the company s metal-lined vault where he absconded with half a ton of gold bullion He lowered the treasure into the muck of the Carquinez Strait planning to retrieve it bit by bit Instead he was hastily caught and divers recovered the haul though that doesn t stop fortune-hunters from seeking remnants to this day A nice way to burn off selected calories then pack them back on is to visit Crockett Hills Regional Park From the staging area the Crockett Ranch Trail trail leads up a beautifully forested trek to a tunnel under the Cummings Skyway Pass through this dark orifice and you ll emerge on the other side of the hill with blazing sun and panoramic visage of the San Francisco Bay that can only be called stunning The random cow that sometimes grazes here might agree with an appreciative bellow The sun peaks through the trees along Edwards Creek Trail at Crockett Hills Regional Park in Crockett Calif on Saturday Oct Jose Carlos Fajardo Bay Area News Group Jose Carlos Fajardo Bay Area News Group Cocktail hour is allegedly approaching and beckoning hard is the surf-and-turf institution The Dead Fish Supposedly named after a quirk of the owner s nonna she couldn t remember names of the sea creatures she cooked so called everything dead fish the restaurant offers roasted Dungeness crab and Omaha prime rib in a kitsch-filled compound on the cliff The views of huge ships passing through the Strait are unbeatable as are the Drink-Like-a-Fish cocktails for only A Crabby Mood Martini or Bloody Shark served in a chilled wine glass Delightful Various of Crockett s hidden charms reveal themselves by wandering with no real purpose The Epperson Gallery is a spacious showcase for California landscapes and quirky animal sculptures You might learn that the Cat Vintage shop plans to open a Cat Museum this summer full of priceless antiques to cat lovers like feline dolls trinkets shirts staplers and more Garfields than you can shake a lasagna at Ask nicely and the owner might pull back the curtain on the in-progress museum Artist Jeffrey Tover is photographed with one of his paintings on display at Epperson Gallery in Crockett Calif on Sunday June Jose Carlos Fajardo Bay Area News Group Club Tac is a sleepy dive bar with drink specials and a wall of certificates that upon closer inspection turn out to be from E Clampus Vitus a men s-only organization devoted to the history of the Western Gold Rush Among its purported members was Gene Autry Ronald Reagan and the famous San Francisco eccentric Emperor Norton For dinner The Sicilian serves up traditional Italian plates like penne amatriciana or antipasti with burrata-stracciatella and marinated artichokes The restaurant may or may not be named in tribute to the eponymous movie starring local tough-guy actor Aldo Ray Lucia s Craft Sandwich closes in the afternoon but if you were fortunate enough to pick something up they re sizable enough for a dinner It s no exaggeration to say it s one of the best sandwich shops in the Bay focused on local produce and top-quality meats The mortadella with artichokes and fresh ricotta dances between delicate and decadent and the specials are constantly worth consideration a porchetta with orange and fennel-pollen salad say or a croque madame with Mornay sauce squash blossoms and a runny egg A Genoa Salami sandwich is photographed at Lucia's Craft Sandwich in Crockett Calif on Sunday June Jose Carlos Fajardo Bay Area News Group Crockett may have had dozens of bars in its history but in the present day is down to a handful a great one being Toot s Tavern Mentioned to be the longest continuously operating bar in Contra Costa County the wood-shrouded watering hole switches from sleepy neighborhood hangout during the day to high-energy music venue at night Patrons might stumble upon a thrash-metal band a Van Halen tribute an electro DJ or a -piece jazz ensemble anything s practicable here There s also declared to be a tunnel in Toot s basement that brokers used during Prohibition to get resupplies from the waterfront A few locals think it s a myth but a bartender swears it s true All of Crockett has tunnels under it he reported on a newest visit There were tons of bars during Prohibition and you can see the holes open up by the water Largest part are bricked over and I wouldn t recommend seeking them out Yeah it s kind of a weird old town Joe Kaline sings as Eric Eidbo plays the trumpet while performing at Toot's Tavern in Crockett Calif on Sunday June Jose Carlos Fajardo Bay Area News Group IF YOU GO Calaca Coffee Open a m - p m at Second Ave Crockett calacacoffee com Revival Coffee Open a m - p m Monday-Friday a m - p m Saturday and a m - p m Sunday at Rolph Park Drive Crockett therevivalcoffeeco com Crockett Historical Museum Closed until July then open a m - p m Wednesday and Saturday at Loring Ave Crockett crockettmuseum org Crockett Hills Regional Park Summer hours through August are a m - p m daily at Crockett Blvd Crockett ebparks org parks crockett-hills The Dead Fish Open noon- daily last seating p m at San Pablo Ave Crockett thedeadfish com Epperson Gallery Open a m - p m Friday-Sunday at Pomona St Crockett eppersongallery com The Cat Vintage Open noon- p m Friday a m - p m Saturday and a m - p m Sunday at nd Ave Crockett thecatvintage com The Sicilian Open p m - p m Thursday-Sunday at nd Ave Crockett thesiciliancrockett com Lucia s Craft Sandwich Open a m - p m Monday-Thursday and a m - p m Friday-Sunday at nd Ave Crockett luciascraftsandwich com Toot s Tavern Open noon- a m daily at nd Ave Crockett tootstavern com