Another visit to La Jolla took me to Windansea Beach, famous here as the filming location for the surfing movie, "Endless Summer". The grass-thatched hut featured in the movie is still here, maintained by the local surfing community.
I thought the LRJ looked right at home parked in front of those lovely shore-front homes.
One of many Spanish architecture churches in La Jolla caught my eye.
It took several tries, but I finally found the Geisel Library on the campus of University of California-San Diego. I had heard about its distinctive architecture from a local photographer, but I didn't know the story behind it. Like me, you may not recognize the name "Theodore Geisel", but if you hear the full name, "Theodore Seuss Geisel", you might guess he was the famous Dr. Seuss of children's literature. Under various pen-names, he authored more than 60 books that have sold more than 600,000,000 copies worldwide.
After serving in WWII, Geisel and his first wife moved to La Jolla. After she passed away, his second wife (Audrey) made various contributions to UCSD, in particular to the library. She continued this after his death and the library was re-named to honor both of them. However, his statue is the one one the library grounds, along with his most famous whimsical character, "The Cat In The Hat".
Having also heard of a church in La Jolla named "Mary, Star of The Sea", I took time to locate it during my visit. Outside the building, I found an inscription in the sidewalk dated 1915, presumably when the sidewalk was poured. Possibly an ancestor who did this kind of work?
On another trip into Old Town San Diego, I took the tour offered by the Mormon Battalion Historic Site. While photos during the tour were not really practical, I'll show what I have and tell the story I heard. Somehow, this chapter of American history seems to be omitted from our classes. Here is the building exterior, made in Spanish Colonial style.
This "wall" of photographs below is deceiving. Each photo is actually a video screen and the characters each "come alive" to tell various parts of the story. The tour progresses through a series of rooms, each designed to emulate a stage of the journey. All of it is extremely well done.
To sum up the story, Brigham Young had asked President Polk to build a series of way-stops for their journey west. Polk's response was to invite the Mormons to join the military and help in the Mexican-American War. Mormon men were reluctant to leave their families, but Young encouraged them to join up, knowing those men who did would be that much closer to their Utah destination, and their pay could help support the journey of others. So, nearly 500 Mormons signed up, along with some wives and children who were willing and able to performs such chores as laundry, cooking, sewing, etc. The Army had no uniforms for the men, but gave them a clothing allowance of $42 (around $1300 today). The Army did not require them to wear uniforms, so the money was used to help the overall group.
Along the 2000 mile march from Iowa to San Diego, the Mormons used their skills to build a road that eased travel for subsequent settlers moving to California. They never fought a battle, but spent six months helping build the young city of San Diego. When their enlistment was up, they walked to Salt Lake City, some stopping to work at Sutter's Mill and were there when gold was discovered, starting the 1849 Gold Rush.
Once again, I went to Sunset Cliffs Beach for a sunset that proved to be less than spectacular. Still, I thought it was worth my time.
Afterward, I went back to Coronado and little Bay View Park to get night photos of downtown San Diego.
San Diego and La Jolla are both such beautiful areas . love all the Spanish influence . some lovely pictures . . and the sunset isn't that shabby .
ReplyDeleteThanks Judy. My best visit here yet.
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