On the north side of the Carquinez Straits, through which the Sacramento and San Joaquin Rivers flow into San Francisco Bay, Vallejo is a blue-collar maritime town still reeling from the closure of its huge and historic Mare Island naval shipyard, which from 1854 to 1994 built and maintained many of the country’s fighting ships and submarines. The town served as California’s state capital on two different occasions in the gold rush years of the early 1850s. Vallejo’s bona fide attraction these days is the Six Flags Marine World theme park (hours vary, daily in summer; $45; 707/643-6722), on the north side of town just west of I-80, with 160 acres of elephants, tigers, sea lions, and killer whales, all trained to perform tricks on cue. The adjacent amusement park is the largest in Northern California, with a huge array of thrill rides.
Vallejo also marks the turnoff for Hwy-12, which runs north and west through the Wine Country of the Napa and Sonoma Valleys.
