Things to Do in El Dorado Hills

Everything changed for Bob and Chris Quinlan when they organized a successful pub crawl for their local Rotary club in 2005. The positive reception to their event led the pair to found AppeteasersUSA in 2011, which has since expanded from its initial tour in Folsom to include outings in Northern and Southern California, Washington, and Florida. Across the country, AppeteasersUSA’s savvy guides can be found leading patrons from culinary hot spot to hot spot.

Throughout the four-hour tours, herds of at least 25 tour goers stop at restaurants and bars unique to the area—eschewing chains and large franchises—for 30-minute stints, nibbling on appetizers and noting which kitchen appliances might come to life after the restaurant closes. To wash down savory flavors, patrons can swig discounted drinks at each establishment.

Imagine Affairs revitalizes the classic murder-mystery template with current-day touches: Scenarios reference the modern nightclub in which the audience and actors gather, and cases are cracked by CSI-style cops, not Holmesian detectives or omniscient robots. Meanwhile, the actors leaven the dire situation with doses of improv comedy and audience interaction, which lets guests become as entangled in plot twists as they want.

Staffed by experienced professionals and computers who’ve sworn allegiance to the Three Laws of Golfing Robotics, GolfTec’s syndicate of golf training centers grooms games with a five-pronged approach enhanced by technological refinements. Score-shaving wisdom resonates within the walls of the indoor facilities, where certified personal coaches point out flaws and strengths while providing golfers with tips to permanently improve their game from tee to green. By utilizing video swing analysis and motion-measurement software, instructors can assess pupils’ abilities with objective data and a fact-based tact superior to traditional hearsay-oriented coaching strategies. To further enhance performance, GolfTec offers club-fitting services to match each swing profile with its ideal set of sticks.

BounceU transports kids to an inflatable, climate-controlled playground, where they can bounce from side to side in a safe, secure environment. Children can practice for future careers as catapult payloads during adrenaline-pumping birthday parties, with options such as private bounce rooms and glow-in-the-dark accessories, or they can play during open bounce sessions throughout the week.

Adults are welcome to act like 8-year-olds and join the vivacious youngsters in the playground, where they can duel with the foam-shooting equipment or mount the climbing structures while imagining they're synchronized leapers in Michael Flatley's Riverbounce. The attentive BounceU staff will monitor the rebounding playground at all times, ensuring the facilities are safe and clean.

Bicycle Plus’s staff, a group of avid cyclists, brings an acute awareness to bike sales and tune-ups, garnering the store a series of awards for excellent bicycle retailing. Veteran mechanics work their magic on ailing frames throughout basic tune-ups and complete overhauls in the service department while finding time to teach curious DIYers how to fix a flat tire with peanut butter during free weekly bike-maintenance classes. The sales team pairs up shoppers with glossy rides from Trek, Specialized, and Colnago using the doctor-devised Body Geometry bike-fitting system to ensure maximum riding comfort.

Blanketed in wall-to-wall trampolines, Sky High Sports delights barefoot fun-seekers with springy terrain and an exclusive court for jumpers 8 and younger. Guests can hone front flips, back flips, and belly flops during intense free-bounce sessions. Each trampoline comes equipped with a specially designed spring-loaded frame and thick, 2-inch safety pads that grant patrons a landing cushier than a corner office at a marshmallow factory. Stuffed with blocks of spongy, body-molding material, a foam pit dares treasure-seekers to fling themselves in or scour its depths for the lost contents of bygone pockets. Pintsize aerialist posses can safely practice their synchronized Salchows on 360 degrees of trampoline walls while court supervisors watch from the sidelines and award hard-earned praise with oversize scorecards.

Sky High also offers AIRobics fitness classes and monthly dodge-ball tournaments to help jumpers explore the outermost stratospheres of trampoline possibilities.