The Dana Point Marina is bounded by two breakwaters, one long, and the other quite short.  The short one is the working end of the harbor, where the bait pier and bait boat are.The long breakwater is on the outside of a channel -- the inside is a narrow island with a road on it that goes the length of the channel.

Behind that rock wall breakwater (the small one) is a State Beach Park and the city of San Clemente.  When I arrived at the end of the road, where the channel entrance is, there was a speed boat in the channel belonging to a broker.  I was able to capture this shot with cormorants and pelicans and gulls on top of the breakwater. just as one cormorant was landing.  That was just about the same time the Cachalot was stopping to fish just outside the breakwater, and the birds all went to see what was happening.

About 1/2 hour later the speedboat salesman came back through -- he had made the circuit up the channel and back through the marina and was on his way around again.  Notice that there are no birds in this shot, taken in aboaut the same direction -- the Cachalot had moved back to its berth!

Meantime there was a lot of boating activity as well as bird flybys during the time I was there.

A cormorant dried its wings on the short breakwater.

A Coast Guard Auxiliary Patrol boat motored by.

Those are yacht club flags on the mast of the sailboat.

A flock of pelicans flew by.

They flew along the short breakwater at about this altitude, then dropped down almost to water level to cross the channel entrance, and then back up above breakwater level.  They flew the length of the marina, and across to the nearby cliffs where they have nests in the rocks.

A family went past on a Sea-Doo

And a man rode past sitting on a Segue -- the first I'd seen on which you could sit down and ride!

On the way home, I drove down another road where I could see the surfers off the State Beach Park.

Midday yesterday, while I was at Dana Point, I looked above and behind where I was sitting, and saw one heron sentry sitting in the treetop -- in the next treetop over was a crow!

There was a lot of water level activity, but the birds were relatively quiet.  Perhaps it was earlier in the day, but it was as if they were all down for their midday naps.  The sentry bird was a little less regal than usual, perhaps almost to the point of agitation.  Pretty soon, the babies began to waken.

The black crested night herons that we were watching earlier are growing nicely

There's a bird still in this nest, asleep -- but it's a great angle to see the complete nest.

Night herons in another tree -- I was unable to see the complete bird -- but look, there's a second one in a lower branch!

When the sentry looked down, ~ ~ ~

~ ~  ~ it saw another bird in the nest below.

There's the second one in that nest -- the two young birds we've been watching for a whle.

And there's one of the new babies, protected by a parent (I'm sorry, this was the best angle I could find, with the branches and leaves in the way this time).

The sentry quieted down and watched for other adult birds to come home.

And others waited on the edge of their nests.

I was there earlier than usual -- I think the activity picks up again later in the afternoon, and the views certainly are better as the birds are moving around more actively.

This afternoon was a warm summer day -- if you live away from the coast.  Where I am, it was at the edge of the marine layer, meaning that fog was swirling in and out of the area.  Despite the crowds of people at the beach, I took part of the afternoon for a drive along the coastline, and down to Dana Point Harbor.  This trip will result in 3 short posts, starting with some harbor activity that I watched throughout the time I was actually at the harbor.  As I was arriving, the Cachalot was leaving the harbor.

This large and rather ugly boat lives at a small pier (in previous posts, I've called it a bait barge) on the other side of the channel.  It is a spot where bait is available to fishermen 24 hours a day -- probably used mostly by the tour fishing industry that parallels the whale watching industry.

It is also used by many of the birds who live in the heron trees and on the other breakwater.  I can see cormorants, gulls, geese, and pelicans on the pier now that the Cachalot is on its way past the end of the breakwater.

She rounded the breakwater, and stopped a short way back on the other side.  The birds sitting on top of the rocks flew and hovered until she stopped, then settled down again.

After about 1/2 hour, the Cachalot came back into the harbor, most likely with a full bin of bait fish

Several birds sailed in with her, on her lines or on the bins, knowing there was food in the bins!

They jumped off onto the little pier when the ship arrived, as if knowing they would be shooed away!

There will now be plenty of bait for the afternoon fishing tour and tomorrow's fishing and whale watching.

On a typical afternoon, there is a row of people sitting in their cars watching the boats in the channel, and a similar row of people sitting in camp chairs along the edge of the channel.

They see only some of the action of the area.

Just as I arrived (and too quickly for me to get out the camera to capture the plume of water it threw), the smaller Sheriff's boat rushed around the end of this breakwater -- siren blaring, blue light flashing -- and out of sight on the other side.  There were two other boats behind those rocks, and the Sheriff was headed to where they were.  A few minutes later this larger boat moseyed out to see what was going on.

Above and behind the row of people, a more lively scene played out.

You know there are big birds around when ~ ~ ~

It's time to exercise the wings with a round-the-harbor flight.   Ready for takeoff!

The takeoff ~ ~

Here we go ~ ~

Landing gear coming down!

The two young birds are growing up fast -- they seem to have lost the tufts on their heads.

And in other nests ~ ~ ~

The black crested night heron is in a higher nest this year -- its nest from the previous couple of years seems to have been knocked down.

But look!  There is another new baby (or maybe two?) in the next nest over!

flapping its wings and looking straight at me!

settling down sideways,

and doing a little preening.

Yesterday was a quiet May-gray day, with a cool, cloudy morning and the sun coming through in the afternoon.  I made a little time in the afternoon to go and visit the herons.  It was earlier than I usually go, and the herons were quieter (or perhaps they were all away fishing).  There were a few that were visible from ground level -- these shots nicely show the size of their nests as well..

    

A couple of young birds had an interesting conversation while waiting for their food to arrive.

 

 

 

And here comes lunch!

In the meantime, other animals enjoyed doing what they do.

Pelicans, all in a row.

A couple of seals enjoyed the harbor entrance.

 

 

The harbor traffic was busy, too.  This sailboat, the Nemo, had just entered the harbor and was pulling into its slip.

 

  

I spotted these two guys rowing around and around the marina -- I think they were sheriff or harbor patrol, out for their daily fitness run.  I wondered about the boat, though, with all those holes just above water level!

 

Ridiculous

An ibis hitched a ride on this boat.

And a fishing boat came back to the harbor.

Having left the Brig Pilgrim behind, I went on to see what the herons were up to -- they're at opposite ends of the harbor.  A row of  pelicans soared past as I got out of the car (notice that the tree is what the camera focused on -- but there are pelicans behind the tree and on both sides in this shot).

There was quite a bit of noise -- the herons sound like flocks of quacking ducks, and there were several in the nests.  At first, I thought there were two birds in this particular nest --

until I saw it from a slightly different angle and realized there were three young birds there.

And in a nearby tree.

An adult flew in.

I "thought" there was another small bird behind the big one!

Life goes on for the pelicans.

Two birds sat in this nest, waiting, waiting, waiting ~ ~ ~

And suddenly there was quite a kerfuffle in the nest as an adult came back with some food.

And it was again quiet.

Other people were watching a solitary bird on the other side of the parking lot -- it had been still for a long time, as if posing for photos.

After a while, it flew off,

and back into the tree.

This afternoon as I ended my routine errands, I spotted this "corn field." -- a demonstration stand of corn next to the strawberry stand I use.  This is about the biggest stand of corn that I know of in this area!

I then went to the harbor to see the birds.  On the way, though, I spotted the brig Spirit of Dana Point, on its way into the harbor.  I was seconds too late to get a shot of the boat sailing in to its mooring, which is next to the brig Pilgrim.  The Pilgrim was being prepared for an overnight field trip, so I stopped to watch for a few minutes.  I'm always fascinated by the rigging on the tall ships.

The captain was barking orders to his crew, and to the children on board for the night.  He turned and glared at me just long enough for this shot!

And as I moved on, I spotted the weather vane above the office.

On Thursday afternoon, I again went to visit the birds.  It was a lovely day -- sunny but not too warm -- and the birds were quite active while I was there.  I watched a sentinel for quite a while as it shifted positions, flapped its wings, and shifted again. 

 

 

As soon as I looked away to shoot a nest with babies in it, the sentinel flew away!

 

There's one of the scruffy-headed babies, along with 2 adults.

The adults were on quite an active quest for food -- often there were more than two birds in a nest -- and they were flapping their wings as if to fly away.

When they landed in a nest, they usually had food, and the babies rather noisily stuck up their heads to see what was for lunch.

To catch a bird in flight, you need to be watching them get ready for take-off, then follow them as they actually fly.  I usually let the camera take care of the focus while I try to stay standing as a bird flies right over my head!  Although in the above photos the birds were just flapping their wings, I did catch this one taking off.

A family of 5 graced this nest.

I watched this bird fly away and around a part of the marina entrance, and here he comes back to the nest.

The Thursday afternoon races are over, and the sailors coming back to the marina -- well, this catamaran looks as if it's on its way out of the harbor.

Here come the racers.

I was tagged by @Tempguestbrief for a survey -- 16 facts, habits, or goals, and tag 10 people.  I usually don't respond to these surveys, but will see how far I get with this one.

1.  I have been blogging since 10/2006.  I began posting photos as a way to learn more about photography, and to receive feedback to help develop my skills.  With a very few exceptions, most of my posts have been photographic.

2.  Although I seldom spoke of her, blogging was a wonderful release of tension during the stressful 5-year period of my mother's illness.  She died in 12/2010.

3.  My mother immigrated from England.  My sister has lived in Europe since 1970 (43 years -- more than half her life) -- both my niece and nephew live in Santa Barbara.  I think there might be a pattern there.

4.  I have lived within 100 miles of the ocean all my live, except for 9 months in Minnesota starting when I was 6 months old.  I have lived in 8 different areas of the country.We moved to Southern California when everybody else was leaving due to WWII.  My dad left the country with the Army before my sister was born, and was gone for 3-1/2 years.

5.  I've lived in my current home for 20 years as of this past January -- that is the longest period of time I've ever lived in one place.

6.  I attended college for 3 years right after high school, and completed about one semester of evening courses in addition to that.  I have never finished my college degree (I generally don't tell people that, as it would have negatively affected my career).

7.  I began a career involving student loans a year after the Higher Ed Act was passed; I retired shortly before the program was changed almost to the point of elimination.

8.  I retired almost 9 years ago.  Since then, I have travelled on cruises to the Panama Canal, the Antarctic, the Gulf of California, and numerous shorter trips within California and to Seattle.  I am currently planning another trip for the Fall -- I'll tell you more about that when it happens.

9.  My father was a doctor -- we had to get away from home for him to have any time off at all.  Every other weekend, on his days off, we would spend one day picnicking in remote areas around the Santa Barbara area.  Many of the places I enjoy going on day-trips there now are places where we had picnics.

10.  During the summers, my dad took 2 weeks off each summer, and we took camping trips.  We headed either north (as far as Vancouver, BC, and Glacier NP to the north, and everything west of the Rocky Mountains to the east.  We also visited family in Mass and Rhode Island. 

11.  I worked at the Univ. of Washington when Clark Kerr was President of UC, and when JFK was assassinated; I worked at UC Santa Barbara when they had a school year full of rioting;  I resigned from UCSB the day before the students burned down the Bank of America building close by.

12   I am thoroughly enjoying retired life -- I can do the things any day that I used to have to cram in to a short weekend.  And by doing some of those things during the week, I can avoid crowds.

13.  As much as I enjoy landscape and travel photography, I don't enjoy portrait work at all.  My best shots of people have been candids, when the subjects did not realize they were being photographed.

14.  I am interested in global climate change and the effects it has had already on people, animals, and the environment.

15 and 16.  That is ENOUGH about me for one post.  I will not tag people, as I fully believe most of you dislike doing these surveys as much as I do!  If you'd like to do this one, please consider yourself tagged and feel free to do so!

Janet

 

May 2 was a bright sunny day -- in fact, it was the day the Springs Fire began in Camarillo Springs.  It was also the day that @grannykaren came to the coast to visit.  After a nice Mexican lunch, we went to see the Dana Point tidepools at the Ocean Institute, a non-profit organization that centers around teaching the public about the ocean.  It is here that there are two brigs docked, and that the Tall Ship Festival occurs every spring.  It is also here that there is a lovely beach at the head of Dana Point Harbor's breakwater.

Unfortunately, the tide was high when we got there, so rather than looking for critters in tidepools, we walked around the Institute, enjoying the warm day and the sights of the harbor.

From this sot at the head of the breakwater, we could see waves breaking on the rocks.

When the tide is low, you can walk out almost to the other side of this rock, and there are awesome critters underneath.

Every once in a while, a helicopter flew by -- the state's firefighting resources were headed towards the fire -- these were probably headed from Camp Pendleton to Pt. Mugu.

 

There was a sailing race just outside the harbor -- businessmen near the ocean often take Thursday afternoon off to race their boats.

Look at that sail -- the boat must really be heeling!

Some pelicans flew by -- I hope they were not headed to the fire!

And the Vessel Assist boat towed in a disabled boat.  I wondered how far they go from the harbor in a day's work.

We walked back around the Ocean Institute building, past some native plants, towards the inside of the harbor.

There goes a helicopter back in the other direction -- maybe it was a fire spotter.

The Fighting Irish was docked at the side of the harbor.

 

And a miniature version motored past.

The Sea Explorer motored past the Dana Point Yacht Club, after a whale-watching tour.

And the Dolphin Safari tour sailed outwards.

We watched some seaweed float past,

and a cormorant fished for its lunch.

After Karen left, I went up to the headlands to watch the sailing races for a few minutes.  It appeared that I just missed seeing a blue whale swimming north -- but I did find this wonderful cactus for @wildwomanofthewest.

This part of the world is in a real drought situation.  Up until yesterday, we were on track to have the 4th lightest rainfall for the year since 1877 when they began keeping records.  Yesterday's 0.7 inch of rain knocked us off that track, but it is still very dry.  At one point in the afternoon, I looked out the door at my patio just as it began to rain, and this is what I saw.

         

That is about all the rain we got in that little shower, and in several others during the day!Because I live farther south than Los Angeles, I'm in area that gets slapped by the tail of the storms that go through -- it's even drier here than in LA.  On the happy side, though, the rain has helped with the fires -- I heard this morning that the largest fire is now 90% contained, and, though there are still some hot spots they are watching, the rain has really helped with the effort to put out the fires. 

While doing other things, I've not forgotten about the herons.  A week ago, I spent a few minutes at their colony, and came home with lots of photos -- here are a few.  There are definitely chicks in the nests; the parents wait patiently for each to come back with fish for the chicks, who noisily wait for dinner.

I loved watching these two babies!

Meanwhile, there were boats in and out of the channel, as usual.  The brig Pilgrim came up the channel to its home at the Ocean Institute.

The Vessel Assist boat helped a sailboat whose motor wasn't working.

One day, I want to take a ride on the Condor Express -- they've been seeing lots of blue whales in migration recently.

When at the Flower Fields, I noticed this bird feeding on seeds or worms in a berm along the edge of the field.  My bird identification skills escape me on this one, but I think it might be a Song Sparrow.

In addition to the fields of ranunculus and other flowers, The Flower Fields has 2 specialized exhibits.  In a greenhouse that is probably almost half a mile long, they grow cymbidium orchids.  The first greenhouse was almost full of orchid plants which had not yet bloomed.  The second, though only about 1/4 full, had orchids in bloom.  While my friend wandered through the maze, I went to the orchid greenhouse.

The other special exhibit is a showroom of poinsettias that have been developed in this area for Christmastime sales.

Thursday seems to be a specially good day for day trips right now.  This past Thursday, a friend and I went to Carlsbad, to

About halfway between my home and San Diego, The Flower Fields is a patch of 50 acres next to the freeway dedicated to growing ranunculus.  The flowers are grown for the flowers, for the corms, and for the seeds.  For that reason, they are planted in stripes of color.  There are 5 or 6 fields, planted sequentially, so that through the spring there are flowers in all stages of development.  Between the fields, there are roadways used by the growers, and by tourist wagons that take people through the fields.  We chose to walk those roads.

The Flower Fields are open from March 1 for approximately 10 weeks -- this is the middle of the season.  At the entrance and exit, a nursery runs a complete store, and there are other tourist attractions along the lower edge of the Flower Fields.  The area is truly a splash of color alongside the freeway.  In the past, people would actually come to a stop along the freeway to take photos -- that is now not possible, as there are buildings and hedges designed to obstruct that view and prevent the traffic disruption.  At the entrance to the Fields is a garden area with many lovely flowers other than ranunculus.  We began with columbines.

Foxgloves

 

pelargoniums (the geranium family), with a couple of the wagons waiting for their tours

 

petunias

iris

 

and then out to the ranunculus fields

    

 

At the bottom of the hill, parallel to the freeway, are a series of other types of exhibits.  My friend wandered through a Sweet Pea Maze.

We wandered past several other flowers -- first California Poppies

then a bed with poppies and, I think, swiss chard (although we discussed whether they might be rhubarb)

ornamental cabbages

a patch of foxgloves and stocks

After we left the Flower Fields, we found a road that runs across the top, from which we were able to look down and see a slightly different perspective.

To get out of the house, last week I went to visit the herons.  Along the way, I found a sure sign that our spring has sprung and summer is almost upon us -- the green fields are quickly turning to brown.

A boat in the harbor channel was having difficulty,

and was escorted in to the harbor.

After parking, I looked up into the trees and found that several of the nests now have chicks in them.

Spring has definitely sprung!

Last week Thursday was a beautiful day to visit the cottages again.  Besides beautiful views of the sea and of Catalina Island, it was an opportunity to see what damage had occurred as the result of high winds the week before.  Walking down the beach, it was apparent that many of the cottages had sustained quite a bit of wind damage.  A park ranger happened by in his truck, driving along the shore (on the sand) to find a bird that had been reported to be in trouble -- he stopped and chatted with us for a moment, and indicated that the plan is now to complete the renovation of the cottages within the next 3 years.  In the meantime, here are a few more photos of the cottages.

In back of the restaurant is a small bar.

And here's a different view of the restaurant.

While we waited for lunch, we wandered in an area across the way from the restaurant, within range of the buzzer they had given us.

And after lunch, we walked along the beach at high water line. This gave us a slightly different angle on the cottages, and some of what is shown here may be similar to my post a month earlier while other shots show wind damage.

Porch railings seem to have taken a big hit in this round of winds.

While on our way back, I took a few more random shots of the renovated areas and the surrounding scenery.

The 'landscaping' surrounding the cottages is becoming wild again, incorporating the natural landscape and the planted flowers.

A cactus flower and its plant.

Palm trees

Black mustard

Nasturtium

A sand flower

White Sage

A pretty rock lay on the sand

One last overview shot from the Shake Shack above the cottages before we walked back to the parking lot.

 

Last week Thursday, I had an opportunity to visit the Crystal Cove Cottages once again.  I'll post some new photos of the cottages in my next post, but in the meantime I was very impressed with the view of Catalina Island.  It was a beautiful day, and the view was spectacularly clear.  I don't think I realized that there is quite a cliff at the southwest end of the island.  When visiting the cottages it is necessary to park across the highway -- you can either take a short shuttle ride or walk through a tunnel under the road.  This was the view from the parking lot., which is just a little higher than the beach.   At the left end of the island, you can see the cliffs -- and extending from the end of the island is the typical mirage of continued island, a function of the moisture evaporating from the sea.

The sea and the island were also beautiful from beach level!

A couple of days after visiting Vandenberg AFB, it was time to return home to South Orange County.  Just south of the southern edge of Pt. Mugu NAS, now part of Naval Base Ventura County (NBVC -- which combined Pt. Mugu and Port Hueneme), I stopped to photograph the coastline.  It was still pretty foggy, but the shoreline is still visible.

The sand slide is an amazing sand dune, just in this one location.  People stop to climb this dune, and slide all the way down!

Even the seagulls enjoyed the view.

Leaving the populated central area of Vandenberg AFB, we drove out through what once was the housing area of a very large Camp Cooke.

and past the marquis for the National Reconnaissance Office building

to undeveloped land.

The trees were actually all planted as windbreaks to protect the buildings on Camp Cooke -- otherwise this area would be quite scrubby, similar to the foreground in the next shot.

The ceanothus was in bloom, as was some of the iceplant; otherwise there were few flowering plants.

Off in the distance, barely visible, the shore appeared.  The quality of the next few shots is not very good due to the amount of fog present -- we could barely see the shore here, and until we were right there.

 

We came to a crossroads.  In front of is the area where the missile silos and launch sites are -- the entire area is closed.

The only way the general public can enter the area is on the train -- Amtrak runs through the base on what must be a gorgeous run from Santa Barbara north to San Luis Obispo.

At the crossroads, we turned right, towards the sea.

We crossed the train tracks, and came to this gate, just back from the shore.  It was still fairly early afternoon, so we chanced continuing on, hoping that the gate would stay open until at least 5 pm -- there were no signs indicating what time it would close, and we wanted to get down to the beach.

This was basically the end of the road.  The road turned right, and ended in a parking lot alongside the shore, behind which was a wall that was once used by the Army as part of a shooting range.  I don't know who the car belonged to -- perhaps somebody who didn't want to get caught on the wrong side of a closed gate, or perhaps a volunteer patrolling the beach.  There are numerous warning signs here about the use of the beach.  A very small bird, the Western Snowy Plover, nests on the sand from this point southward around Point Concepcion and Point Arguello.  Because it is an endangered species, people are to stay away from the nesting area.  From March to September each year, the beach is subject to closure if there are more that 10 'violations' of the birds' space at this beach (a restricted area with little public access anyway -- at Surf, which is Lompoc's public beach, it's 50 violations within a 1/2-mile stretch).  The beaches have been closed since about April 1, and, in Lompoc, there is a huge discontent over this closure of the only public beach within 20-25 driving miles. 

 

We walked to the red and green sign, and went no farther.

Driving back, it was more evident that the natural state of the land is scrub, with some iceplant.  The reddish iceplant was introduced, and has somewhat taken over.

This looks like a white lupine -- there wasn't very much of it.

We took a  small road detour to the base's gun club

While we were there, an Amtrak train went by.

Back at the main entrance to the Base, we stopped to take a few shots of their iconic missile.

 

Driving out, along the side of the Base, we passed FCI (Federal Correctional Institute) Lompoc, a Federal penitentiary established on the edge of the base.  This prison has had various uses, including a low-security, white-collar prison, and now a maximum security prison.  There are signs along the road warning against stopping, picking up hitch-hikers, and I took that also to mean no photography!

Approximately 60 miles north of Santa Barbara, north of Lompoc and Buellton, the coastline turns from a north-south orientation to an east-west orientation.  This turn occurs at two points in the land, Point Concepcion and Point Arguello.  It is quite surprising to realize that Los Angeles is almost due East of Santa Barbara because of this shift in orientation.  Historically, these points have been very significant -- there have been numerous shipwrecks there, caused by weather and/or navigational error.  Most notably, in September, 1923, a line of 14 destroyers travelling south from San Francisco to San Diego on a foggy night.  Thinking they were farther south than they were, the first of the ships turned into what they thought was the Santa Barbara channel -- following their leader, seven of the ships sank that night off Point Arguello.  In the early 1940's, the US Army needed land for a training base -- the Point Concepcion area was very isolated ranch land, and 86,000 acres of land were acquired for this training base, known until the mid 1950's as Camp Cooke, and later Cooke Air Force Base.  When space exploration became a national priority, a launch site was developed on base, and it was renamed Vandenberg AFB.  The Navy used this site as part of its Pacific Missile Range, and in the mid 1960's the base again became an Air Force base.  It was planned that the base would be a western launch site for manned space shuttle launches, alternating launches with Kennedy in Florida.  There were never any manned launches from the base, but it is still an active missile launch site, and is used for both test range launches and for north-south polar orbiting satellites.  Much of what is launched is super-secret, and some is international.

As I grew up in Santa Barbara, I was always aware of Point Concepcion, Point Arguello, and Camp Cooke, but it was far away and a military base, so we didn't visit the area.  For a short time when it was not an active base, the public was allowed to visit the beaches at Point Concepcion -- I think we were on those beaches only twice.  Last week when I was in Santa Barbara, I was able to revisit the area.  We began with lunch at the Officer's Club, and then a tour of the base (this post will be in 2 parts).

Some typical base housing -- most of this is being replaced with more modern housing, as is happening on bases across the country.

  

Outside Base Headquarters is a replica of a Curtiss P-10, a WWII airplane that was used by the Flying Tigers in China.

   

As I was preparing to take one last picture of this replicated airplane, a security guard drove up and told me I was not allowed to take photographs in the area, so I do not have a shot of the other side of the plane!  Oops!

The base has the normalservices for their staff, including a clinic (in what used to be a hospital building).

Across the road from the BX are a couple of memorials, one for WWII soldiers, and the other for Korean.

   

The Korea memorial is in two parts -- if you look through the 40th Infantry patch and the Oriental lantern, over the Pacific Ocean, the view is oriented toward Korea.

  

And if you look the other way, from Korea you see the United States.

Under the lantern, engraving describes the involvement of this base in the Korean War.

Underlying this memorial is a nice bench where one can sit and reflect on the War, the local servicemen (with names engraved in the bricks), and the current issues in Korea.

After our tour of the Mission, I said something about St. Anthony's Seminary, and my friend asked where that is.  In Part 3 of this series, I mentioned it, as you could see the tower from inside the courtyard of the Mission.

A seminary is a school for priests.  As I was growing up, the tower in the background of this photo was the tower of St. Anthony's Seminary. The tower is a landmark of sorts -- anywhere in town where you can see the Mission, you can also see the Seminary tower.  About 20 years ago, in the beginning of the exposure of the priest molestation scandal, several boys accused the padres of untoward conduct.  It took several years, but was finally admitted that the accusations were true, and they are still being adjudicated in the courts -- several years later, the Seminary closed, and the building was sold.  It is now used by a consortium of three local schools.  The building is beautiful, and it was worth a side excursion to find the right driveway to see it.  This was as close as we could get on the south side of the building.

On the north side, we were able to get right to the front of the building.

Moving indoors to the chapel of the Old Mission Santa Barbara, we see a fairly large chapel, adorned with gold and with painted walls.

A side door, about 1/3 of the way back.

An overhead light fixture.

Alcoves on either side, about 2/3 of the way back.

And the exit door on the other side (from outside).

From there, the self-guided tour moves through rooms of various artifacts.

 

And original bell

A bell with a couple of paintings above that show the local area.

A kitchen

And a couple of wall decorations.

 

Part 5 will show scenes of St. Anthony's Seminary.

Before going into the Mission itself, a few more shots of the outside.  First, looking towards the town of Santa Barbara from the front of the Mission -- in the background is the ocean!

To the right, a statue of the founder of the Mission, Padre Fermin Lasuen, who took the reins upon the death of Father Junipero Serra.

Window detail along the arcade.

The grounds are beautifully planted, even outside the front of the building.

Entering the courtyard, one sees a lovely corner view of the fountain and the plantings. 

An arcade along the inside of the front wall.

Every Mission had its Carreta, or ox cart.

Behind the Mission is what used to be St. Anthony's Seminary, now a group of non-profit schools.  There will be a part of this series covering the building and some of the history of St. Anthony's Seminary.

A statue inside a small enclosure.

Moving toward the cemetery section of the grounds, a statue of Fr. Serra.  (His holding a bird is symbolic of Fr. Serra and his love for nature.)

Besides the graves of notables of the Mission itself, one finds graves and crypts of many early notables of the town of Santa Barbara -- Covarrubias,

Orena,

Rickard (John Rickard was Mayor of Santa Barbara in the 1950's),

de la Guerra, and many others.

An Indian woman, Juana Maria, who was found abandoned on San Nicolas Island, off the coast of Santa Barbara is buried under one of the Mission towers.

And from the cemetery, one can move into or through the chapel.

The next post will show views inside the Old Mission chapel.

While touring the Historical Museum, I discovered that my friend, despite having lived in Santa Barbara for some 50 years, had never toured the Old Mission.  So, once we resolved my camera issues, we set out to tour the Old Mission.  This post will concentrate on views of the front of the Mission -- the view that everybody sees upon arrival at the Old Mission.  The next post will show the inside courtyard, the cemetery, and the church itself.

This is the Queen of the California Missions that run from the southern border up to San Francisco.  It is still an active church, although it was severely damaged twice by major earthquakes.

It is the center of many civic activities within the city of Santa Barbara -- throughout the Memorial Day Weekend, there is the I Madonnari festival in front of the mission where the parking lot once was; the city's Old Spanish Days Fiesta begins with a blessing ceremony and Mexican music and dancing on and beneath the Mission steps; and there are ceremonies and festivals around the Mission throughout the year.