Things to Do in Concord

The Walnut Creek Downtown Business Association fosters community engagement and the vitality of local merchants through a variety of programs, events, and general support. Popular events held throughout the year include wine walks, sidewalk sales, and fine-arts festivals.

Recycled, earth-friendly materials lay the groundwork for Tierra Yoga’s studio. Reclaimed wood turned art adorns the jade-green walls, and natural, biodegradable rubber yoga mats rest on the recycled flooring. Tierra Yoga’s instructors lead Hatha-based classes within the serene, open, thoughtfully designed space, breathing in time with their students as they practice self-awareness and connectivity to nature. Their classes, like phone calls to various ex-spouses, range in difficulty. This range provides a space for students of all fitness levels, from gentle yoga that focuses on perfecting foundational steps to athletic, vigorous classes in power-yoga sessions.

As the sun rises over the emerald greens and fairways of Grayson Woods Golf Course, the shadows cast by Mount Diablo in the east recede and players tee up to test their mettle against the challenging par-27 course. Each of the course’s nine holes is nestled between trees and water hazards, raising the stakes and level of difficulty for junior, adult, and senior players alike. Alongside the main course, players develop their orb-rolling stroke on an 18-hole putting course that sits atop an ultra-modern surface free of divots, dirt clods, and rigs drilling for untapped sources of iced-tea-lemonade. The staff, which includes a PGA professional and an LPGA professional, offers private lessons to give improving players an edge at regularly scheduled tournaments such as the Junior-Senior Open and Ladies’ Day.

Helmed by founder Tom Rezendes, NorCal Golf Academy’s PGA professional instructors believe that there are infinite ways to swing a golf club. In this spirit, they help each student find his or her own best approach, taking into account physical limitations to craft goals that are as lofty as the berries on a berry bush. The indoor facility’s wealth of technology helps the teachers create such individualized road maps with three practice bays outfitted with K-Vest motion analysis—a system that uses wireless sensors to assess movement patterns—and GC2 launch monitors, which depict ball flight on flat-screen HDTVs.

The PGA professionals take all this information into account while offering recommendations. Operating on the premise that there is no such thing as a quick fix and that overall fitness is key to a good game, they also focus on adding new drills over time, and encourage students to participate in the facility’s golf fitness classes. The specially designed workouts can help golfers build a solid swing and generate the muscle needed to fight off water-hazard gators.

Legend has it that, one night, while Daryn Coleman was hard at work on the construction of his indoor mini-golf course, he watched a fan move across the floor all by itself. The irony of the event was not lost on an awe-stricken Daryn—the plan for his new course was to be centered on graveyard-inspired animatronics of his own design. 

The hauntings didn't stop when Ghost Golf opened for business. Staff members continued to report supernatural incidents unrelated to the course's spooky decor. Finally, after catching some mysterious orbs on the security cameras, Daryn called in medium Maria Langana. Maria immediately discovered the presence of Everett, a self-described friendly spirit who expressed a fondness for amusement parks and admitted a special appreciation for the course's morbid special effects. 

Everett purportedly continues to hang out around Ghost Golf—his favorite haunt seems to be the fifth hole. His supernatural presence only adds to the ambiance of a nine-hole, wheelchair-accessible course that meanders through a chilling array of urns, skeletons, and ghouls who take mischievous pleasure in blowing balls off track.

Innerstellar Pilates & Yoga owner Kristin "Kiki" Lovelace's passion for health and wellness permeates throughout her studio as students heal both mind and body through holistic services that includes yoga and Pilates classes, massage, acupuncture, and therapy sessions. It makes sense that a self-proclaimed anatomy nerd like Kiki would gravitate toward Forrest yoga's challenging postures and healing techniques; she went on to study the style for five years under her mentor. Along with yoga certification, Kiki and members of her crew also hold Pilates machine- and mat-teaching certifications, and offer a range of other holistic healing services to support each client's path to healthy living.