Residents still benefit today from their efforts. Stop in at the visitor center and Bidwell Mansion on Esplandade across Big Chico Creek from downtown. Be sure to leave time for the 25-minute movie about John and Annie Bidwell before spending the dollar to tour the mansion. It's 3700 acres offer picnicking, swimming, flat land walking and biking as well as mountainous hiking and biking, plus many other sports. Also downtown is the National Yo Yo Museum at the Bird in Hand store located at 320 Broadway.
Admission is free.
The Museum was under renovation, but we did get to see the world's largest Yo Yo, which is 50 inches tall and weighs in at 256 pounds. I didn't take pictures of their fabulous work as I didn't feel pictures could do it justice. Watch the artists at work as they create intricate, three-dimensional designs encased in clear glass for which the studio is now famous. The skill of these artists is so outstanding their work reside permanently in the Chrysler Museum, Corning Glass Museum, the Metropolitan and Smithsonian. We just began to uncover the wonders of Chico in the two and a half days of sightseeing we did.