Ten kilometers south of San Juan Capistrano is San Clemente Beach — an area well known for it’s surfing culture and magazines. If you’re a surfing newb like me you can learn a bit of language just by sitting on the beach and listening to people talk (the rivalry between long boarders and short boarders seems very similar to that of skiers and snowboarders).

Want to see some live action? Check out the San Clemente Surf Cam. Here are some action shots from my visit:

San Clemente is not all surfing, however. There’s really interesting geology and rock formations around the beach.

The story of the Great Stone Church in the Mission San Juan Capistrano is a sad one. The church went up quickly: construction began in 1797 and was complete in 1806. It was modeled after Byzantine style cathedrals found in Europe and considered a North American masterpiece.

The story begins on the morning of December 8, 1812 during the morning mass — a favourite with the young Juaneño mothers who prefer to worship early in the day. As these young mothers sat on the floor of the newly built church, a 7.2 earthquake hit San Juan Capistrano. The priest yelled for parishioners to run to the alter — where the building was most stable. However, some ran to the doors and quickly discovered they were damaged and no one could leave. As this all played out, the foundation of the bell tower crumbled and the great tower collapsed through the roof killing 40 neophytes and two boys in the bell tower. Those who were at the alter survived.

The church was too damaged to use again. It was later preserved in memory of those who died in the collapse. All of the victims are buried in the Mission graveyard.

Two cracked church bells (San Vicente and San Juan — 1796) were eventually recovered and put on display where the original bell tower once stood.

When I stay in one place for an extended amount of time, I like to set eclectic travel quests to make weekends interesting. With SoCal, the quest was to visit as many of the Spanish Missions between San Diego and Santa Barbara as possible (I figured that at some point I’d be in San Francisco, so I could continue the Northern Mission quest from there).

The first stop in the SoCal Mission Quest (SMQ) was San Juan Capistrano — the 7th Mission established in California and the only one named after Giovanni de Capestrano, a 14th Century missionary and Saint. This particular Mission (also known as “Jewel of the Missions”) established itself in the cattle and byproduct industry: candle making, soap making, tanning — and wine was thrown in for good luck. Remnants of the tools, vats, and materials used for all of these are seen in various archaeological pits around the site.

The Mission San Juan Capistrano thrived from 1776 to 1848 — during the Spanish Colonial and Mexican Periods. However, at the end of the Mexican-American War in 1848, American’s took California and made it a state. After this the Mission was abandoned, fell into disrepair, and eventually became a temporary home for drifters, cowboys, and people passing through in search of gold.

Resurgam (latin: “I shall rise again”)

The writing in the above photo is rather apropos. The Mission was in ruins at the turn of the Twentieth Century when Father John O’Sullivan, a Roman Catholic priest, arrived to lead the restoration of San Juan Capistrano. Father O’Sullivan suffered from tuberculosis and was not expected to live; however, faith and a promise to restore the Mission kept him alive for another twenty years. In that twenty years he rebuilt the mission (sometimes with his bare hands) and is mostly credited for restoring this piece of California history.

The local Juaneño were given creative freedom when they painted the church; because of this I really enjoy the paintings below, which are the Juaneño representation of waves meeting land with people on top. It’s interesting that the people are merely tiny thorns upon the massive surface of nature.

Finally, the Mission is most famous amongst locals for the Swallows of Capistrano, who return every year like clockwork in mid-March to build mud nests in the ruins of the old mission church.

On my way back from Long Beach today, I got a tad bit lost and ended up outside the Hollywood Forever Cemetery on Santa Monica Blvd. I decided to pop in and do a little treasure hunt for famous graves (to see who I could find). At one point, as I wandered through spongy grass looking for what I thought was Marilyn Monroe’s grave (different cemetery), I hit the jackpot and found Johnny Ramone (above).

Johnny Ramone (John William Cummings) is one of the founding members of the band punk band The Ramones. The band basically lived up to their own famous Bop ‘Til You Drop lyrics and toured non-stop for 20+ years. When they stopped touring all three founding members died. Johnny died of prostate cancer in 2004 and he was the third member of the band to die.

Below is the grave for Dee Dee Ramone (Douglas Colvin) the second Ramone to pass away. Dee Dee died in 2002 of a heroin overdose; Joey was the first to die in 2001 (cancer). You may notice the beer cans/bottles sitting around Dee Dee’s grave. It’s common for people to come to the cemetery to share a drink with Dee Dee.

I have many many fond memories of Michi and I speeding around in the cabriolet with the top off listening to “I Wanna be Sedated,” “Blitzkreig Bop,” “Rock ‘n’ Roll High School,” and “Go Lil’ Camaro.” She LOVED the Ramones. So, when I discovered the view below, I had a really good giggle:

(P.S. the M is for Margaret.)

Laguna Beach is every bit a cute California artisan community by the ocean. I arrived just in time for the Saturday market — a Smörgåsbord of organic food, art, oddities, and unique people of all shapes, sizes, colours, and beliefs.

After wandering the market I meandered down to the beach to watch a handful of lifeguards train in the rather rough, seaweed filled ocean. It’s not Baywatch but these guards know how to read the ocean, rocks and marine vegetation.

What brings you to Laguna Beach, you may ask? I did the Orange County drive to eat at La Sirena Grill, a small Mexican restaurant that came highly recommended by a co-worker. His claim was that their fish tacos were the best he’s ever tasted.

So, I had to test this claim; and, headed to the original Sirena “hole in the wall” on Mermaid Street (Sirena means Mermaid in Spanish). In the end, I’m not sure about the fish tacos because the owner enthusiastically recommended the calamari tacos (I love calamari)… and her advice was bang on. The calamari equivalent was completely amazing… and easily the best tacos I’ve ever had.

When you have a little princess, no trip to Southern California is complete until you’ve been to Disneyland.

There’s lots of advice out there on how to survive the crowds at Disneyland; and, one of the most prevalent pieces of advice that I’ve seen online is to avoid renting the Disney strollers. However, after spending three very jammed packed days roaming the park, renting a stroller was perhaps the best decision we made.

It’s a place to keep your stuff, carry water, to nap, and best of all, with a blanket it’s a place for kidlet to hide from the endless and overwhelming crowds that roam the park. The end result: a calm child who enjoyed her experience and avoided the epic meltdowns that we saw many other parents struggle with.

In all our trip to Disneyland was a magical experience. Here are some of the highlights:

The Princess Fantasy Faire

It took Makenna a day or two to work up the courage to meet her first Disney Princess. But once she met one she wanted to meet them all; and, the Princess Faire is the place to be if you want to hang with the most famous of them all.

The secluded area contains story time, one-on-one photo time with each of the princesses, singing, dancing, and the occasional wandering prince or lord. It was also a safe, quiet, cool, shaded area for kids to run around with other princesses who share a love of dresses, jewellery, and stories.

Sleeping Beauty Castle

Part two of the princess journeys involved Sleeping Beauty’s castle. This was perhaps the most unassuming of all attractions, but for Makenna it was the castle of her dreams. She explored every nook, cranny, and moment of Sleeping Beauty’s story. This also happens to be where princesses can get all dolled up, dressed up, and accessorized to their heart’s content.

Blue Bayou Restaurant

At some point in your Disney adventures, you’re going to have to eat. The Blue Bayou Restaurant is a must if you want a good sit down meal in the middle of the bayou from the Pirates of the Caribbean ride. It’s so popular that you should head over early in the day to make reservations. Locals come to the park just to eat at the restaurant because it transports you into the Pirates world (like the ride).

The Haunted Mansion next door should also get a special mention. Though mildly creepy and full of ghosts we must have gone though the mansion more than two dozen times.

Splash Mountain

This ride was Makenna’s Mount Everest. She saw it once and fell in love. “I want to go there,” is all she said and I knew we weren’t going to be taking leisurely strolls in Pixie Hollow or the Hundred Acre Wood. For the first attempt to get on the ride, we stood in line, we waited for a long time before she got frustrated and fell and hurt her knee. We had to leave.

The second time we got fast passes and Makenna was more than willing to wait until 10pm to get her chance to experience terror. And, when it was our turn to fly out of the mountain, the experience was not what she was expecting and the wet terrifying drop of death was more than she could handle. Mak swore she’d never go on a water ride again…

However, after some gentle coaxing and a few days practicing our “water ride skills” on the Jurassic Park Ride at Universal Studios, we went back to Disneyland. It was her triumphant return to Splash Mountain. She was prepared, she had her bathing suit on, it was a hot day, and she had a well practiced scream ready for that terrifying moment when we shot out the side of the mountain and plunged into the rapids below. Success! My child had conquered the mountain and was ready to move on to new experiences.

Fantasmic!

The truly magical part of the day is the fireworks and subsequent Fantasmic! lightshow. At the beginning of the fireworks, Tinkerbell comes flying out of the Matterhorn to light up the Disney Castle (like in the beginning of Disney movies). When this happens you can actually feel the amazement in the crowd as you watch a person fairy come out of the mountain and fly / dance across the night sky. Even I got goose pimples.

The final Fantasmic! Show is the icing on the cake. The show incorporates dancing princesses, singing cast members, laser elephants (Dumbo), Peter Pan sword fighting Captain Hook on a pirate ship, giant eels (Little Mermaid), a ticking crocodile (Peter Pan), and a well orchestrated light/music show in one final pièce de résistance. And, when Mickey Mouse conquers his own imagination and takes down an oversized Maleficent, it’s a perfect end to an overly packed day.

The first stop on our journeys around Southern California was the century old Santa Monica Pier, located at the bottom of Colorado Avenue in Santa Monica and the end of Route 66.

For Makenna, this was the place where Lily had her 16th birthday party in the Hannah Montana Movie. So, she danced, she sang, and she did her best to enjoy every aspect of the beautiful beach.

Of course, the rides in Pacific Park on the Pier (say that 10 times fast) were pretty cool to a 5-year old adrenaline junky who did the Pacific Plunge dozens of times… long after I bailed. And, much too the delight of other riders, the operator often gave into her high pitched screams of again again again again again and gave everyone extra time on the ride whenever it was her turn.

Did some wandering today… around the Warner Bros. lot, which is a surprisingly diverse place. In the midst of these wanderings I discovered the Ellen DeGeneres Studio and place where Ellen parks her car, saw Spielberg zipping around in a golf cart, and found the one of a kind Warner Bros. museum.

The museum contains props from a variety of movies: the Matrix, Batman, Mars Attacks, Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, Where the Wild Things Are, and a second floor treat: artefacts from the Harry Potter movies. To list a few items from the second floor: the sorting hat, Dobby the House Elf, Gringots Goblins, baby Harry in a sling attached to Hagrid, the owl from the street sign, Harry’s Hogwarts letters, a Baselisk frozen Hermione (with note in hand), Tom Riddle’s diary, beds / notes / props from the Knight Bus, Godric Gryffindor’s sword, the clothes worn by Harry, Hermione, Luna, Sirius, Molly, Horace, and Ron. It was all eye candy.

The creepiest thing in the museum wasn’t the row of Agent Smiths from the Matrix — each with a different facial expression. Nor the Joker outfit worn by Heath Ledger in the Dark Knight (probably one of the last costumes Heath wore before dying). But rather, a photo of a debris covered Bugs Bunny statue as found in the tomb-like mall below the N.Y. Trade Center just after the buildings collapsed.

As such, we’ve resorted to mack tack goop — large globs of goop — to keep cards on the wall. And after last night’s 5.7-magnitude quake, it seems to be working…

From Wikipedia, a bit of Norse earthquake mythology:

“In Norse mythology, earthquakes were explained as the violent struggling of the god Loki. When Loki, god of mischief and strife, murdered Baldr, god of beauty and light, he was punished by being bound in a cave with a poisonous serpent placed above his head dripping venom. Loki’s wife Sigyn stood by him with a bowl to catch the poison, but whenever she had to empty the bowl the poison would drip on Loki’s face, forcing him to jerk his head away and thrash against his bonds, causing the earth to tremble.”