Sometime around 30 years ago, Mom and Dad loaded their 4 kids into an air condition-less car on another of many sweltering summer evenings and made the trek to Sacramento's famed Music Circus. My mom had been talking about it for weeks and I picked up on a few things; it was going to be hot inside the tent, there were fruit freezes at intermission and we were going to see Peter Pan fly.

It was part of Mom's wonderful and ever present efforts to try and introduce her 4 very athletic focused children to the arts. The Music Circus is now in it's 67th year here in Sacramento (15th with air conditioning . . . hooray) and the theatre in the round is one of the city's true treasures.

This June we took our daughter and son to see Disney's production of Beauty and the Beast and as the lights went dark the feelings of family and tradition came full circle.

The California Musical Theatre puts on the Music Circus and it is a truly exceptional Sacramento-only experience. For many folks, like myself, it is a summer tradition that can't be missed. If you've never been it's worth the price of admission and then some.

. . . and if you do go, take a short detour to the east side of business 80 where you can explore East Sacramento, one of the areas most charming and desirable neighborhoods.