MySandiego

international cottages in Balboa Park

  • California the country

    Here is an interesting fact many didn’t know: California was declared a country of its own in 1946. It lasted only a month until the US conquered the state, and they declared their allegiance to the US.

    At dawn on June 14, 1846, a ragtag group of about 30 gun-toting Americans entered Sonoma, a small town in the Mexican territory of Alta California. Prepared to take the town by force, they instead sat for brandy with Col. Mariano Vallejo of the Mexican army and accepted his surrender. For the next 25 days, California was an independent nation: the California Republic.

    Known as the Bear Flag Revolt, a reference to the short-lived republic’s flag, this event was something between an American invasion and a miniature war of independence. Though the fighting was limited and the country it established lasted less than a month, the Bear Flag Revolt led directly to the American acquisition of what is now its most populous state.

    original bear flag of california

  • Colorado Desert

    Colorado Desert

    Colorado Desert: Colorado is derived from the Spanish word for “colored red”,
    The Colorado Desert is a subregion of the larger Sonoran Desert, covering about 7 million acres. The desert occupies Imperial County, parts of San Diego and Riverside counties, and a small part of San Bernardino County in California, as well as the northern part of Mexicali Municipality in Baja California, Mexico.

    Most of the Colorado Desert lies at a relatively low elevation, below 1,000 ft , with the lowest point of the desert floor at 275 ft below sea level, at the Salton Sea, not very far from Borego Springs visitor center. That is a lot of desert and as stated in previous post San Diegos portion is 640,000 acres.

    Borego Springs is a popular place to view wild flowers when in season.

  • San Diego Deserts.

    San Diego Deserts.

    Desert View Tower:
    Constructed between 1922 and 1928, the Desert View Tower is a 70-foot tall rock tower that provides an spectacular view of the boulder landscape of East San Diego County and of the Imperial County desert from a 3,000 feet above sea level. The view on a clear day is amazing.

    in-ko-pa desert tower
    InKoPa

    Anza-Borrego Desert State Park: Anza-Borrego Desert State Park is a gem of a state park. With desert landscapes, slot canyons and dirt roads to explore, and hidden oases. In the visitor center section their is a theater showing different presentations, lots of guides food water and park rangers to answer any questions but that’s just a touch of this 640,000 acres of desert state park. The scenic views just to get there are fantastic.

  • 1915 Pan-American Exposition

    1915 Pan-American Exposition

    The Panama-California Exposition was held in San Diego, California from January 1, 1915 to January 1, 1917. The exposition celebrated the completion of the Panama Canal and promoted San Diego as a port of call for ships traveling north.

    pan americanexpo 1915

    After five years of unrelenting effort, San Diego celebrated the official opening of the Panama-California Exposition on January 1, 1915. At midnight, December 31, President Woodrow Wilson, in Washington, D.C., pressed a Western Union telegraph key. The signal turned on every light on the grounds and touched off a display of fireworks. The gates to the Exposition swung open. A crush of from 31,836 to 42,486 people on the grounds cheered, waved banners, threw confetti, sang “I Love You California,

  • Oldtown V South San Diego

    Oldtown V South San Diego

    early san diego
    Downtown San Diego 1890?

    For more than a hundred years Old Town was San Diego. It began with the founding of the fort and mission in July, 1769; it ended, “as a place of real consequence”, with the fire of April, 1872, which destroyed most of the business part of the town and turned the scale decisively in favor of the new set­tlement which had sprung up at Horton’s Addition

    Now Horton was a Real Estate developer from back east and had a good notion of land values (location,location,location: right!)  Alonzo Horton purchased 900 acres closer to the waterfront for $265, naming it “New Town.” It would grow to become the city and county seat, now downtown San Diego. 

  • Who was here:

    Who was here:

    The Kumeyaay people were historically the inhabitants of San Diego. The Kumeyaay are a Native American tribe (Iipai-Tipai-Diegueño) who have lived in California and Baja California for thousands of years. They were the first people to inhabit the area that is now San Diego County.

    Cabrillo

    In 1542 The first European explorer in California, Juan Rodríguez Cabrillo, sailed into what is known today as San Diego Bay and made first contact with the Kumeyaay people.