Trip to Julian

On Saturday, I accompanied one of my daughters and her daughter to Julian, California.  Julian is an historic mountain town east of San Diego in the Cuyamaca Mountains.  On our way, we passed a sign for the D'Anza Borrego Desert.  As I excitedly pointed it out, my daughter advised me that the scenery I was look at, wasn't actually the desert.  It was really beyond the hills we were viewing. 

 Our main quest was to enjoy Afternoon Tea at the Julian Tea and Cottage Arts on Third Street.  When we arrived, we were seated in a cozy room by the window.  The table was set with potpourri of lovely Victorian-style bone china.  I'd describe it as a potpourri because each place setting was different.  We enjoyed comparing and actually switching plates and cups among ourselves.  My 11 year old granddaughter started it by telling her Mom that she was nervous about the thin fragile cup handle.  It wasn't fragile, but something she wasn't accustomed to using.  We started with a raspberry tea.  Shortly thereafter, our finger sandwiches arrived.  Each was delicious.  Following that came our scones accompanied with lemon curd and a berry jam.  We then ordered a Chocolate Chai tea.  I enjoyed that tea best of all.  The last serving was the dessert of tiny little cheese cakes with a cherry on top and chocolate truffles.  Everything was delicious.  If you wanted, you could purchase tea cups or tea cozies displayed on the walls, tea, and in fact, anything and everything you would associate with tea.  I would definitely recommend a trip to the Julian Tea shop.  The food was delicious, the atmosphere was inviting, and the servers were friendly and helpful.   Also, our Afternoon Tea provided me the opportunity to share with my granddaughter, a little family history about my Mom and her love for tea.

After our lunch, we walked to the Main Street.  Julian is a historic mining town with old buildings housing stores and restaurants.  At certain times of the year, it is very crowded with visitors.  I remember visiting there quite some time ago near Thanksgiving.  Julian pies are a great attraction, but there are a number of stores offering a plethora of items such as, clothing, textiles, art, honey, etc.  Today there were many visitors, but we were able to comfortably roam the stores.  Our first stop on Main Street was a candy store my granddaughter remembered.  Then, on to a store that sold collector's items.  Across the street we went to the Cider Mill to purchase honey and purchased some hot apple cider.  After this, my daughter and granddaughter saw a long line at Mom's Pie House and decided to purchase an apple pie.  After dinner, the family had the pie.  My daughter told me that the pie was watery and the family was very disappointed.  Apparently, a good amount of people like that kind of pie, but not my family.

While they were waiting on line at the pie shop, I discovered a very interesting shop next door filled with a wide variety of items.  You could easily spend an hour in that shop, which we did not on this trip.  But, I would at another time.

You can take a ride in a horse and carriage.  I'm including a photo of a horse tied up to a fire hydrant because I think it shows the flavor of Julian, which is very relaxed. 

 

A trip to Julian is definitely worth your time.


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