37 Mariposa St, San Juan Bautista. Telephone (831) 623-466
Opens for breakfast on Sunday at 8 am. Buffet style for $10.95
Buffet style is not our first choice for breakfast but as the Mission Café is closed at the moment, it was the nearest we could find.
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The setting is very nice though. It is a Victorian House built in 1895 with a garden in the front and to the side and with an outside seating area. There are steps up to a wooden porch and the door opens into a small hall. There are two dining rooms and we could sit where we wanted. We chose the room to the left which held just five tables set to two and there was an archway leading into the buffet room. Breakfast wasn’t quite ready but the waitress brought us coffee. We could help ourselves to refills from the buffet room.
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August 19 2007 | Breakfast Log | No Comments »
This has to be our favorite day trip location. I remember the first time Tom brought me here. It was February 2001. On that occasion he proposed and gave me a beautiful diamond ring.
We have been back many times since and it never ceases to please us. It is a place we always take our visitors.
To get the best photographs (and to avoid the crowds) you have to get there early in the morning. We try to arrive just after daybreak.
It takes about 30 minutes for us to drive there from south San Jose along 101. From the center of San Francisco it would take about an hour and 45 minutes.
Why do we like it so much? It is an old town with a distinctive Spanish flavor and where roosters, mother hens and chicks roam the streets.
Mission San Juan Bautista
The main attraction for tourists is the Mission. Founded in 1797, it is the widest mission church in
California. Outside there is a long covered way called the Monastery Walk. Entrance to the mission garden and museum is through the Gift Shop. There is no admission charge but donations are welcomed.
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Through the Gift Shop is another covered way. Turn right and the museum is ahead. Along the way are windows into the kitchen and other rooms. The museum rooms were once the padre’s living quarters.
The church is beautiful. I particularly like the frescos on the wall. Look out for the tiles with animal footprints. The belfry may look familiar to you. It was used in Alfred Hitchcock’s great movie ‘Vertigo’.
Now wander round the garden. Sit on one of the tiled benches and soak up the peace and quiet.
State Historic Park
The mission takes up one side of the Plaza. At the back runs the original El Camino Real (The King’s Highway), which is the road which connects all the missions. On the other two sides are some of the old buildings, which form the Historic Park.
Tickets are very reasonable and are available at the Ranger Station in the Plaza Hotel. The park is open from 10-4.30. Your ticket allows you to wander through the Plaza Hotel, Castro Breen Adobe, the Plaza stables and the blacksmith’s shop. They have been restored to look as they did in their heyday.
Nearby on the corner of Washington Street and Second Street there is the town’s tiny jail. Peep inside and look at the old iron bedstead and the enamel jug on the floor. On the corner of Mariposa Street and Second Street is a small garden with one of the first settlers’ cabins inside dating back to the 1830′s.
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August 19 2007 | Special Places | No Comments »
