State Park #6: Old Town San Diego State Historic Park

Step back in time to the 1820s to 1870s when you take your family to the Old Town San Diego State Historic Park.  You'll stroll among many firsts including the first brick building built in San Diego and San Diego's first public school.  The entrance has no fee, but bring your purse for the shopping.

Old Town San Diego, Photo by Krenda

In 1769, Father Junipero Serra built the first of 21 missions, next to the Presido, a Spanish fort on a hill overlooking the San Diego River.  A community formed when Spanish Soldiers began building residences below the hill in the 1820s.  Old Town California's first settlement.  Now you can visit up to 32 historic sites including chapels, newspaper office, hotel, schoolhouse, courthouse, stable museum, and houses at the park.  If you time your visit to Wednesday or Saturday, you will likely see staff in period costumes st
rolling around the grounds.  Perhaps you'll see a blacksmith or woodworker.

Besides history, you'll find plenty of entertainment including shops and restaurants.  With over 100 shops, you'll find two main shopping areas: 1) Bazaar del Mundo or "Marketplace of the World" with clothing, jewelry, and pottery.  Besides the touristy clothing, I found decorative, bright flowers for our home.  Keep walking to shopping area number 2) Fiesta de Reyes with 19 specialty shops.  My friend found a new favorite tea.  Just look for the water fountain and arch for the entrance.  Kids may enjoy make your own candles at Toby's Candle and Soap shop.

The walking made us hungry for Mexican food.  There's more than one Mexican restaurant and we chose Cafe Coyote.  The women making hand made tortillas enticed us into the hacienda-style hideaway up to the second floor patio.  Later I learned that customers voted it the best Mexican restaurant in San Diego 15 years in a row. 

After lunch, we had more energy to visit the Whaley House Museum which includes a fee.  While I didn't see any ghosts, it's considered the number one most haunted house in the United States according to the Travel Channel's America's Most Haunted.  The house was constructed in 1856 on a former gallow's site where a thief was hung five years prior.  It doesn't take long to look at the 13 room house, but we ended the tour listening to a super enthusiastic guide who made the fee worthwhile.

If we had more time, I would have visited Presidio Park located above Old Town.  It includes the Junipero Serra museum and would have continued the history lesson.

If I could choose a specific time, I would visit during Cinco de Mayo for their three day event including music, wrestling, and Ballet Folklorico dancers.

Mom Blooper #2: St. Patrick's Day in Chicago

St. Patrick's Day began as a public holiday in Ireland in 1903.  It celebrates Patrick, a missionary and bishop who converted Irish citizens to Christians.  The shamrock, a three-leaved plant, was used to explain the Holy Trinity (unity of Father, Son, and Holy Spirit).  March 17th marked his date of death.  Christians of the Catholic Church, Anglican Communion, and Lutheran Church especially recognized the date.  Many countries now celebrate St. Patrick's Day and people enjoy wearing green and shamrocks.

Chicago is often cited as ranking within the Top 10 of St. Patrick's celebrations in the world with four locations prior: 1) Dublin, Ireland, 2) British Virgin Islands, 3) New York, and 4) Boston.  Chicago's famous tradition is using eco-friendly vegetable dye to make the river turn a vibrant emerald green.  The color lasts five hours, so citizens and tourists line the river and later walk to the parade.  The parade is also recognized because it is one of the largest St. Patrick's Day parades.  

With downtown Chicago only an hour away, it sounds like a terrific family event.  I knew parking could prove difficult considering the expected 400,000 spectators.  It made sense to take the train downtown.  There begins the Mom Blooper.  If I had conducted a bit more research, I would have also seen the event descriptions as "raucous pub crawls to lively parades, jovial crowds."

I might have noticed the Wikipedia description of the U.S. celebration as including "copious consumption of alcohol".  

The minute we boarded the train, I knew we had an adventure on our hands.  Most of the other passengers were drunk teenagers, drinking hidden alcohol in water bottles.  Each stop picked up more loud drunk teenagers.  We needed a restroom on the walk to the river.  The women's restroom with an overflowed toilet, I had to referee a bunch of teenage boys and explain that both the girls and the boys could take their turns using the one boys bathroom stall.  The kids still found the river amazing.  The kids still liked the costumes and balloons.  We followed the crowd to the parade route.  We walked slowly and carefully through the thick, dense crowd; we thought we'd lose a kid.  If the train was full of drunk teens in the morning, I could only imagine the ride home.  I was right.  The conductor raised his voice and tried to get some control.  On the upside the journey provided a teaching moment, "see what happens when teenagers drink too much."