Old Town San Diego

Old Town San Diego was the first settlement in San Diego and was established in 1769 when the Mission of San Diego de Alcala was built along with the San Diego Presidio.  The Mission and Presidio was built on a bluff several miles from Point Loma where Juan Cabrillo discovered California.  The Mission moved up river five years later but the Presidio stayed occupied by the Spanish Californians as the fort to protect from European enemies and violent indian attacks.  As the town grew around the Presidio the Presidio became less used and was abandoned and began to decay.  By 1820 Old Town San Diego was a thriving town.  Durning the Mexican period it was the main hub for commercial and goverrnement business and remained that way through the Mexican American war when in 1850 it became a part of the Union.  It thrived for another 20 years and even became the county seat.  The down fall to Old Town was its location and that it was not near navigable waters.  Imports and exports had to brought into town by wagons over several miles after arriving at a port on Point Loma.  In 1869, Alonzo Horton came to San Diego and began to promote New Town which was located several miles south of Old Town on a bay that opened up the shipping trade for San Diego. As  New Town began to grow the county seat was moved to the new courthouse due to the population moving to  New town for the trade.  Old town was the thirving area for San Diego from 1820 - 1872 and today remains as a historical site for that period with several historical buildings representing the way life was durning this time. Old Town San Diego State Historic Park was built in 1968  and is the most visited State park of California.
We have been to Old Town several times before this visit and have always enjoyed our time there.  The historical buildings each have their own stories and there is even a haunted house that was built on the site where the gallows used to be.  The shopping is good especially if you love mexican art and goods. The are also several shops that sell almost anything you can think of.  There are several restaurants so you will not go hungry.  We ate at one of the Mexican restaurants, Old Town Mexican Cafe, and it was good.  They make their own tortillas and the atmosphere is fun with the decor and the music.  There are also several museums to visit.  It is a lot of fun and and you can fill an entire day just visiting Old Town San Diego.
Yesterday, Pam and I took our Mom to see the movie, "The Help".  It was a great movie and I highly  recommend it.   We went to dinner after the movie then took my mom home and enjoyed Casino night at her assisted living facility.  It was really a lot of fun and my mom was a big winner of over 200 chips.  She turned them in for tickets that were used to enter drawings of prizes that were donated.  My mom did well at the Roulette tables but really loved a game called "Shut the Box" that is a dice game.  She won everytime she played and eventually shut the game down because she could not be beat.  It was a great day and I enjoyed spending it with my Mom and sister, Pam. 
Today, Pam and I are going to another stamping event which makes three week ends in a row of stamping events.  Since I love rubber stamping I have no complaints and look forward to another great day.