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Cabrillo National Monument

Tara, Ashby, and I visited Cabrillo National Monument last Sunday. The park is located at the tip of the Point Loma peninsula, west of San Diego. In case you didn’t know, in Spanish, “loma” means “hill”. It costs $5 for admittance. Your pass is good for 6 days. Our first visit we stopped by the visitor center and the monument to Cabrillo. He was the first European explorer to set foot on the West Coast of, what is today, the United States. We returned yesterday and reused our pass and this time we hiked about the tidal pool. The park is gorgeous.

After Cabrillo we drove to Ocean Beach, which is near, and grabbed brunch at a restaurant across from the beach that has a children’s play area inside. Ocean Beach is where all the old hippies settled. I dig the town. It reminds me of Santa Cruz. Most folks feel it’s a tad too grungy for their taste and frequent Pacific Beach or La Jolla shores instead.

Activities at Cabrillo National Monument:

Learn about the 16th century explorer that the park is named for.

Hiking. The two-mile Bayside Trail affords spectacular views of San Diego Bay and the city beyond, and takes you through one of the last remaining remnants of coastal sage scrub habitat in the world.

The rocky intertidal area at Cabrillo National Monument is one of the best protected examples of these unique ecosystems in Southern California.

The Lighthouse. It has been reported that it can be seen up to 39 miles away while at sea. It is one of the original eight lighthouses on the West Coast, restored and refurnished to reflect what life was like in the 1800s.

And more…

Resources

• Directions to Cabrillo National Monument
• Official park site
• SDSU resource
• Juan Rodriquez Cabrillo

Morgan Hill, CA

I grew up in Morgan Hill, CA. It’s just south of San Jose. When I was a kid Morgan Hill was mostly orchards and fields. My family's home was nestled at the base of the Santa Cruz mountains just north of town. There were lots of plum orchards, grape vines, lettuce fields, and other agriculture. I just came across the following Morgan Hill public service announcement from 1938 that played at the old Granada movie theater.  Watch the video. It's about local businesses. The only business I think that's still in operation today is Guntner Brothers feed store. The business that stood out most to me was "Morgan Hill Sanitary Bakery". If I recall this put out of business  the "Morgan Hill Contaminated Bakery".

The last time I was in a theater with my father was at the Granada. It was "Ground Hog Day". Great movie. That was also the year I graduated from high school. Cool movie. Thanks a bunch to the dude who posted this on YouTube. Also, thanks a bunch to Stephen Musgrave & Tim Roach who are the two dudes who run the Live Oak Alumni Network, which is how I indirectly learned of this video.