Mission at San Juan Capistrano California

Our visit to Southern California included a tour of the Mission at San Juan Capistrano. The Mission was founded in 1776.

To accommodate the growing population a large stone church was built at the site. Sadly the church was destroyed in an earthquake in December of 1812 but the bells from the church survived and were placed in a wall nearby. The Mission bells are still rung on special occasions. 

The tour of the grounds can be accompanied by an audio guide called Voices of the Mission. Each person on the tour is given a small audio device and instructed which selection to listen to as you walk through the grounds.

 

 The Mission raised cattle and produced crops. The cattle were processed for meat, hides and tallow. The processing took place right on the mission grounds.

Example of a processed hide bearing the San Juan Capistrano brand

 

Each Mission had its own cattle brand

 

Tallow rendering pot (note the interesting design on the door)

Besides the crops and cattle the Spanish missionaries also planted olive groves. The olives were harvested and some of them were processed into oil.

Olive Millstone

The Mission grounds are lovely and the audio tour was interesting and informative. Anyone who is interested in the history of the Missions or California history in general won't be disappointed. Of course the Mission at San Juan Capistrano is most known for the swallows that return to it each spring. Around March 19th (St. Joseph's Day) the swallows return from their winter homes 2000 miles away. While the event has diminished a bit over time the swallows still return each year.

If your plans include a visit to the area I would highly recommend that you check out the Mission and the surrounding community. Also pay a visit to Los Rios Historic District, the oldest neighborhood in California.

We only just scratched the surface of the area that we visited in California. We had a great time and hopefully will be able to return.

Happy travels!

Los Rios Historic District - San Juan Capistrano CA

The Los Rios Street area is the oldest neighborhood in California. It was home to the workers that built the Mission at San Juan Capistrano. The road also connected the area to San Juan Bay (now Dana Point Harbor). The road was used to take cow hides processed at the Mission to the bluffs at Dana Point. Here they were tossed off the bluffs for collection on the beach below. (more here)

Los Rios Historic District is still home to some local residents. Their homes are now part of an historical neighborhood. There are also shops, restaurants, artists studios and a museum. Lots to see and do in the area.

We spent some time walking along the quaint residential streets.

We also stopped in at the O'Neill Museum - Pryor House. The museum is also home to the San Juan Capistrano Historical Society.

The house was restored by the Historical Society and furnished with period pieces including furniture and household items.

The Los Rios Historic District is right across the way from the San Juan Capistrano train depot. (Our tour guide from OC Wildlife and Beach Tours mentioned that you can take the Amtrak train into the station from some of the surrounding communities.) A highlight for fourth graders I understand, that come to take a tour of the Mission for school. 

My sister in law joked that we saw the same 15 mile stretch of coast over and over again during our visit. And that may be but like I told her it's a hell of a 15 miles. The areas we visited were beautiful. While we saw and did a lot during our very short visit I'm already plotting out our next visit. (Hurray for Hollywood!)

Happy travels!

This plaque is set in the sidewalk leading up to the O'Neill Museum. I wonder what's inside?

The Blackboard Bistro - Seal Beach, California

We visited the Blackboard Bistro on a recent trip to California. My lovely SIL, who was kind enough to act as our hostess and tour guide on this journey, took us there for lunch one afternoon. The Blackboard Bistro is in a building that originally housed a school that opened in 1903. Sadly the original Bay City Grammar School was destroyed in an earthquake. According to their website the school reopened a year later under a new name.

A panoramic photo of students of the school

Lucky for us the building is now home to a fun little bistro serving up healthy, fresh options for breakfast, lunch and dinner. Or as their menu calls it, Homeroom, Recess and After School.

While the interior was very pleasant with its deep booths and exposed brick we opted to eat outside on the lovely shaded patio.  

We sat outside enjoying the gorgeous day while we looked over the menu. 

Lots of great options but we all finally made a decision and placed our orders. We enjoyed very nice weather for our entire trip. So nice to be able to sit outside on a beautiful sunny day. The light was amazing.

After a short wait our food arrived.

Turkey, Avocado, Jack Croissant

Popeye Stuffed Burger (stuffed with spinach, bleu cheese, mushrooms) and
topped with crispy string onions

Chicken Cashew Salad

Lunch was great. Wonderful weather, the best company and a beautiful blue sky day. It's nice to find a good locally owned place to try. It's a bit easier to do now with the internet and so many people sharing not only their travel experiences but their favorite hometown spots as well.

What is your best source of information for dining and entertainment recommendations when traveling? Or even just around town? Please share your secrets. I'd love to read all about them.

Happy dining!

Q Fanatic - Champlin, Minnesota

This whole BBQ thing got started about two years ago in June of 2011. The Dining Companion and I decided to spend the summer searching out and trying as many Minnesota BBQ joints as we could. We were, if memory serves, inspired by an article in MSP Magazine that listed their choices for top 10 BBQ in the area. Some we had heard of and some were new to us. Our goal was to try as many as we could over the summer. For me that included writing up my thoughts on these places and maybe doing some online blogging/reviews. Well as life has a tendency to do we were thrown an unexpected curve ball and the Summer of BBQ (as it came to be known) was cut short. We had gotten through a small part of our list when we left Minnesota for points south.

Over the last couple of years, most of it covered here on this blog, our travels have taken us to many of the country's top BBQ locations, Texas, Kansas and Missouri, The Carolina's and Georgia to name a few. (We've been to Tennessee as well but haven't yet had the Memphis BBQ experience. That's still an open item on our list) It's been a fun and eye opening experience for me and the Dining Companion (he wrote a bit about it here) I've come to realize that I like my brisket moist, my ribs dry rubbed and my sausage links served whole not sliced. For me ( and the Dining Companion as well I think) one of the biggest surprises was how little I enjoyed the BBQ offerings in most of Kansas' famous BBQ joints. For a lot of people BBQ is all about pulled pork and ribs. Not so for me. Don't get me wrong, I love ribs. However, I like good dry rubbed ribs not mediocre, over cooked ribs slathered in lousy sauce. Sadly that was what I was getting in the places in Kansas that we tried.

One bright spot in our journey was the stop that took us to Pappy's in St. Louis. There I found the best ribs of the trip. Perfectly smoked and seasoned, dry rubbed and not a drop of sauce on my plate. Very good and I would gladly go back again for them. That brings me to the other BBQ I enjoy, a good, moist, smoked brisket. A lot of places list brisket on their menus but they needn't bother. At best it's an after thought and at worst flat out awful.

By now you may be wondering what any of this has to do with Q Fanatic in Champlin, MN. Let me start by saying that when we decided to visit Q Fanatic recently I wasn't holding out any hope that it would be anything better than the stuff we had been eating on our trip back north. A BBQ joint in the Minnesota 'burbs? How good could that be? Pretty damn good as it turns out.

We got to Q around lunch time and stood in a short line to place our orders. We were informed that there was about a 30 minute wait. I looked around confused, most of the tables were empty and it was a counter service restaurant, what's with the wait? Turns out the wait was for our food.We grabbed our order number and headed to a table.

 

While we waited the Dining Companion and I discussed the dry uninspiring brisket we had encountered at most of the places we'd eaten at over the last week or so. We decided that maybe we should ask about the brisket that we were about to be served and find out a bit more about it. I approached the counter, the line was gone and there was a gentleman there speaking with the person who had taken our order. I told her I had a question about the brisket and she pointed to the man over her shoulder who turned out to be the pit master. I asked him how the brisket was served. Was it lean, was every bit of flavor, I mean fat, removed before service? I think I gave him the wrong impression because he started to assure me that yes, the brisket was lean. Before he could finish I told him that was too bad as we prefer the fatty less lean style. He said no problem, we remove the cap (fatty part of the brisket) because most people prefer their brisket lean but that he had some in back that was what we were looking for. I headed back to our table and told the DC about what just happened. Still skeptical we waited for our food to be served. I think you know where this is going. This BBQ joint in the Minnesota suburbs served us the best brisket of our whole trip. Better than the most well known BBQ places in several states. The best hands down. Thick cut, moist and fatty, smoked to perfection. A true representation of what Texas style brisket is all about. ( In Texas you can order your brisket moist OR lean. Hear that Kansas and Missouri?) The ribs were good too, dry rubbed and meaty, falling off the bone tender but not mushy or overcooked. Good sides, nice service and a true taste of the BBQ we were looking for. Home run.

So, there you have it. I should add something here about traveling and coming home to find the thing you were looking for all along. You know what I mean. Q Fanatic is serving up some fantastic BBQ. Well worth the drive, the wait and whatever other hurdle you may need to jump to get there. Go, just go, ask for the moist brisket or order it both ways to compare. You may be surprised at what you've been missing.

Happy dining!