June 13, 2017

A New Adventure in Old Town

The hubs and I are members with the Temecula Olive Oil Company (their oils are fantastic!), so once per quarter I get an email that our oils are available. Rita always comes along with me to pick them up at Old Town - a historic State Park, here in San Diego, considered to be "the birthplace of California."

We've been many times, and we always take a nice walk before stopping in at TOOC, which is dog-friendly so Rita always comes along in and gets a treat.

Well, this time when we were walking around waiting for TOOC to open, I noticed a shaded grassy area and, since it was a hot day, we headed over.

The first thing I noticed were the beautiful jacaranda trees. (So pretty! But so messy!)
And then I realized this was a whole section of Old Town, called Heritage Park, that I'd never noticed before! (And I've been there many many many times!)

Heritage Park includes several of "San Diego's most notable Victorian homes" that were relocated to the park and restored to their original beauty.

The houses were all really pretty. (I LOVE Victorian style houses. Although... I'd hate to have to deal with the upkeep!)


I especially liked this one with the cool widow's walk.

Rita liked them all too and of course, as is her way, she wanted to visit!

She went to the door of every. single. one. (The houses weren't actually open - not sure if you can tour them or not??)

She was especially interested in trying to drag me into the temple, which the sign said was SD's first synagogue.


Not sure if the "spirit moved her" or she was just hot and looking for a cool place to sit for a while. Probably the latter.

There's also an officially designated haunted house in Old Town. Maybe we'll hit that up next time... :)

Have you and your pet been on any new adventures lately?

Thanks to BlogPaws for hosting Wordless Wednesday! Stop by their site to check out all of the other blogs in the hop.

48 comments:

  1. Victorians are beautiful, but I wouldn't want to maintain one either.
    No big adventures for us lately. Maybe Raven will get another adventure in the backyard soon.

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    1. Her last backyard adventure looked fun. I'm sure she'll look forward to that!

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  2. Nothing new over here! We are very boring! I love the old Victorians too. The layout inside is often very interesting as well, as is the woodwork. Too much fancy trim everywhere to maintain. A painter's nightmare!

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    1. Now that I think about it - it's been a looooong time since I've actually been inside a Victorian house. They're very rare here! And yeah... all that fancy trim. No thanks!

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  3. What awesome looking houses. And I can't get over the fact that the one in the first picture looks like the house they always showed in "Charmed" the TV series years ago. I love the jacaranda trees but can't blame Rita for not wanting purple paws. She's such a sweetheart and I can't blame her for looking for someplace cool.

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    1. I never watched that show. It sure is a gorgeous house!

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  4. What a lovely spot for a walk. I also love Victorian houses and would never want to deal with the upkeep. And I've owned two of them!

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    1. Wow, two of them?! I can't imagine all the upkeep. They are pretty uncommon here in San Diego. We are a people of the stucco.

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  5. Victorian homes can be kind of creepy. Better not go there at Halloween time!

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    1. Oh, man - there are definitely some creepy things at Old Town! In addition to the Victorian houses and the "certified" haunted house, there's also an old cemetery, and I guess they had to pave over some of the old graves when they put the road through because there are all these "grave site" metal disks in the sidewalk right by there. (Need to look up info about that...)

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  6. Can't believe you've never noticed Heritage Park. It's pretty.

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    1. I was like "Who put this here?" The crazy thing is, I've parked right across the street from there before, but I was busy looking at that Mormon historical thing, which is on the other side of the street. (Also, when those trees are blooming, they kinda hide all the houses back up on the street behind...)

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  7. I visited Old Town back in 2008. I was mostly drinking though, and didn't do a huge tour, but it was a cool place, the bit I saw.

    Aren't those Victorian houses cool? I love looking at mansions out our way, but I'm with you, grateful I don't have to clean them!

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    1. Every time I see a really HUGE place, I quote Bugs Bunny "Whatdya gotta pay to heat this pile o' rocks?"

      Yes... there is A LOT of drinking in Old Town! :) Many a margarita bigger than your head has been consumed there.

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  8. We love exploring new places too! :) She is so cute, trying to visit each house!

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    1. She thinks everyone wants a visit from her - which is so odd since she is a "stranger danger" girl...

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  9. I read that many popular olive oils have little olive in them. We need to learn more about the Temecula Olive Oil Company

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    1. Many olive oils have little olive oil in them?? What the hell. Every day there is new bad food news. TOOC is really great! We went on a really fun outing there once - tour and "games" and a fabulous lunch. We love that place and the oils are great. They do ship them for you if you're a member, but I like to go pick them up since it's always nice to walk at O.T.

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    2. Have you ever read about the olive oil scandal? The Italian mafia doctors cheaper oils to look/smell like olive oil and then sells it as extra virgin. There are quite a few brands that were corrupted. Google it. Nothing is sacred ;-)

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    3. No! I never heard about that! Will definitely google it. You're right... nothing IS sacred!

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  10. Those are some neat houses, and I just love the way Rita likes to "visit" them all :D

    As for adventures.. everyone got to go to Petco a couple weeks ago and just recently we took a trip to town and Mini got to walk around, practice "stay" and see a train up close. She has seen trains before though. Mini loves when she gets to go anywhere, even if it's just a drive around town.

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    1. Rita loves to just go for a drive too. She's never been near a train before though. That would probably scare her if it was too close. But it's great to expose them to new things, and practice good manners, isn't it?

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  11. I want to come see it too! How pleasant.

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    1. Aaaand.... there are tacos and margaritas! You do want to come!

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  12. Sweet Rita...love how she checks out each porch. Victorians are no more trouble than any other old house but they sure are lovely and make me want to know what those walls have witnessed/experienced over their lifetimes. LOVE the Jacarandas-they are exquisite. Recalling a trip this time last year to the Big Island, I saw them for the first time. O.M.D. Talk about smitten.

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    1. True - all old house are a lot of work. Jacarandas are SO pretty - but so messsy. Again, I like to look at them... but I wouldnt' want one in my yard. There are tons in our 'hood though, so I get to enjoy them without having to clean up after them. :)

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  13. You make me laugh every post! These purple things are sticking to my feet! hahaha I think it's so funny how she wants to go up to every porch! Hilarious!

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    1. She's a funny girl. :) And her momma tries to be too.

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  14. What a lovely outing. I would love to see those trees up close and personal at least once.

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    1. They're SO pretty - especially when there are lots of them together.

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  15. My first dog used to climb up inviting porch stairs during our walks, and we lived in a community packed with Victorian houses. Our walks took forever! But like you, I love that type of architecture. A slowpoke dog gives you plenty of time to examine the details.

    Jean from Welcome to the Menagerie

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    1. Hehehe. Yes, a dog that drags you to every door does in fact give you time to really study the homes. :) Good point!

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  16. My last trip with Buffy was to Myrtle Beach for BlogPaws. I might be going to visit my grandson in the Airforce in Biloxi, MS over the 4th.

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    1. Oh a visit to the grandson will be fun. I think we'll be staying home over the 4th... although maybe we'll plan a little adventure for then too!

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  17. That's pretty funny that she wanted to sneak in the temple! Looking forward to the haunted house!

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    1. She was pulling me SO hard to get into the temple. It really was kind of funny. There was a "no drinks or food" sign.... but I didn't see a "no dogs" sign. :) Still... figured we better not go in!

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  18. Love those trees, such vivid colors. The Victorian houses are interesting, too, but I especially love that Rita had to head over to every single door. Too funny, bless her heart. Cheers and hope you're all having a great week.

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    1. She is a funny girl. Don't really know what all that visiting is about since she's not even a lover of strangers. Thought in our 'hood she was doing it because she could smell something yummy inside... but nobody lives in these houses so there goes that theory!

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    1. It really is a great place to visit. AND tacos... margaritas... all in one place. Can't go wrong with that. :)

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  20. Lucky with the oils and the walk. We are very jealous of both. As always your photos are stunning!

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  21. Beautiful photos! I love old historic homes, it's great when communities work to preserve them. Jacaranda trees are beautiful but yeah, they really are so messy! Rita certainly looks like she got her dose of history!
    Love & Biscuits,
    Dogs Luv Us and We Luv Them

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    1. Yes, she did get her dose of history. And then she was ready for several doses of treats. :)

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  22. What a fun find! I love looking at old houses. I'd be up with Rita at the door and trying to peek in the windows! :)
    What a neat thing having an olive oil club - knowing you're getting it that fresh sounds awesome!

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    1. Their olive oils are so good! We're hooked on them. Right now we have a lemon one - so great on salads and fish, and a blood orange one, which I like to use when I make waffles or granola. Yum!

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  23. hello pooch smooches its dennis the vizsla dog oh hay wow old town!!! i hav never ben their but mama and dada yoozed to go their regyoolarly wen casa de bandini wuz their!!! i think they went on a toor of that hawnted howse it wuz kalld the whaley howse and they wer their with a gost toor and mama tuk a pikcher inside of a spot wot wuz bilt on sum gallows ware they yoozed to hang peepul and yoo no wot the pikcher kaym owt all blak isnt that weerd??? i do not no if they saw enny whales tho!!! ok bye

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    1. Oh, man, Casa de Bandini. We used to love to go there too! I've never been to Whaley House - that is pretty creepy about the photo coming out all black!

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