Things to Do in Lodi

Wine-tasting along Lodi's "Zinfandel Lane" on Turner Road

Between railroad tracks and vineyard shadows you taste head-pruned old-vine zinfandel. Blackberry jam and cracked pepper coat your tongue. Glasses clink. Barn swallows dive overhead. A freight train rumbles. Diesel drifts into fermenting-grape air.

Sunset kayak float on the Mokelumne River

Push off at Lodi Lake. Glide downstream through valley-oak tunnels. Water turns copper. Bats flick overhead. A distant tractor hums under your paddle drip.

World of Wonders Science Museum downtown

It's retro-future chaos. Kids launch paper rockets overhead. Stick your hand in a Van de Graaff generator. Hair rises. Buzz tingles.

Thursday-night street fair on School Street

May through August shuts asphalt to traffic. Kettle-corn smoke drifts. Local jazz trios play. Farmers stack peaches so fragrant you smell them three booths away.

Lodi Arch neon photo stop after dark

The 1906 Mission-Revival arch glows cherry-red against night sky. Traffic hisses below. Frame the classic small-town-America shot.

Downtown brick lofts near School Street pulse bass from wine-bar jazz until midnight.

Turner Road vineyard B&Bs where you wake to sprinklers hissing over the vines

Lodi Lake cabins with kayaks included and ducks tapping at your sliding door

Budget motels clustered by Hwy 99 ramps, fine for a crash after zin tasting

Chain hotels off Beckman Road with pools kids use in 100-degree July

Vintage Court bungalows sit two blocks from the arch. Floors creak. Corkscrews are free.