Day Trip to Julian

It's crazy. I've lived in California my entire life, yet there are so many places, in my own backyard, that I haven't visited yet. You hear that a lot from people...we typically never experience the 'touristy' areas unless someone comes to visit us and then we go. I don't know why that is...I think, in part, I just have the mindset that, 'well, it's there, it's not going anywhere and I can go at anytime'. Problem is, I never go.

This past Sunday, I was able to check one of those places off of my list- Julian. Now, I wouldn't really consider Julian to be a 'tourist attraction'. As you're driving into San Diego, you don't see billboards advertising the city, nor are there even major hotel chains in the nearby area, but it's a place that it more known by southern Californians. Julian is a historic gold mining town that was founded during the Civil War. It's a very small town with only a couple of hundred residents, so you know that everyone knows everyone's business. It's unique in that it does experience all four seasons- tons of blossoming flowers in Spring, a lot of hiking and star gazing activities in Summer, Fall brings all of the beautiful fall colors along with apple picking season and it even snows in Winter.

Julian is really well known for their apple pies and along Main St. there are at least four bakeries that specialize in variations of the apple pie (keep in mind, Main St. is only two blocks long). We stopped at "Mom's" for some homemade apple pie and it really lived up to it's reputation.







When you arrive in Julian, on Main St, you really feel as though you've stepped back in time. They've kept it looking as authentic as possible, as you can see from the pictures. It epitomizes "quaint". I really loved it and I plan on going back in the Spring and Fall so that I can get me a little 'seasons' out here in California.

Here are some pictures from the trip...