After arriving at the county park and hooking up, as I mentioned last post, I was surprised to find that it has free Wifi though it’s not mentioned on their website. They didn’t answer my email query about it before I planned the trip either. So, good, won’t have to use my phone data. The Wifi gave me the ability to really plan my week long visit in San Diego. There’s plenty to see, and I had plenty of time to do whatever I wanted.
First things first, next morning drove around the area to find a grocery store, found one, than spied several places nearby that might be good to eat if I came home from being a tourist and didn’t feel like cooking. As I left and returned to the RV park, spied 3 cars parked under the overpass. Looked like homeless to me.
Than after that nearby roaming, spent time on the internet researching for bargains and discount tickets for the attractions in San Diego. I did find an organization that had some specials where they combined several attractions and give a discount for buying their package. Did save some money but not a lot. Spread my plans out so I’d be busy the entire week with Friday and Saturday off, but not so busy that I’d lose interest.
After arranging all that, I just drove in the direction I’d be taking the next day and learned my way around town a little. Just a leisurely day on the road in a big city finding where things were. No biggie. Did crane my neck at those few light rail stations I’d pass and didn’t hardly see anyone at them. And the stations didn’t seem to be in very good spots either. Also checked the internet for bus and train stations and their schedules near me and it turned out that I was miles from the nearest train station. Far enough that the bus ride would take an hour just to get to the nearest train station, than another 20 minutes to anywhere. Not good. Even getting a senior discount card couldn’t rescue that idea. OK, this is California, land of the car, so guess I’ll be driving.
Next morning, headed back to Old Town Downtown. This would be the site of the original settlement from a couple hundred years back. They’ve kind of made it touristy with all sorts of ol’ timey displays, museum, old homes and hotel open for tours, with lots of food and trinket vendors. I parked under a freeway overpass with a bunch of other cars I’d spotted when I thought I was close enough to the entrance and unlike other parking nearby, turned out that it’s free parking, and there was an open space right at the beginning of the sidewalk that would take me to Old Town.
And here I am just after walking into the Old Town attraction. Mix of haciendas and 1800’s style buildings. Plus some reproductions. This is where San Diego began as a city.
First stop is pretty much the first building in SD. A hacienda built by a Spanish family, occupied for over a century. 
Across the street, which was the main street for many decades, was the livery stable. Inside are some collections of old west paraphernalia. 
And some wagons and sundry items used back then. This barn also held lots of horses over the years. The owners ran a stagecoach business out of here for a while too. Those deep sided wagons where used for carrying whatever they could. Gotta keep the stores shelves stocked…
Forgot to take a shot before I walked into the stable, so came back out to get one… 
Back inside, this…
And inside the hotel. They built it here for several reasons and they were pretty good ones at the time. Still in pretty good shape considering it’s age.
Liked how this cactus resembled a large creature of some kind. 
And that was nearly all of the tour. There’s lots more to do and see there what with the trinket and art stores. It’s interesting and worth a half day visit. Had myself some lunch there, very nice burrito from a cart, this after I’d wandered around looking for something to eat but most everything was too much food for just a snack, except for the cart fare. Couple hours later, went on home satisfied with the enjoyable day. Learned some stuff, got to see some old stuff, the usual. There’s a lot of trinket stores there and several restaurants. And it turned out I was too tired to cook so went out for dinner.
Again, thanks for visiting my blog. Hope you get the chance to visit San Diego Old Town some day.