Things to Do in Vallejo

At Bay West Ballroom, students learn how to tango alongside their identical twin, whether they were actually born with one or not. The studio's eastern wall of mirrors stretches for 60 feet, ensuring that students’ reflections are always visible as they spin on the sprung beech-wood floor. On the opposite side, windows admit sunlight and scenic views of the hills, creating an ethereal space where seasoned instructors demonstrate ballroom, Latin, and swing dance styles. Drawing from a diverse curriculum, these instructors cover a broad spectrum of disciplines that range from the cha-cha to the country two-step, encouraging practice in both the classroom and social settings. For example, lessons on popular salsa steps prepare pupils to spin at nightclubs, and wedding courses customize choreography to match a chosen song at elegant receptions.

Directors Mark and Andrea Nelson-Novak have both earned championship titles, and Andrea draws on a degree in biology to better inform her protégés on anatomy, movement, and the location of the body’s rhythm glands. The pair enlists other experts—including US Country and Swing Champion Tony Gutsch and Grand National Latin Finalists Dima and Olga Sukachov—to helm specialized and regular classes. The team also hosts holiday parties each year.

Live2kite's Richmond and Greenbrae locations facilitate wave-riding instruction while also supplying maritime hobbyists with billowing chutes, sturdy boards, and stylish apparel for kitesurfing, standup paddleboarding, and wakeboarding. Canopies by makers such as Ozone, RRD, and Slingshot float upon air currents, free from the interference of kite-hating trees. Rental gear equips wave riders for hours at sea, and lessons impart kiting and paddling basics as well as more advanced tricks and tactics for surfing atop dolphins.

Sailing is in Pam Power's blood. After cutting her teeth chartering small boats in Minnesota, she moved to San Francisco, met her yacht Glory Days, and the rest was history. Alongside her experienced crew, she steers the 51-foot luxury yacht on sailing cruises through San Francisco Bay. The fiberglass vessel carries between 6 and 30 passengers in its spacious upper decks and cozy interior salon. During excursions, the ship cruises past the city skyline and historic Alcatraz and Angel Islands before traveling back in time via the wormhole beneath the Golden Gate Bridge.

After publishing the first edition of her guidebook, Sausalito Wooden Boat Tour, writer and artist Victoria Colella organized tours to showcase the sites and narratives she expertly examined in print. Boating, walking, and one-hour mini tours traverse the shipways and wooden-boat center that initially inspired Victoria to pen her book and swear off land. Guides discuss historic WWII vessels, the Arques School wooden-boat collection, and boats owned by celebrities such as Jack Benny. In addition to guided excursions, Sausalito Wooden Boat Tour brings nautical history to life with treasure hunts and kids' sessions that combine walking jaunts with sea chanteys, slideshows, and model-houseboat building.

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.