Old Town

Next up, on our trip to California, was old town. There is a historic park you can visit. It is full of replicas and original buildings from when San Diego was first built. You can wander around and see the museums they have there and the some of the buildings have been turned into shops.

We first went in and toured an old hacienda. It was very interesting to see how they lived back then and the furniture, etc was just beautiful.

We then went and toured the first court house in San Diego. The Mormon battalion helped make it and they showed the people how to make bricks. Another thing, I had no idea about. It wasn't very big. One big room and two smaller ones. The jail was out in back. Jaden is standing next to it. It was all metal, you would die of heat stroke! I would not want to be put in one of those. This one is original to the time period. The court house, itself, burnt down and this was a replica we went through. They did have some original bricks and some other artifacts in there.

This was the first ever hotel in San Diego, the Cosmopolitan. It was actually getting ready to re-open as a hotel again. Kinda interesting. It's open now.

We went through the Wells Fargo Building. The first bank. We are standing next to one of the stage coaches from that era. I think it could fix 14 people on top and then I think it was 10 in side? I would much have preferred to sit inside. There were a couple of telegraphs in there, that is what Ellie is standing by. I marvel at people who can figure that out! The building had been turned into a museum, so there were all kinds of facts and interesting things to see. I think, this building, had burned down too, so it had been rebuilt.

The kids pointing at home and where we were in California. We are a long way from home!

We went through one of the first restaurants. This lady was telling us about the kitchen and the restaurant. This is the kitchen portion. They put there shelves on ropes, so the rats couldn't eat the food. They don't like movement, so if the shelves would move and they would jump on them, they would jump off. I didn't know that. She also talked about what they served. You could go around on the other side and see the restaurant. It was a lot of money in those days for people to eat at one. You really had to have money to afford one.

We went through a barn. It had all kinds of big old wagons and other vehicles in there.Upstairs it had Indian artifacts and artifacts from the first cowboys. We also went through one of the first printing shops and then we went through a school.

This beauty was outside of another house. Jaden just couldn't resist having his picture taken with it. Nice! We had a great time exploring and learning about the past. Next stop Balboa Park.