SAN JUAN BAUTISTA
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.
[Click the image for a larger version]
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.
Restaurants and Shops
Here is a map of downtown San Juan
Tom and I normally stop for breakfast at the Mission Café on the corner of Third Street and Mariposa but it has been closed on our last two visits. It looks like it is being worked on. So we had to find somewhere else. We saw an old truck advertising a restaurant open for breakfast so we thought we’d give it a try. (Read the breakfast blog.)
If you fancy something more substantial later in the day, there are a number of fine restaurants in the town, each with its own unique atmosphere. Try the Faultline restaurant tucked away on a back street. On Third Street there is – amongst others – Jardine de San Juan or La Casa Rosa. If you fancy a snack, how about Margot’s Ice Cream Parlor, which looks very inviting but we have not visited there yet.
Another main attraction here is the shops. I took a wander along Third Street from Polk to Franklin and in those three blocks were an amazing variety of boutiques and restaurants. I started on the corner of Third and Mariposa traveling in a north westerly direction. The boarded up Mission Café is my first stop with its mission bell carved into the concrete right in front of the front door. This used to be a step back into the 1950’s with its chrome and brown upholstered swing stools at the bar, its bentwood chairs and tables with gingham cloths covered with plastic sheeting. I wonder if it will re-open as a café and whether it will retain its charm.
Next door is One Find Day selling flunky clothes. Outside are seats and plants. Then Enstyle, selling mens fine apparel. A photography studio is next called the Lazy II Studio. After you walk past the studio, don’t miss peeping over the rustic fence with a long brick path between two buildings with plants on each side.
Mrs. B’s Z Place is next which sells gifts and collectibles. There was a loud speaker outside playing old songs softly and this was at 7 am on a Sunday morning. There was also a sign which read ‘You cannot see everything in the store by standing at the door. Come on in please. Free admission today.’
There is a Real Estate shop next door but I couldn’t see any pictures of property available in San Juan Bautista. Discovered this interesting board and diagram though showing different types of barbed wire.
There was a vacant lot next door which was for sale. Hmm… interesting.
On the corner of Third and Polk was Joan and Peter’s German Restaurant which serves breakfast on a Sunday from 9-12. There was a large, outside seating area to the side.
Here I crossed over Third to the other side and started walking back. On the corner was Bakery and Groceries. In one window there was a notice and plans for the building of an Artisan’s Plaza and senior co-housing in San Juan. In the other window there was a very old cash register on display. La Poblanita, a Mexican restaurant, was next door. Then the first of three bars on this side of the road – La Cantina. To get to it you enter a doorway through metal fire doors and the entrance is to the right. The doorway is also the way through to La Posada Hotel.
Back to Third Street and the next stop is The Cutting Horse Restaurant which is a steakhouse. On the corner of Third and Mariposa and opposite the Mission Café is the San Benito Bank.
Crossing Mariposa, the next two shops are empty. The sign over the first says ‘Cuckoos and Grandfathers fixed’. I remember what the next shop sold but not the name of it. They used to have some wonderful pottery chickens and roosters in the window.
Next comes the site of the Sebastopol Hotel which was in operation in the early 1880’s. Now it is the Bakich Building which was built in 1978. There are shops upstairs but all locked up at 7.45 am. Daisy’s Saloon is downstairs.
Margot’s Ice Cream Parlor, selling espresso and fine chocolates as well, is next door. Another gifts and collectibles is next but I saw no name. It looks like it’s closing though because the windows were covered in signs saying 20-50% off. Bear Flag Gallery is next selling paints, large pots, furniture and jewelry. In one of the windows is a large, ornate gilt statue.
Mom and Pops Saloon is the third and last saloon in this short section. One of my favorites is next, the Inka Line, which describes itself as the Peruvian Store. Lots of articles made out of alpaca wool. There is a sign in the window setting out why alpaca is much better than cashmere. They have a display of woolen finger puppets in the window. Really cute and only $2.50 each. Would love to buy some for my granddaughter but we are always gone before the shop opens.
On the corner of Mariposa and Washington is La Esquinita selling coffee, sandwiches and ice creams. They also do mini breakfast sandwiches for $2.50 and breakfast bagels for $3.95. Outside are a couple of tables and chairs.
Crossing Washington we come to the Gallria Tonantzin, which displays women’s’ contemporary
art. Then there is Jardine de San Juan Mexican restaurant with its very attractive garden at the side. La Casa Rosa restaurant is next door which has been open since 1935. The sign outside says courtyard dining and gourmet shop.
Between this restaurant and the next building is a small shrine garden. Such a small, peaceful and partially hidden place it’s easy to miss.
[Click on the image for a larger version]
On the corner of Third and Franklin is the Casa Juan de Anza House, which was built in 1799. It now houses an antique shop with a wooden statue outside.
I crossed the street to the other side and started walking back to Mariposa. The Dona Esther restaurant stands on the corner. Another place where they serve breakfast. Maybe another day.
Off to the right is a small plaza of shops with the Southwest Roundup Studio Gallery on one corner and the Mission Gallery on the other. The opening times notice outside the Mission Gallery amused me – ‘10ish to 6 pm. Noonish on Sunday and closed on Tuesday.’
Palona comes next selling brightly colored pottery. In the middle is a large pig. Last, but not least is Visions of Christmas which sells fragrant candles and Christmas decorations of all sorts.
The whole block from Washington to Mariposa is part of the State Historic Park and is a garden with fruit tress and cacti and, of course, the chickens.
There are many more interesting shops and curious sites in San Juan Bautista. I suggest you stop off and discover them for yourself. A truly magical place.
August 19 2007 03:13 pm | Special Places
