NorCal 2015 Monday - 6/22/2015 | Libi's California Adventure

After a night in a questionable Travelodge in San Rafael we were on the move again. Our first stop was St. Vincent's School for Boys (CHL 630).

At first we had a bit of trouble finding the plaque, but after talking to a lovely woman in the office she pointed us to the correct spot!

According to the state: In 1853, Timothy Murphy, Irish-born pioneer of Marin County, gave 317 acres of land to Archbishop Alemany for educational purposes. Here the Sisters of Charity in 1855 founded a school that, as St. Vincent's School for Boys, has been maintained and enlarged by successive archbishops of San Francisco.

According to our new friend, the grounds are now used by many different schools-- a dance school, a GATE school, and a residential program for emotionally disturbed boys.

The plaque is located in front of a little, old tree in the parking lot...

very easy to miss!

This site is also a wedding and special event site-- which is highly sought after according to lots of wedding websites!

The next site was totally locked up, so this sign on the road was as close as we could get. This is the Oldest House North of San Francisco Bay (CHL 210).

We could see the house as we sped along the freeway heading to the next site, but sadly I didn't get a photo. The house was built in 1776 by the last chief of the Olompali Indians.

Our next site was closed on Monday-- so we are striking out right now! The Petaluma Adobe (CHL 18) is supposed to be a great example of a working rancho-- according to the docent at the Vallejo home.

We will have to come back another time to explore and get a photo of the plaque. The site served as the center for General Vallejo's 66,000 acre rancho between 1836-1846.

A short drive-- and a stop for lunch at the yummy Redwood Cafe-- brought us to Cotati.

The Cotati Downtown Plaza (CHL 879) is significant since it is a city with a hexagonal town plan.

You can see on this map image the six sided layout that was designed by Newton Smyth.

It is one of only two cities with this layout in the entire United States.

We also found this unique art piece that we did some photos with.

FYI-- Cotati was the name of a local Indian chief.

Next we came to Cooper's Sawmill (CHL 835). Here in 1834 the first known power-operated commercial sawmill in California was built by Vallejo's brother-in-law, John B. R. Cooper.

Sadly the mill was destroyed by a flood in 1841, so there is nothing left to look at.

Nearby the plaque we saw what we believe to be Mark West Creek which powered the mill back in the day.

The next site was a little out of the way, but it was well worth the detour-- Walters Ranch Hop Kiln (CHL 893).

Built in 1905 by Angelo "Skinny" Sodini it is one of the rare surviving examples of a tone hop kiln.

This region used to be a major hop-growing area for the entire Western United States.

The kiln has been converted into the HKG Winery-- which is wonderful because you get to go inside of the building and take a closer look around.

Back across the river and into town...

we came upon the Luther Burbank Home and Garden (CHL 234).

Luther Burbank is a very famous horticulturalist who wanted to increase the world's food supply by manipulating the characteristics of existing plants.

His birthday, March 7th, is when California celebrates Arbor Day-- as opposed to the rest of the country which celebrates in April.

The home wasn't open for tours during our visit...

but the grounds were gorgeous!

We were able to leisurely walk around..

and examine all of the flora...

and fauna!

Libi even borrowed Ron's phone to take some flower photos...

We could have spent hours here just taking in all the beauty!

However, we had lots more to see today-- so it was back on the road.

Our next site was another odd one from the Twentieth Century Folk Art Environment (Thematic) section of CHLs-- John Medica Gardens (CHL 939).

While the ornate gardens created by MR. Medica no longer exist-- there are remnants of the park which you can track down.

The actual address that the state gives is in the middle of a lovely neighborhood, but the sculptures couldn't be seen at that address.

A kind man who was getting his mail near the address the state gives told us another way to see some of the "castles" by going into a neighboring gated neighborhood.

We were very lucky to finagle our way in and to peek through someones property to catch a glimpse of the castles.

According to the state: 'Trying to make it look better,' John Medica spent 20 years transforming a barren hillside into a magical garden of plants and creative stone works. Castles were his greatest triumph. A native of Yugoslavia, self-taught, Medica created an oasis for people and animals to enjoy. This imaginative assemblage is one of California's remarkable Twentieth Century Folk Art Environments.

The street names echo Mr. Medica's impact on this neighborhood-- sadly there really isn't much left to see.

If you look closely you can see a castle back there, if you want to see more of what it looked like in its heyday you can check out the photos here. In looking at the photos, it appears that there is a plaque somewhere, but we weren't able to find it.

Hood House (CHL 692) also was challenging to find-- it is up on a hill above an abandoned school near prison grounds.

The house was built by William Hood for his bride in 1858 and the bricks used for the construction were from the kiln on property (which no longer exists).

It is not only listed as a California Historic Landmark, but it's on the National Registry as well.

Ron got a shot through the window-- it looks like they still use it for events.

The next site was really cool, with lots to see and do-- the Jack London State Historic Park (CHL 743).

There is a little museum in the House of Happy Walls where you can learn all about Mr London: his writings, his travels and his family.

There is also the tiniest little gift shop where you can purchase all things London.

The plaque is on the outside of this building-- and it was the first thing we visited upon entering the park.

Ron and Libi decided to hike the grounds to see the grave-site and ruins of his home...

but I decided to walk around this building a little more.

Jack London, for those of you who might not know, is a very famous American author whose writings include such books as Call of the Wild, White Fang, and many other nature adventures. You can read his biography here.

The entire property of his home(s) and grave-site was donated to the state by his nephew, but when the state budget crisis hit a few years ago they thought about closing it down. Thanks to friends of the park-- they formed a foundation and rescued it, so that future generations could come visit!

The story of his dream home is so sad:

Jack London wrote so many books about wolves and dogs that his friend George Sterling gave him the nickname 'The Wolf'. So when Jack started to build his dream house in 1911, it was only fitting that people would call it the 'Wolf House'.

Jack and Charmian never got to live in their home because one hot summer night in August 1913, spontaneous combustion started a fire in the house. Nobody was living near the house so the fire was quite advanced before anyone became aware of it. The Londons were sleeping in the Cottage about a half mile away and were awakened by a farm worker who saw the red glow in the sky. They got on their horses and rode to their beloved dream house. By the time they got there, the house was completely engulfed in flames and beyond saving. Although Jack vowed to rebuild the house, he did not live long enough to rebuild. Today, we have a beautiful ruin.-- from the Jack London State Historic Park site.

You can tell just by looking at it that it was going to be a magnificent place!

Ron greatly enjoyed the hike to get there...

Libi, on the other hand, was too tired to walk back. After a brief melt-down (by both parties)-- we met up and the car and moved on to our next location!

We next visited the home of a man whose name we would read dozens of times on this trip-- as he is a hugely influential local character-- General M. G. Vallejo Home (CHL 4).

Leaving the visitors center we were told that we couldn't use the normal door due to bats living above it who like to poop on people as they walked out the door. We used the proper door, but couldn't resist a photo of the bats in the rafters.

General Vallejo was extremely important to this region and truly one of the Native Sons of California. His parents were wed at Santa Barbara Mission, he was born in Monterey, and he became a soldier in his teenage years. He was extremely bright and studied English, French and Latin in addition to Spanish. He became the Commander of the Presidio of San Francisco and oversaw the secularization of Mission San Francisco Solano (which we will visit in a few moments). He founded the city of Sonoma and later served in the first Constitutional Convention of California.

This home was called Lachryma Monis or Tears of the Mountain-- due to the springs that now form Sonoma's water supply.

You may be thinking to yourself-- this home doesn't look like it fits in for the time period in California..

this house was actually prefabricated on the East Coast, sailed around the Cape and re-assembled here.

This was definitely the home of someone rich and important-- everything inside of it gives off that vibe (even the deer with the crazy eyes you see above!)

However, there were still Spanish touches put on the house-- you can see a layer of adobe between the exterior and interior walls to help insulate the home.

They have a lot of neat tours here as well as scavenger hunts for the kids-- we will definitely return when we have more time.

A short drive from Vallejo's home to Sonoma we came to the Northern-most mission Mission San Francisco Solano (CHL 3).

Founded on July 4, 1823 by Padre Jose Altamira, this mission is the only one founded in California under independent Mexico.

After secularization it served as a parish church for the pueblo and Sonoma area.

It was pretty close to closing time when we arrived into town, so we had to hustle through the mission.

Happily, it isn't a very large mission so we were able to see the whole thing pretty quickly.

When the mission was secularized it was pretty well destroyed, so this is an entirely new building.

They did a nice job of restoring the altar, but there aren't any pews inside the church.

Another interesting thing about the mission is that the Bear Flag Revolt occurred right across the street.

Right across the street is the Preisidio of Sonoma (Sonoma Barracks) CHL 316.

The barracks were built in 1836 by General Vallejo.

This became the headquarters of the Bear Flag Party.

Ron-- your job is to fluff up this section

One of the most exciting parts of the trip was that we got to spend the night inside a California Historical Landmark!!!! We reserved a room at the Swiss Hotel (CHL 496)!

The hotel was constructed in 1850 by Don Salvador Vallejo and was eventually sold and turned into a private residence. One of the most famous owners of the property was Dr. Vicotr Faure, an award-winning vintner in the area.

There are only five guest rooms in the whole place, so we were really lucky to get one.

It's a quaint place with actual keys, instead of electronic key cards.

There is a sweet balcony out front where guests sat and sipped wine...

Ron and Libi also met some other guests and shared our adventures with them. They very sweetly logged on to our blog and left comments for Libs.

At this point in the day, we were in need of sustenance so we walked around the square to a cute little spot for dinner Girl and the Fig.

We ate yummy food, drank good wine, and enjoyed the weather on the patio.

Then it was back to the adventure as we walked around the square and worked off all that food! Our first stop was the Salvador Vallejo Adobe (CHL 501).

This was the home of Salvador Vallejo, brother of General Vallejo, who also built the Swiss Hotel mentioned above. It was built by Native labor between 1836 and 1846 until it was seized by the Bear Flag Party.

Next to a bank on the next corner we came to Union Hotel and Union Hall (CHL 627).

This hotel was destroyed by fire in 1866 and rebuilt as a two-story stone building. It operated as a hotel until 1955 when Bank of America acquired the property.

As we were walking around we found this cool mural all about the historic spots in the little town of Sonoma. n

The Nash Adobe (CHL 667) was built in 1847 by H. A. Green. It later served as a prison for John H. Nash who refused to relinquish his post as alcalde.

Later the house was purchased by Nancy Adler, a survivor of the Donner Party.

Inside the center of the square that we have been walking around is the Bear Flag Monument (CHL 7).

This was one of the things that Ron was really excited to see!

From the State: On June 14, 1846, the Bear Flag Party raised the Bear Flag on this spot and declared California free from Mexican rule. Following the raising of the American flag at Monterey July 7, 1846 by Commodore John Drake Sloat, on July 9 the Bear Flag was hauled down and the American flag raised in its place by Lieutenant Joseph W. Revere, U.S.A., who had been sent to Sonoma from San Francisco by Commander John B. Montgomery of the U.S. Sloop-of-War Portsmouth.

The statue is full of interesting details and really needs to be looked at from every angle!

Our last site for the day was the Blue Wing Inn (CHL 17).

The hotel was built by General Vallejo to accommodate travelers to the area. This is considered one of the first hostelries in Northern California and guests including Kit Carson, Governor Pio Pico, and Ulysses S. Grant are all rumored to have stayed here. Now it is a run-down building in need of love.