Oceanside has some odd tourist places to visit so Tim and I decided to check some of them out yesterday. We headed for the coast. In Florida, most coastal areas look pretty much the the same with the swimsuit and souvenier shops, the bars and restaurants and all sorts of rental vehicles like scooters, golf carts and dune buggies. The Pacific coast is a little different. The beach areas have all types of business and lots of little burger and sandwich shops. The parking is slim because most people live in the neighborhood or park at the beach and walk through the town. We drove down the historic Hwy 101 to check out some tourist oddities. We came across a Papa Burger Statue, from the A & W Rootbeer family. I do not remember the family from A & W Rootbeer but I do remember the A & W drive ins. Papa Burger is still original and has not been updated. He now stands in front of Angelo's Burgers on Hwy 101. We then checked out another burger place, Cafe 101. It was established in 1928 and opened as a cafe with seating for 20. Through out the years, 101 Cafe has changed hands. During WW II there was a large amount of people moving to the Oceanside area to live while building planes in San Diego. 101 Cafe was a major hangout because it was open from 6:00am to Midnight 7 days a week and still is today. It became a Drive In during the 1950's, 60's and into the 70's. By the end of the 1970's Drive thru restaurants became the norm and the Drive In went away. For a few years the Cafe became a coffee shop but in the late 1990's the new owners changed Cafe 101 back to its original cafe. It is still small but has great food and friendly waitresses.
As we drove through Oceanside we noticed that several buildings had beach scenes or advertising murals painted on the sides of buildings. I wish I would have taken pictures of these murals and may go back and feature them one day. They were all very well done. The house used in "Top Gun" is located in Oceanside. It is the only house let on the block and is close to being torn down. The house was originally built by Dr. Henry Gray in 1887 and was featured in the movie, "Top Gun". After checking out the "Top Gun" house we drove on a small road that runs right next to the beach. At some parts of the road you are about 3 ft from the Pacific Ocean and when the waves break on the rocks it splatters onto the road. There is a Hurricane off the coast of Baja California right now so the Pacific is really churned up making the water look gray but it is also making for some great surfing too. After we left the coast we headed inland to the Mission San Luis Rey de Francia. It is a Mission built in 1798. It is a large mission and the current church is actually the third church built on the site in 1811. The Mission is an active Church with a museum and graveyard. The Parish is just down the road. The original TV series, "Zorro", was shot at the Mission. All the external scenes were done at the Mission. Disney even added skulls and cross bones to the Graveyard gates for effect and are still there today. The Mission is beautiful and the bright sun yesterday just made it gleam.
After the sightseeing we picked up my Mom and sister, Pam, and headed inland to Rancho Benardo to go chair shopping. We found a nice arm chair to complete the furnishings in my Mom's apartment.
Tonight we are going to a Bon Fire on the beach with Pam and Brian and their friends and neighbors. It should be fun enjoying the sunset, roasting hotdogs and marshmellows and making s'mores. Yum!
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