Photo by Flo Gascon
Announcing our very first guest blog post by Flo Gascon. Flo, has two beautiful daughters and husband and resides here in San Diego. She has a blog, Sumbthucker, is an aspiring photographer and is the creator of the Good Vibrations Unschooling Conference which will be held this year September 8-11th in Del Mar, CA.
Last year we created a paper chain of places to go and things to do. It was a prompt for those days when we had nothing planned and also a reminder to do the things we were interested in but tend to forget about. On an unusually overcast day in July I pulled out the chain and read “visit a mission.” Well, this being Southern California, that’s an easy one as they dot the coast along old El Camino Real. The original bell-shaped lamp-posts chart the way from one to another. I was in the mood for getting out of the San Diego area so my girls and I headed up to Orange County to visit Mission San Juan Capistrano. It was a lovely day trip that I now recommend.
Admission included an audio tour, which we all enjoyed listening to at various points of interest. The lily ponds and koi fish captured our attention immediately upon entering the grounds. They were so beautiful! I may have taken a picture or two or eighty, ahem. The colors were vibrant and the fish were active so we spent lots of time near the pools of water we found. Wandering amongst the old buildings I felt small. This mission is very old, founded by the Spaniards in the 1700s, so the history is rich and significant. The church is a beautiful stone marvel, with ornate touches and a quiet place to rest. Services are still held here, making it the country’s oldest operating church. The curators have made it easy to imagine life on the property: rooms are displayed with period items and abundant signs detail gardening practices and working features such as a furnace and tannery. The doorways are so short and the benches so hard. The natural color of the walls, clothing and décor is soothing. The landscaping is mostly native to Southern California and adds colorful life to so much adobe, brick and wood. I really enjoyed touring the grounds and admiring all the little surprises we continued to happen upon. So many photo opportunities! Bells, crumbling walls, benches, flowers, fish, hymnals, archways, gravesites, olive trees, history- all of it lovely. We wandered from building to building, talking about what we saw, listening to the audio bits and resting in silence a lot. There was much to take in and although modern, busy life was just on the other side of the wall, we felt as if we were in another world for a few hours.
There are special events held almost daily. Basket weaving, panning for gold, garden tours and living history days are all scheduled throughout the month. In addition there are concerts, nights of camping and special exhibits, such as the Zorro exhibit we saw. Artifacts and costumes from two movies were on display and we sat for a while and watched a bit of the 1920s adaptation. Then we posed as wooden characters and laughed and laughed and laughed at the silly faces we made.
This spring is a great time to visit. March 19th an annual festival is held: Saint Joseph’s Day and the Return of the Swallows Celebration. Yes, each year swallows arrive from Argentina and it’s apparently a memorable sight to behold. I can understand why they return to such a beautiful and peaceful space to enjoy the warm days of San Juan Capistrano. The trip for us is perhaps shorter and less tiresome, but we, too, appreciate the gentle pace, relaxing atmosphere and lovely grounds of the mission. It is very worthy of a visit. If you go, leave your stress at home, take your time and breathe in the beauty.
Learn more at http://missionsjc.com.
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