San Juan Capistrano 4

These reminded me of a poinsettia.

San Juan Capistrano 3

San Juan Capistrano 2

Statue of the Virgin Mary, under an archway with two birds of paradise at the Mission San Juan Capistrano.

San Juan Capistrano 1

I took a whirlwind 72 hour tour of southern California - from LA to San Diego and back. A smattering of photos will be the next few blog entries.

The Mission San Juan Capistrano is the only existing mission in Orange County, CA. You may know the song When The Swallows Come Back to Capistrano. Yes, the very same place.


A pair of bird of paradise flowers. I can see where they got their name.

Allergen free travel

This is my first trip since solidifying my gluten, dairy and soy intolerances. The first battle was air travel. I brought an egg sandwich, a chilled grilled cheese and a pb&j, each wrapped in wax paper. I also brought a quart size bag with some chips, and some 100 calorie packs of almonds. Thankfully they all sailed straight through security tied in their own shopping bag.
Once on the road I realized I had forgotten my sunglasses and my hat back on the east coast. My fair complexion could not accept this with beach time in the plans. A trip to Target meant I could also grab some almond milk.
This left only dinner to figure out. I noticed a restaurant called Souplantation in my travels, did a little googling and decided to give it a shot.




While not cost effective (almost $12 for the meal) it was allergen safe. There was a sign touting fruit next to the dessert but it only had tiny apples and uninviting pineapple. I'm hoping tomorrow is more successful, but for today I'll take not getting "poisoned". :)

Location:Orange County, CA

Customer service

I recently had a party to attend, and very little time to spare. I bought two books at Porter Square Books and they offered to wrap them for me!




Great customer service, and a wonderful place to visit. And even better, a local business!

Location:Cambridge, MA