Spending the Day in San Juan Capistrano

This past weekend my love and I headed down to San Juan Capistrano.  He wanted to show me the Mission.  This was my first time ever exploring a mission, and these are some of my shots from the day:

The map of the small town of San Juan Capistrano.

The first part of the mission we saw when we entered.  We veered to the left and began walking on our journey.

As you explored different parts of the mission you’d enter different rooms that would showcase you how they lived in the mission.  This was the kitchen area.

When the church tower fell the four original bells survived, and were put into a bell wall.  However, to protect them they eventually took those down and made copies to place in the bell wall.

2 of the 4 bells are displayed where the original location of the tower was.

The Original Bells.

This was a model in front of the collapsed church.  You get an idea of how things fell over, and what it truly looked like.

There were also beautiful gardens in front of the mission and in between the mission buildings in the back:

It really touched me that day for I didn’t know a whole lot about Missions prior to this, so this was a big educational moment for me, but I was also blown away by how beautiful it was, not to mention how spiritual it is as you walk around these grounds including the moment you enter the chapel.

Have you been to the Mission in San Juan Capistrano?  What are your favorite parts?

Afterwards we wondered around San Juan Capistrano a bit:

That Saturday the Art and Craft fair was happening as this takes place the second Saturday of the month.  Local vendors set up booths for you to walk through.  My kind of event.

We also stopped by the house of Judge Richard Egan.  The house was burnt down at one time (the top structure) but rebuilt.  Here’s my love admiring the staircase to the house.

We also wandered behind the Old Railroad building, crossed the tracks to find this neighborhood of houses that have been transformed into little cafes and shops.  My kind of place to shop.  Simply adorable places.  In this area was another side of the Art and Craft fair too.

But one last stop to check out the Old Railroad:

And from the front side:

Taking a visit to San Juan Capistrano is definitely worth a day trip.  You could easily take the Metrolink in too as it does stop through the Old Railroad.