Marilynne's World

I live in a popular tourist destination.  So, if you live here – why not act like a tourist some days?  Old Town San Diego is one of my earliest memories of San Diego.  Why?  Because when we first lived in San Diego we lived in a motel next to my husband’s work, which just happened to be next to Old Town.

Old Town marks the first town that was San Diego.  There was a fort at the top of the cliff, and the town below.  It was a dusty place with homes made of adobe bricks.  It’s big feature sat in the middle – a large bull ring.  Now I suppose that some quiet evenings, the people of the town also sat on porches or walked around the bull ring.  Somehow I have a hard time believing that bull ring was the central feature of the town.  They had to use it for other things as well, don’t you think?

When we lived there, the bull ring was a park where children played on the canon and ran around on the grass.  The adobe buildings were open – sometimes for a fee to see how people lived, and sometimes as stores selling not only knick knacks for tourists, but also lovely Mexican-style things that anyone might like to take home.

On one corner of the bull ring/park stood an old adobe that was sunk into the ground – or had the ground been built up around it?  The children loved to go in there.  It was a church, and along one wall there was a sculpture of Christ, sculpted deep in and not out.  You could watch Christ’s eyes follow you up to the altar and back.  They never seemed to leave you.  It was great!  Even the kids thought so.

An old motel stood at another corner.  Later that motel morphed into shops with a lovely courtyard, and an open-air restaurant.  It was a beautiful place.

So, jump ahead.  My children are grown.  My husband and I are retired and I still love to visit Old Town.  The motel where we once stayed became a shop, then went away entirely.  You see, like any town, Old Town is constantly changing.  It’s an interesting place to visit.  Plan to do some shopping.

Marilynne