Category Archives: Looking Back in Time

Cosmopolitan Cocktails

Posted on August 2, 2010 by Jeannette De Wyze

We stopped in at the Cosmopolitan Hotel this past weekend and noted that the saloon is now open for business, with an intriguing assortment of allegedly historic cocktails.  You can get a Ricky (made with pressed lime juice, sugar water, … Continue reading →

Posted in Looking Back in Time, Old Town | Tagged , | Leave a comment

The Best Free Tourist Attraction in San Diego?

Posted on June 30, 2010 by Jeannette De Wyze

  I had heard of the Mormon Battalion. I’m sure that at least once over the years I’ve read about it, only to forget everything I read a day later.  But that’s now changed forever. On Monday I finally visited the new … Continue reading →

Posted in Free and fun, Looking Back in Time, Old Town, San Diego Sights | Tagged , | 1 Comment

Sparkly Stuff

Posted on June 7, 2010 by Jeannette De Wyze

I’d been looking forward to the San Diego Natural History Museum’s new exhibition, “All That Glitters,” because I know that San Diego is a special place when it comes to jewels. I’ve read authorities who say more gems (and more … Continue reading →

Posted in Looking Back in Time, Museum offerings, San Diego gems and mining | 3 Comments

Those Were the Days

Posted on June 3, 2010 by Jeannette De Wyze

Amazing, isn’t it, to remember that 35 years ago perhaps the top tourist attraction in San Diego was our legal nude beach?  (That would be Black’s Beach in La Jolla, which San Diego voters made clothing-optional in 1974.)  This reminder … Continue reading →

Posted in Looking Back in Time | Tagged , , | 2 Comments

The Uprising of a Park

Posted on April 22, 2010 by Jeannette De Wyze

Chicano Park stands out in more ways than one.  Its location (under the Coronado Bridge) and its murals are the most obvious distinctions. But the way the park got started may be the most dramatic thing about it. Whereas most city … Continue reading →

Posted in Looking Back in Time | Tagged | 1 Comment

First American Margarita?

Posted on December 11, 2009 by Jeannette De Wyze

Could the first American version of the margarita truly have been served on the current site of La Jolla United Methodist Church? That’s the story recounted on the wall of the newly inaugurated Bird Rock History Museum (located within the Bird Rock … Continue reading →

Posted in Bird Rock, Free and fun, Looking Back in Time, San Diego Tastes | Tagged | 1 Comment

St. Diego

Posted on November 13, 2009 by Jeannette De Wyze

Why isn’t this blog called Travels in San Miguel?  That’s what Juan Cabrillo named the big bay and the place around it when he landed here in 1542.  But 60 years later, when explorer Sebastian Vizcaino arrived, he renamed everything San … Continue reading →

Posted in Looking Back in Time | Tagged , | 1 Comment

Itchy Camouflage

Posted on October 25, 2009 by Jeannette De Wyze

One of the more prominent landmarks along I-5 as you pass Old Town heading south toward downtown San Diego is the jagged-roofed complex that now houses the Navy’s SpaWar (Space and Naval Warfare) center. Today the Navy works on tactical and non-tactical … Continue reading →

Posted in Looking Back in Time | Tagged , | 1 Comment

Dead Man’s Point

Posted on September 28, 2009 by Jeannette De Wyze

One of the most grisly historic sites in downtown San Diego is also one of the least known. Even worse, the inconspicuous plaque that marks the location of Punta de los Muertos (Dead Man’s Point) is almost certainly wrong. That’s too bad; the true … Continue reading →

Posted in Looking Back in Time, On the Waterfront | Tagged , | Leave a comment

Ft. What?

Posted on July 21, 2009 by Jeannette De Wyze

Ask a dozen randomly chosen San Diegans the location of Ft. Rosecrans or — tougher still — Ft. Guijarros, and if more than one could come up with the answer, I’d be surprised. The irony is that anyone who’s ever gazed out over … Continue reading →

Posted in Looking Back in Time, Military life, On the Waterfront | Tagged , , , | 1 Comment