One of the great joys of being a mother is being able to live another childhood along with each one of your children. This past Wednesday I was able to do that with my ten year old daughter. I was one of the chaperones for her 4th Grade Class as they went on a field trip to Monterey and Carmel. The field trip was to go visit three important historical landmarks in California’s history: Monterey Custom House, Colton Hall (in Monterey), and the Carmel Mission. This was a real treat for me, since I didn’t grow up in California. I didn't learn California history when I was in elementary school like my ten year old daughter is currently doing. So what better time to do it than now?
Our first stop of the day was at the Custom House (pictured above), right by the wharf in Monterey. At one time it was Mexico’s primary port of entry on the Alta California coast. This is one of the oldest government buildings in California. In July 1846 Commodore John Drake Sloat raised a flag here, claiming over 600,000 square miles of territory for the United States.
Next stop in Monterey was Colton Hall (pictured above and below). This building was originally built as a school house, but onSeptember 1, 1849, representatives met here to draft a constitution, in hopes California would be admitted into the United States.
Our last stop was my favorite; we ended our field trip at the Carmel Mission (above). This mission was dedicated in 1797. By 1836, two years after secularization, the destruction of mission life was complete. The church was basically in ruins until 1931 when Harry Downie was put in charge of restoring the mission. From that time until his death in 1980 he dedicated his life to restoring the mission. Here are some of my favorite photographs of the beautiful building and its grounds. Click on any photo to enlarge.
The next three photos are of the living quarters in the mission.
More photos of the grounds. The weather was nice that day--perfect for taking outside photos.
and to be a child again!
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