Thursday, November 12, 2009
We drove inland
through part of the coastal range to San Fernando, CA valley to tour Mission San Fernando Rey de Espana,
which was named for King Ferdinand III of Spain and founded in 1797. Located in an upscale residential
neighborhood, this facility is a working Catholic Church as well as a center
for the local archdiocese. There are
extensive, beautifully manicured gardens with many fountains and water features,
courtyards and a museum with rooms full of historical exhibits – all in
pristine condition. To us, this mission seemed
to be sort of a “Hollywoodized” version of a mission restoration; it is the
closest mission to Hollywood.
In fact, Bob Hope is buried here, in his own memorial site in the gardens, with a space saved for Delores when her time comes. They must have given a lot of money to the archdiocese. The church itself is stunning, with a dramatic gilded reredos filled with statuary on the wall behind the altar. In the museum, a special room is set aside for hundreds of Madonna statues from a private collection, with “Ave Maria” coming on over the sound system as you enter the room and turning off when you leave – a little spooky. We were the only visitors in the whole facility at the time.
In fact, Bob Hope is buried here, in his own memorial site in the gardens, with a space saved for Delores when her time comes. They must have given a lot of money to the archdiocese. The church itself is stunning, with a dramatic gilded reredos filled with statuary on the wall behind the altar. In the museum, a special room is set aside for hundreds of Madonna statues from a private collection, with “Ave Maria” coming on over the sound system as you enter the room and turning off when you leave – a little spooky. We were the only visitors in the whole facility at the time.
We drove to San Gabriel, CA to visit Mission San Gabriel Arcangel, located in
the old section of the town. We had to
park on the street behind the mission, always a concern with our length and
inability to back up without unhitching.
There was enough space, though, so it worked out fine.
There was a group of 4th graders in school uniforms just leaving the mission as we got there. (In the California education system, the 4th graders all have a study unit on the history of the missions. Adrienne will work on this sometime next spring.) This mission was very large, with a Catholic school behind it. The campanaria (bell tower) was the most impressive one we have seen yet: it contains 6 bells, 2 of which are over 200 years old, having been brought around Cape Horn on a schooner in 1791. The church was beautifully restored in the primitive style, which is what it must have looked like in the mission era. The reredos behind the altar was blue with 6 statues. There were extensive cactus gardens in the courtyard behind the church, along with many displays of historical artifacts. Around the cemetery (mostly for priests), the Stations of the Cross were set into niches in the walls and huge old grapevines overarched the paths.
There was a group of 4th graders in school uniforms just leaving the mission as we got there. (In the California education system, the 4th graders all have a study unit on the history of the missions. Adrienne will work on this sometime next spring.) This mission was very large, with a Catholic school behind it. The campanaria (bell tower) was the most impressive one we have seen yet: it contains 6 bells, 2 of which are over 200 years old, having been brought around Cape Horn on a schooner in 1791. The church was beautifully restored in the primitive style, which is what it must have looked like in the mission era. The reredos behind the altar was blue with 6 statues. There were extensive cactus gardens in the courtyard behind the church, along with many displays of historical artifacts. Around the cemetery (mostly for priests), the Stations of the Cross were set into niches in the walls and huge old grapevines overarched the paths.
We had Mexican take-out food for lunch
from Las Lunas restaurant cattycorner
from the mission school. This old part
of San Gabriel is called the Mission District, a restored area with walking
tours of the old streets and buildings.
There were many houses and museums to visit there, but our time schedule
this day did not permit that. Maybe next
time. While Pat negotiated the scary
freeways of the LA area, I fed him his lunch.
With Mexican food, this can be a messy process, but fortunately, he was
able to multitask. The food was
delicious.
We drove towards the coast to Mission San Juan Capistrano in the town
of the same name. The mission is located
about a mile from the ocean and is surrounded by the city in a commercial
district. We had to park on the street
again, but luckily there was room for both vehicles.
The mission facility is very large and
complex; the mission has been restored many times after several earthquakes in
the last 200 years. Next to the mission
stands a very imposing ruin of the old stone (not adobe) church built in 1771
in the shape of a cross with a barrel vault over the altar. This church was destroyed in an earthquake on
December 8, 1812, the Feast of the Immaculate Conception, killing 42 Indians. Four mission bells are now hanging in niches
in a wall adjoining the ruins.
Fr. Junipero Serra’s chapel is present
on the grounds, very beautiful with an ornate reredos on the wall behind the altar. It was built in 1777, making it the oldest
surviving original church where Fr. Serra actually said Mass. In the museum, there were many rooms full of
historical artifacts. There were extensive courtyards, rose gardens and
fountains with koi and goldfish, as well as “industrial” areas off to the side
where there were demonstrations of adobe brick making, water systems and
vegetable and herb gardening. The actual
condition, use of and treatment of the Indians in the 17- and 1800’s is not
stressed here.
The mission complex is a lovely
setting with a huge gift shop. We bought
a small cross there, then on our way back to the RV, we purchased a small
display of crosses mounted on a background, as well as actually meeting James,
the artist who had made the display.
We then drove to Admiral Baker Field
Campground, a naval facility in the San Diego area. This campground is a real find. It lies in a canyon with a creek running
through it, lots of trees, clean bathrooms and laundromat, extensive sheltered
picnic areas with barbeque pits, close to shopping, restaurants, the San Diego
mission, the football stadium, and as luck would have it, a branch of Kaiser
Hospital. It is not a gated facility,
but only military and retired military are allowed to camp there. Non-military groups can rent the picnic areas
for day use on a first-come, first-serve basis.
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