San Juan Capistrano, Orange County, CA

 

I had to take Chano to the John Wayne Airport in Orange county so on the way home I stopped in San Juan Capistrano with the kids.  I had read about an historic district that is one of the oldest in California.  There were a lot of old houses and buildings. There was even an old jail made entirely out of metal.  Some are gift shops and others are private homes.  We found a park in the district and the kids played for awhile. By the park, they had a commemrative wall of pictures and people.  One picture and story really caught my attention.  It the was story of Modesta Avila.  She objected to the Santa Fe Railroad running through her mother's land and hung a line of laundry across the tracks.  Although she removed it before the train arrived, she was later charged and convicted of a felony, sentenced to 3 years at San Quentin and died at age 22 after serving 2 years.  A sad story but it shows how different the law was back then.  We also went into the O'Neill Museum which is one of the the earliest houses in San Juan Capistrano.  It is the gray bungalow with the white decorative gingerbread at the roof line.  San Juan Capistrano is really a cute town and I would visit there again.