We couldn’t believe our good luck today. It started first thing in the morning. The weather yesterday was cool, cloudy, and rainy. The forecast for today was cool and cloudy with showers. In fact, the sun came out and we had a fantastic day.The good luck continued when they let us disembark. If you’ve been watching the news, you know that doesn’t always happen these days. Our original plan was to take the Green light rail from the port to our hotel in Old Town. When I looked it up on Google, I saw warnings of some flooding, so we decided to take a cab. We got the suitcases locked away in the liquor closet (which I figured was probably the most secure room in the hotel). The next order of business was to make sure we knew where to catch the train tomorrow morning. We spent quite a bit of time wondering around, mostly because there is no passenger terminal in Old Town. We finally found where to board the train, and we found the ticket printing machines, and we got our tickets printed. Excellent! Then we wandered off to Old Town looking for information. We found the information desk just 10 minutes before the free morning tour. The day couldn’t have possibly gone better.
We learned that San Diego was a desert area with very limited vegetation and almost no natural resources. Nobody wanted it. We’ve seen plenty of exhibits about the 1850s and given quite a few tours. But we still saw some new stuff. The bedroom of one house had hanging shelves to protect valuables against damage during earthquakes. The walls were stenciled near the ceiling. The red lines are tree branches and represent the man. The flowers represent the woman. The two are tied together at the very left side of the picture. This is where the couple’s bed would have been in the original house. There were only a few houses built, and they were built with adobe due to the lack of other building materials. The second house we visited was built with whitewashed brick because — big surprise here — the Mormons helped build the house. I had no idea the Mormons were ever in San Diego. It turns out to be an interesting story in its own right, but far too log for this blog.
The bed netting is because of biting insects — fleas in this area. The outdoor stove shown burned cow dung because there wasn’t any other fuel available. Our guide speculated that pizza probably had a unique, pungent flavor. The next picture is of the first school house. It was built very quickly with scrap material from a ship wreck so they could qualify for a government grant. As it happens, the wood they used was Cyprus. Local termites don’t like Cyprus, making this the only wood building from that era that still stands. The last picture is of me getting ready to be a Mormon soldier.
It’s time to get ready for dinner. Our hotel has a large restaurant. After dinner, we’ll go to a play. The theater is just a block away. I hope this finds everybody doing well.
