SoCal Trip - 3 - San Juan Capistrano

This is the view of the mission from the Starbucks across the street.  However, if you should be planning a visit, you might want to try the coffe place shown below (you can get a Starbucks anywhere).

The Starbuck has an old brick facade which is carried over into the little plaza pictured below.

 Fall is in the air here, too.

 It was too early to tour the mission, and I had just been there this summer, so I took a few shots from outside the wall.

I don't know if they age the tiles before using them as replacement pieces or if these have come from a renovation project.

I took a side trip to a little historic district to catch a little local color.

The Hummingbird House Cafe is well over 100 years old and is located just across the tracks from the old train depot, which doubles as a couple of restaurants. It is along the entry way into the old San Juan Capistrano.

The Hidden House is also well over 100 years old and might make for an interesting coffee break.  As I said, you can find a Starbucks anywhere.

 Another old house with an 'interesting' accent color choice.

The old train depot is now Sarducci's and beside it, off the tracks, is an old railroad car restaurant called The Vintage Steak House

In a little park we just happened by this HUGE tree covered with ornaments.

 One last shot of some nice color by the train depot.

Mission at San Juan Capistrano

 The Mission at San Juan Capistrano, that's where the sparrows return every year, right? Well, sort of.  They used to return to the mission by the thousands, but lately have been going farther inland and only a few return to the mission. 

The chapel was destroyed in an earthquake back in 1812, and about 40 people died trapped in the rubble.  It is reported to have had 9 vaulted ceilings and had been adorned with Indian artwork as they were the ones who built it (under the watchful eyes of the Spanish, no doubt).

Much of the courtyard buildings housing the monks and Spanish guard were either spared or rebuilt, but the chapel never was.  There had been some relatively recent efforts to stabilize the ruins and protect them from further damage in future earthquales.

Jake wasn't very interested in the mission, but a new DS game kept him from bugging us to leave for a good little while.

This small chapel was rebuilt and still holds worship services.

Here is a storeroom for food and wine. it even had a loft (you can see parts of the ladder on the right).

I don't know if it was typical for men to share a room or if this was more for the guard and/or guests and doubled as a dining room (though most of the time, I would think it would be nice enough to eat outdoors).

The grounds had been well kept and lush with flowers and fountains as well as cacti

Plants in the fountain are designed to have someting in bloom pretty much all year round.

This little passageway was blocked off, but it seems like it leads to a nice peaceful little spot.

There was certainly more here than I had expected and I didn't get to see everything.  They had nice little recorded interpretive stations you could listen to as you went and little extras to listen in on if you wanted.