California's Best Trips 2 - Full PDF eBook

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1 San Diego

On July 1, 1769, a forlorn

lot of about 100 Spanish

soldiers and missionaries

straggled ashore at San

Diego Bay. After sailing

for weeks up the coast

from Baja California,

many were sick and

over half had died. It

was an inauspicious

beginning for Mission

Basilica San Diego de

Alcalá (%619-281-8449;

http://www.missionsandiego.com;

10818 San Diego Mission

Rd; suggested donation $3;

h9am-4:45pm), the oldest

in California’s chain of

missions.

West atop Presidio

Hill, the Serra Museum

(%619-297-3258; http://www.

sandiegohistory.org; 2727

Presidio Dr; adult/child

$6/3; h10am-4pm or 5pm

Sat & Sun, call for weekday

hr; (^) c) recounts Native
American struggles
with mission life. Where
the colonists’ original
military fort and church
once stood, this 1920s
Spanish Revival building
echoes early mission
architecture.
Nearby, you can visit
Old Town San Diego
State Historic Park
(%619-220-5422; http://www.
parks.ca.gov; admission free;
hvisitor center & museums
10am-4pm, to 5pm May-Sep)
preserves buildings from
the Spanish, Mexican and
early American periods,
with an old-fashioned
plaza surrounded by
shops and cafes.
For our walking tour,
see p292.
54 p301
The Drive » El Camino Real,
which is marked throughout
California by free-standing
bronze mission bells erected in
the 1920s, follows I-5 north from
San Diego. After more than 60
miles, exit onto Hwy 74 (Ortega
Hwy), turn left and drive west to
Mission San Juan Capistrano.
Mission Trail
It.took.over.50.years.for.a.chain.of. 21 .missions.to.
be.established.along.El.Camino.Real.(‘the.Royal.
Rd’),.first.forged.by.Spanish.conquistador.Gaspar.
de.Portolá.and.Franciscan.priest.Junípero.Serra.
in.the.late.18th.century..Each.mission.was.just.a.
day’s.ride.on.horseback.away.from.the.next,.but.
today.you.can.drive.the.entire.route.in.less.than.a.
week.
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