Cheshire Cat Photo Blog: YOUR Top 10 in 2012 (1st Half)
I have been having so much fun lately (seriously! 😉 ) that I did not notice until a day or so ago that another six-month period had elapsed. So, with the understanding that my older blog entries have been around longer (to get noticed, or forgotten! 😉 ), here are YOUR “Top 10” favorite Cheshire Cat Photo Blog entries for the first half of 2012, in reverse order, with my comments!
10. “Mission San Carlos Borroméo de Carmelo” (December 27th, 2007) Often simply called “Mission San Carlos Borroméo de Carmelo” the Mission was the favorite of Father Junípero Serra, and is his final resting place (at the foot of the altar). The Mission was first established in 1770 in Monterey, and moved in 1771, at Father Junípero Serra’s request, to its current location near Carmel-by-the-Sea. In 1961, Mission Carmel was designated a Minor Basilica by Pope John XXIII.
09. “Mission San Juan Bautista” (December 4th, 2007) Just off Highway 156 is the small town of San Juan Bautista (St. John the Baptist). The Mission sits almost directly on top of the San Andreas Fault. The Mission figured prominently in Alfred Hitchcock‘s film “Vertigo,” and once had a steeple added to the original structure, but the steeple was destroyed by fire. Hitchcock added a bell tower to the film by using matte paintings, scale models, and trick photography.
08. “Mission Santa Cruz” (April 12th, 2008) A modern replica of a mission church and an aging adobe building stand on a beautiful site as the only reminders of the ill-fated Mission Santa Cruz. Mission Santa Cruz was originally founded in 1791 on the floodplain of the San Lorenzo River. That winter, the Mission was flooded by the swollen river and the padres rebuilt the Mission on the hill overlooking the river. In 1797, the Spanish governor of Monterey founded the pueblo (town) of Branciforte across the San Lorenzo River from Mission Santa Cruz. The initial colonists of Branciforte were 9 vagabonds and criminals with their families. Things went downhill from there….
07. “Santa Cruz Beach Boardwalk” (February 10th, 2008) The Santa Cruz Beach Boardwalk is an amusement park on the beach in Santa Cruz. The park was founded in 1907 and is operated by the family-owned Santa Cruz Seaside Company. The park is California’s oldest amusement park and one of only two ocean-front amusement parks on the West Coast (the other is the Santa Monica Pier).
06. “For a few tons more….” (November 26th, 2010) A Thanksgiving Day bust of at least nine suspects led to a seizure of between 20 and 30 tons of marijuana and the discovery of a “sophisticated” tunnel between a Mexican eat-in kitchen and two Southern California warehouses!
05. “Mission San Francisco de Asís (Dolores) and Basilica” ( January 8th, 2008) Mission San Francisco de Asís (“La Misión Dolorosa“) is the oldest surviving structure in San Francisco. The Mission was founded on June 29, 1776 by Lieutenant José Joaquín Moraga and Father Francisco Palóu. The settlement was named for St. Francis of Assisi, the patron saint of San Francisco. The name of “Mission Dolores” refers to a nearby creek, Arroyo de Nuestra Señora de los Dolores or “Creek of Our Lady of Sorrows.”
04. “Surfers honor memory of wave forecaster, Sean Collins” (January 8th, 2012) Today, HUNDREDS of surfers from around the world paddled to a circle in calm waters off Huntington Beach, and off Hawaii’s North Shore, Tavarua Island, and China in memorials to the revolutionary wave forecaster and founder of surfline.com (1), Sean Collins, who died of a heart attack at age 59 on December 26 in Newport Beach. Collins’ sons Tyler and A.J. joined the memorial at Huntington Beach. Collins transformed surfing by developing a proprietary method to monitor ocean swells.
03. “Mission San Rafael Arcángel” (December 22nd, 2007) On December 14, 1817, Mission San Rafael Arcángel was established in what is now the city of San Rafael (previously, the Coast Miwok village of NANAGUANI), which is pronounced san rah fell’ by locals. Near the sidewalk is a life-size statue of Fr. Junípero Serra and a monument to Chief Marin, for whom the county is named. The mission was established as a “helper” mission to Mission Dolores in San Francisco. Since the original purpose of the mission was to care for the sick, it was named after St. Raphael the Archangel, the angel of bodily healing. In 1846, The Bear Flag Revolt rocked San Rafael. General John C. Frémont captured the mission and used it as headquarters for the United States military forces.
02. “Mission Santa Inés” (August 16th, 2009) La Misión de Santa Inés (Mission of St. Agnes [1]), sometimes spelled Mission Santa Ynes, was founded on September 17, 1804 by Father Estévan Tapis. The Indian revolt of 1824 began at Mission Santa Inés when a visiting Chumash from La Purísima got into an argument with a Corporal named Cota. The first seminary in California (Our Lady of Refuge) was built at Santa Inés in 1844, at this site, to train young men to become priests.
…and YOUR #1 most popular entry of 2012 (so far) is:
01. “14 tons; “What do you get?”” (September 30th, 2011) In one of the largest busts ever accomplished by the U.S. Border Patrol, authorities intercepted a tractor-trailer truck loaded with 14 tons of marijuana bound for Los Angeles, California. A canine officer detected the load at a checkpoint on State Highway 86 near Salton. The marijuana was hidden inside large wooden crates. The Drug Enforcement Administration declined to comment on the bust, which was the largest ever in the history of Imperial County! The blog entry ALSO includes a link to Tennessee Ernie Ford, singing “Sixteen Tons” on YouTube with the lyric “…Another day older and deeper in debt.”
Well, that’s it for the first half of 2012. Early in 2013, I will list the Top 10 for ALL of 2012! Enjoy the next six months!
-Bill at
Cheshire Cat Photo™ – “Your Guide to California’s Wonderland™”
You can view higher-resolution photos at the Cheshire Cat Photo™ Pro Gallery on Shutterfly™, where you can also order prints and gifts decorated with the photos of your choice from the gallery. The Cheshire Cat Photo Store on Zazzle® contains a wide variety of apparel and gifts decorated with our images of California. All locations are accessible from here. LIKE Cheshire Cat Photo on Facebook here! If you don’t see what you want or would be on our email list for updates, send us an email at info@cheshirecatphoto.com.
