Lunch and Old Town

San Diego Metro KOA

Chula Vista, CA

January 10, 2022 

Old Town San Diego is a state protected park in San Diego and rightfully so.  

It is known as the birth place of California.  History states that  in 1769 Father Junipero Sierra, along with a group of Spanish soldiers established the first permanent settlements on a hill overlooking the San Diego River and what is Old Town today.  Presidio Park, built by Father Sierra, is a beautiful Mission with lots of history that I wrote about in a blog post five years ago in January 2017.  It was the first time we met Jeff and Fran and what a treat it was to have locals as guides that day as we explored the park.  If you are interested, the "featured post" side bar (top right) is a link to that fun day.  

Thank you Jeff and Fran !

For the years since then, when visiting San Diego having lunch with Jeff and Fran is something Joe and I look forward to.  Today we met them at Casa Guadalajara (Jeff and Fran's choice and what a great choice it was!) in Old Town.  Their company, laughter and conversation was the highlight.  

The patio setting at Casa Guadalajara was perfect!

And it's worth mentioning that the food we were served was nothing short of a masterpiece of yummy goodness that I forgot to photo.  

We have visited Old Town several times, and I still enjoy perusing the streets there. The colors make me happy.

Joe's mom always said, "Things don't just grow in California, they flourish."  I couldn't agree more !

At first glance, I thought this tree was decorated...

What an interesting flower... 

There is so much history in Old Town.  Much of the history and the stories center around old buildings...homes, businesses, barns, etc. that are now museums.  One building,  The Church of the Immaculate Conception, is still a functioning church.  Today, it serves over 300 families and visitors from around the world.  It was dedicated in 1858 and the cornerstone to the present church was laid in 1868. 

It is often called the Old Adobe Chapel on Conde Street today.      

Stained glass window from inside the church

The bell tower...the church was seismically retrofitted to withstand earthquakes in 2019.

But sometimes, the history of a place is found in the food we enjoy !  And aren't we happy about that?  Handmade tortillas made from scratch the old fashioned way usually draws a crowd.  The dough gets hand pressed and rolled out and with a lot of practice...no presses needed here... a perfectly round tortilla is born.  Everyday in Old Town, over 3,000 corn tortillas are made using between 300-400 pounds of corn and 5,600 flour tortillas are made using about 700 pounds.  Now that's a lot of tortillas !  The dough rises and bubbles while they cook on large flat grills and the air fills with the smell of deliciousness.  Yet another reason to enjoy perusing the streets !       

Tortillas date back to 10,000 BC to the Mayan time.

    

I'll close with a few more favorite photos ...

The week is off to a wonderful start.  It actually began at San Diego's biggest farmer's market on Sunday...more on that later.  Until next time, 

HAPPY TRAILS !

A Little Shopping and Some Birding

San Diego Metro KOA

Chula Vista, CA

January 6, 2022

 Tuesday, I realized I had forgotten to pack my beach hat and walking the beach is definitely on the list of favorite things to do.  To fix the problem, Joe and I headed out to Seaport Village to a great little hat shop.  

I know it is a great little hat shop because there is a hat I bought there still sitting on the shelf in our closet in Tucson.  

Oh well, a girl can't have too many hats ! Seaport Village is less than 10 miles from the KOA and a nice place to spend a couple of hours. There are lots of other small speciality shops, but the best part is the walk along the bay.

One of the oldest and most iconic historical neighborhoods in San Diego is Little Italy.  

It all began as a "humble" fishing community populated by Italian immigrants back in the 1920s and has grown into a chic, pedestrian-friendly neighborhood.  Boutiques, music venues, bars and restaurants line the street today.  And on Wednesdays and Saturdays, the big attraction is the Little Italy Mercato...year round...rain or shine. The Saturday Market fills six city blocks (Date Street is closed to traffic).  Produce, flowers, meats, eggs, oils and breads are among the many items sold by local vendors.  We chose to go Wednesday which is about a third the size of Saturday's event.  

Date Street is closed for both days.

 

Our bag was mostly empty except for a loaf of rosemary sourdough bread and sun-dried garlic spread.  There were lots of vendors with root plant produce...beets, turnips, carrots, etc. 

And as always, the  bundles of flowers locally grown were beautiful.

I'm not a big city girl, but I love to visit the city and walking the streets in Little Italy is totally a fun time.  It has skyscrapers, outside bars and restaurants, store windows full of color and charm, and history.   

Fancy umbrellas on a balcony...don't forget to look up!

Trees are planted along the sidewalks approximately 10 walking strides apart.

Today was birding day.  We chose Bayside Birding and Walking Trail which connects to the Bayshore Biking Trail and together make for a decent walk.  We chose to begin our walk in Imperial Beach which is less the 10 miles from the KOA. 

  

During the past century, 70% of the Bay's salt marsh was either dredged or filed for development.  Restoration in San Diego Bay began in 2011. Tidal flows were restored bringing back lost habitat for a wide variety of fish, birds, other animals and plants. 

There wasn't any info on what these were.  What is your guess?

Most of what is the Bayshore Bikeway was originally known as The Coronado Beltway Railroad. 

It was constructed in 1888 to bring passengers and supplies to the Coronado Beach Company Development.  

The Beltway supplied materials for the construction of Fort Emory (1942). 

Until next time, bottoms up ! 

HAPPY TRAILS !