So, like I've mentioned, every summer, we take the kids on a trip that goes with what they're studying in school. This particular summer Jake was entering 4th grade and studying the California Missions, Gold Rush and California History. so off we went to check out as many missions as we could on our way to Gold Rush Country.
The closest mission is actually in our hometown, but we would save that one for when we returned. So, the first one we came to was the San Miguel Mission about 40 miles from our home. The Spanish missions in California comprise a series of religious and military outposts established by Spanish Catholics of the Franciscan Order between 1769 and 1823 to spread the Christian faith among the local Native Americans. 21 missions were established along the Camino Real (King's Highway) from San Diego to San Francisco and north to Sonoma. Each mission was a "day's march" from each other (about 30 miles - the march was on horseback).
The site for the San Miguel Mission was selected to close the gap between Mission San Antonio and Mission San Luis Obispo. It was a beautiful spot on the Salinas River called Vahca by the natives, Las Pozas by the Spaniards or "The Wells". The inside of the Mission was closed, so we spent about 15 mintues looking around the grounds.
Our next stop was the Santa Cruz Mission. It has some nice displays of what the rooms and interior looked like during the actual mission days and the visitor center had some interesting displays.
After a day in Santa Cruz, we headed up to San Francisco for a couple of days. We stopped at the Mission Dolores in San Fransisco which is downtown. We took the bus there not realizing that it's in a bad neighborhood (the hooker and druggy on the bus should have tipped us off I guess). It still felt safe enough during the day. The Mission itself is a beautiful little gem. The cemetery and gardens adjacent to it have been restored and planted with traditional native trees, shrubs, flowers, and plants from the 1791 period. The garden also contains an Ohlone Indian ethno-botanic garden and examples of Native American plants and artifacts. I discovered that Mission Dolores is the final resting place of some 5,000 Ohlone, Miwok, and other First Californians who built the mission. The cemetery proved to be a Who's Who in California history as I read the tombstones I noticed such notables as: the first Mexican governor, Luis Antonio Arguello and the first commandant of the Presidio, Lieutenant Moraga.
We stayed in San Francisco for a few days seeing the sights and took a boat to Alcatraz Island, a big hit with the kids.
From San Francisco, we headed up to Sacramento for a tour of the Capitol. Our friend Jack O'Connell is the Superintendent of Education in Sacramento and formerly a State Senator. He gave us a special tour of the Department of Education and entertained the kids with stories of laws he passed as a senator such as one that requires dogs riding in the back of open trucks to be tied up so they don't fall out. The kids thought that was a very nice law. After our tour of the Department of Education, Jack sent us over to the Capitol for a private tour. The kids enjoyed learning about the Capitol and seeing the Senate Chambers and learning about how laws are made. A quick stop at the Governor's office was a treat although the Governor wasn't in at the time.
We stayed within walking distance to Old Town in Sacramento(we stayed at the cheaper Vagabond Inn -about half the price of other hotels - and it was fine) and enjoyed walking on the old fashioned streets. A trip to the train museum was a wonderful start and being in Old Town was a great historical introduction to the Gold Rush. We ate dinner at Joe's Crab Shack. It was a busy, family-friendly, energetic restaurant, a little pricy, but fun.
After Sacramento, it was on to find Gold! We headed up to Placerville. Our first stop was Coloma, and Marshall's Gold Discovery State Park and the site of the discovery at Sutter’s Mill that triggered the California Gold Rush. There's a nice Gold Discovery Museum there that's definitely worth spending time. The site has a reproduction of the mill where Sutter discovered gold and there's a signpost at the actual site along the American River. The kids also got to do some real gold panning near the Visitors Center.
The next day, we wanted to see a real gold mine, so we opted for the smaller Gold Bug Mine in Hangtown. The kids liked Hangtown because it has a life-size pretend man hanging from one of the buildings in the middle of town. The town Hangtown is also mentioned in the Gold Rush book, By The Great Horn Spoon, that was required reading for Jake's 4th grade class. We all sported miners helmets as we embarked on a self-guided tour with audio headsets. The kids loved the mine and seeing what it was like for the miner-fortyniners.
We stayed at the Placerville Best Western and it was a perfect location and accomodations for us. It had a pool to splash around in at the end of the day, and workout room that my hubby and I took turns visiting, so everyone was happy. There's also camping along the American River.
The next stop on our journey was a trip down Highway 49. We stopped at various gold rush towns like Angel's Camp where we discovered the saloon where Mark Twain first heard the story from a half-drunk miner friend that would become his first published humor fiction piece “The Celebrated Jumping Frog of Calaveras County”. Angels camp is now the home of Jumping Frog Jubilee. We also stopped in Murphy, a charming town, for lunch. Our final destination was Columbia State Park. The only state park that has the distinction of being a real, working town.
Columbia is a must see for Gold Rush Country enthusiast with kids. It's a real living historic town. The main street has a blacksmith shop where you can watch him at his trade. Costumed docents wander the town answering questions. A must do is a stagecoach ride through town. Don't be surprised if a bandit along the way stops your coach and demands all your gold. You can also see the effects of mining on the landscape and pan for gold. We stayed in town at the Historic City Hotel. Don't leave town without letting the kids try Sasparilla (old fashinoned root beer) at the Saloon. Sasparilla can also be bought at the General Market to take home (it's the only place in the Gold Country that we could find it).
Our final stop on the way home was the San Juan Baptista Mission. I think it was our favorite as it was restored nicely and retained a lot of artifacts from the original mission. The open sweeping views from the back also gave me a real sense of the vast openess that once surrounded the missions. The museum was worth the price and the present museum rooms were once the padre's living quarters and workrooms for the Natives.
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