Mission San Diego Field Trip

I'd been wanting to take the kids to visit a mission as part of their California history lesson, so we took advantage of our time last weekend in San Diego and toured Mission San Diego de Alcala, the first mission established in California.

This was not the original location of the mission. The building has also been rebuilt, as the majority of the missions were destroyed or damaged in various ways. It is currently a working mission, meaning Mass was being held during our Sunday morning visit. It was wonderful to hear "America, the Beautiful" being sung during our trek through the garden area.

Along the front of the mission are several of these statues representing each California mission. I don't know if you can see it in the photo, but there is a small mission sitting on the priest and the name & date of the mission are inscribed on him.
The garden has several statues spread around it. Here is Blakester sitting by Father Junipero Serra, the founder of the mission.

There were two crosses that were made from bricks taken from the original mission building on this site.

The bells are still rung for mass and rang while we were there. It's pretty startling to here. The largest bell on the bottom left weighs 1,2oo pounds.

As you walk out and around the mission there are different areas that explain and demonstrate the history of the mission.

Conman was excited that the first California mayor was killed on this exact spot. We weren't sure what he meant until we read the plaque ourselves.

This is a replica of the houses the indians lived in when the Spanish arrived.

Around the back of the mission is a large excavation site. Artifacts are still being found that date back to the early 1800's. This is a view of a brick floor of the friary that was uncovered. There is a small museum that houses the found artifacts.
One of the displays shows how the roof beams have been restored.

This is the chapel and the sign that explains the history of it.

There is a small gift shop on site and a donation is suggested for entrance.

Mission San Diego is a beautiful piece of California history, and I am not able to do it complete justice with my post.