Gold Country Boogie: Dancin' in the Streets

No cars, no traffic, just you and your pals, shakin' it, in Amador City.

THE STREETS BELONG TO US: "Tonight, the Streets Are Ours," that great sing-along ditty by Richard Hawley, hasn't had too much play in our everyday lives. That's because the streets tend to belong to vehicles, for the most part, things on wheels, and for us to do anything but safely leave one sidewalk and head for another, across the way, via a crosswalk, isn't all that advisable. But people are making the streets fully pedestrian-ready now and then, for a few hours, for special events, now and then. Look to marathons and other runs, like Bay to Breakers, and look to LA's own bike-fun CicLAvia, which sees thousands of cyclists take over a closed-to-cars thoroughfare.

AMADOR CITY... of Gold Country is on board with this lively trend, too, but it won't be runners or people on bikes rolling through the no-autos boulevards; it'll be dancers shakin' their stuff to live tunes. The smallest incorporated city in California will turn over a street -- Water Street, if you're curious, which is next to the historic Imperial Hotel -- to dancers and revelers and hanger-outers every Saturday night from June 20 through Aug. 8. Planning on a wine country trip during the middle of summer? Are the vineyards of Gold Country on your must-visit list? Then you can pencil in a Saturday night in one of the sweetest of cities that is, if not literally, then in spirit quite pocket-sized and oh-so-charming.

LIVE MUSIC... shall rule, and rock and country and honky tonk and blues shall reign, depending on the evening you show up. As for the border defining where the dancing begins? Look for the hay bales, a charming touch for a charming town. By the by, Amador City is turning 100 this year, but no gift on your part is required. Just show up on a summer Saturday prepared to do a little jumping and swaying and living it up under the stars and by some of the most historic buildings in the Golden State.

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