When we were in California, one of the things on my to do list
was to visit the city and the Mission of San Juan Capistrano.
I remember my mom singing the song, “When the Swallows Come Back to Capistrano”
by the Ink Spots.
I have heard the story of the Swallows and wanted to make certain that we
visited the Mission of San Juan Capistrano and the beautiful gardens.
I so loved their water gardens at the Mission.
One of the gardens was filled with beautiful Koi.
I discovered the Depth of Field setting on my iPhone and love it!
Here is what the above photo looks like taken farther back
without the Depth of Field setting …. totally different!
While in California, I noticed that there are lots of succulents
used in outdoor gardens and also indoors.
I am rethinking my future indoor plant purchases and using more succulents
as they are beautiful and require little maintenance.
I knew that I was going to enjoy the tour of this famous Mission
where large groups of Swallows (approximately 15,000)
migrate from Argentina to San Juan Capistrano.
The return of the Swallows is celebrated on St. Joseph’s Day . . . March 19th.
It was a beautiful day with temps in the 70’s and not a cloud in the sky.
The Mission is the oldest building in California still in use.
The Sacred Garden:
The Southern California weather lends to such beautiful flowers and gardens.
The mission that was founded in 1776 by Spanish Catholics of the Franciscan Order
has been lovingly restored through the years.
The Serra Chapel was breathtaking!
Again, it was a most beautiful, beautiful day.
We started out the day having breakfast in the quaint town of San Juan Capistrano.
We ate at the Ramos Cafe on the porch of a house built in 1881.
This was the best French Toast ever! Blueberry French toast with lemon sauce.
And here we are after a wonderful lunch by the water at the Hotel Del Coronado.
We squeezed in a lot of sights in the few extra days that we had in Southern California.
I am still recovering from the trip and hope to get lots of things done around the house.
I have lots of things to share and some of this includes
a trip to my favorite consignment shop, Always Home in Durham, N.C.
Have a most beautiful day everyone!
Beautiful! Thank you for sharing!!
That breakfast!!! Oh, my!
The mission and its gardens are indeed lovely!
I’m intrigued by the depth of field setting on the iPhone. I need to look into that!
I can picture the beautiful day you described and the beauty there. Those old bells are amazing and the history there is awesome. It was fun to travel with you.
That looks like a place I would love!!! The gardens and buildings look beautiful! How wonderful that you got to go there! Loved the picture of the 2 of you. Your breakfast looked amazing!!! Have a great weekend.
I’m so grateful you shared this. It’s been years since I made a pilgrimage to this beautiful site. Thank you. Your breakfast; oh, my goodness.
Hi, Shirley! I’m so glad you enjoyed your extra days in So CA. I don’t live far from San Juan Capistrano, and your beautiful photos certainly capture the beauty of the town. I love what you did with your Depth of Field setting! Bravo! Rosie @ The Magic Hutch
Thank you for sharing your pictures of the mission. It looks like a beautiful place to visit if I ever get to California!
Beautiful mission. You should visit Mission Santa Barbara and Bon Aventura if you go to L.A. They are also quite beautiful.
Shirley, I really enjoy a business trip with extra days for pleasure! I believe you and Tom had a fabulous time. The gardens are beautiful and I would love a visit there! Did you eat all of that breakfast? (lol). Thank you for the tour!!
It looks like a beautiful place! And that French Toast!! WOW!
Beautiful gardens and good to know about the depth of field setting! So happy that you were able to enjoy some vacation time!
Your photos are so pretty! I’ll have to see if my phone has that setting. Your trip looks just dreamy! We love Coronado Island.
When I met my husband, his parents lived in a little house right across from the Mission. He is a California boy, raised in Orange County. My sweet sister in law is a writer and has written several books about the history of San Clemente and Southern California. She is a fifth generation Californian who is still writing and now writes romance novels about Sonoma and the Napa Valley wine country.
I am so glad you had a wonderful time in California. It is a place very dear to me.
Shirley, It seems you had a perfect trip. Summer is flying by and it is so nice to have specific enjoyments to mark the season before it is gone. And you deserved a treat after all the hard work of preparing your lovely home for the real estate market.
It’s been years since we visited San Juan Capistrano. Gorgeous water lilies and scenery around the Mission! Your blueberry French toast looks scrumptious!
Ohh how beautiful. The gardens, the chapel. They’re just breathtaking! So glad you could take a couple of days to have some fun.
Gorgeous photos from a lovely trip. I especially enjoyed the photos of the gardens. It is so wonderful that the Mission has been taken care of and enjoyed all these many, many years. Thank you for sharing.
Oh and your blueberry French toast – amazing!
Have a great weekend.
Such beautiful photos. I am so glad you visited the Mission, it’s a magical place! We love to go to San Juan Capistrano with our whole family. We usually have lunch right by the train depot, visit the petting zoo and of course, the antique shops! Shirley, I’m so glad you enjoyed your time here, the weather could not have been more perfect. {although I know our summer traffic is awful, sorry!} Happy weekend, friend. xo
I am glad to hear you enjoyed Mission San Juan Capistrano! It is a pretty place!
Looks like a wonderful trip. Your pics are terrific.
Beautiful gardens! Looks like y’all had a fabulous trip. xoxo