Julian, CA

Tim and I went to Julian yesterday. Julian is a city that is located an hour east of San Diego and is 4235 ft about sea level. It is also a CDP area (census-designated place) with a population of 1502. The median income is $44,700 and a median age of 43. It is an official California Historical Landmark (#412) and follows certain building codes to keep the city looking historical. The town was named by Drue Baily after his cousin Mike Julian who later was elected San Diego County Assessor. Julian, at one time, was in consideration for the county seat. The area, was occupied by the Kumeyaay people and later in 1845 it became part of the Rancho Cuyamaca Mexican land grant. After the U.S. Civil War Julian became an area that some Georgia slaves came to call home and experienced a gold rush due to a rancher, A.E. "Fred" Coleman. He was crossing the now named Coleman Creek and saw a glimmer in the water. This started the gold rush in 1869. In 1870 the first gold claim was filed and Julian became a gold mining town for about 10 years. During this time James Madison came to the area with a wagon full of young apple trees and started planting them. The trees flourished and today Apples are a huge product of Julian. The apple variety grown are less sweet than most apples but are great for making pies and cider. Julian is known for their Apple pies.
When Tim was stationed in San Diego during the late 1970's he use to ride his motorcycle up the winding roads to Julian. He remembered the amazing scenery along the way and he was right. Half the fun of going to Julian is the drive. When we got to Julian we walked around the town and checked out a few shops. We then had lunch at the Julian Cafe and Bakery. That restaurant was built in 1888 but was burned down in 1958. It was rebuilt in 1978 and kept the decor close to what it would have been in the late 1800's early 1900's. The food was good and reasonably priced. Of course every cafe in Julian has the best Julian Apple pie but we decided to have our pie a little later. After lunch, we continued to explore the town and ended our day at the Julian Pie Factory for a piece of apple pie, a la mode, of course. It was good and we enjoyed our pies on their back porch. Julian's picturesque setting attracts tourists, recreationalists and antiique lovers and now I can see why. It is a place to be visited if you are in the San Diego area.
Today, Tim and I will be visiting downtown San Diego, Cornado Island and the famous Hotel Del Cornado.