CA Lighthouse Series - Battery Point, CA

I love exploring California's lighthouses – even if I haven't had a chance to visit one yet. ☺. I've discovered that a majority of lighthouses are in the San Francisco area, so for this adventure, I opted to visit Battery Point, in Crescent City, CA.

Crescent City is just a couple of miles south of the Oregon border. Sound familiar? When the recent 2011 Japanese Tsunami hit, Crescent City was struck with higher than normal waves that ripped out docks and swept a photographer out to sea.

For me, the most interesting part about a lighthouse is the history and Battery Point has several stories in it's past. In 1855, the ship, America, burned in the Crescent City harbor. 3 cannons were recovered and mounted on the northern entrance. The cannons were used in Crescent City's 4th of July celebration, earning the name Battery Point.

In May 1855, Congress set aside 15,000 dollars for the construction of the Battery Point lighthouse. It was built on a tiny islet connected to Battery Point by an isthmus at low tide. Due to the location, the lighthouse can only be accessed at low tide.


The lighthouse opened with a 4th order Fresnel Lens. (A Fresnel lens allows the construction of lenses of large aperture and short focal length without the mass and volume of material that would be required by a lens of conventional design. Compared to conventional bulky lenses, the Fresnel lens is much thinner, larger, and flatter, and captures more oblique light from a light source, thus allowing lighthouses to be visible over much greater distances.)

The first lighthouse keeper was Theophilis Magruder. His starting pay was $1,000, but when he received a 40% pay cut he resigned. (Author's Note: I'd quit too if I had a 40% pay cut!)

In 1953, the lighthouse became automated. The Del Norte Historical Society became involved and now the lighthouse is a museum. The lighthouse is also listed as a private aid to navigation and is still in use.

In March 1964, a 9.2 magnitude earthquake struck in Alaska, triggering a tsunami. Waves raced southward, hitting up to 20 feet in Crescent City. Incredibly, the lighthouse received no damaged, but Crescent City suffered the most damage on the Pacific Coast.

Watch where you step! The lighthouse has a ghost that haunts the halls.

Interesting side note: Battery Point is the setting for 2 novels: "Walk Across the Sea," by Susan Fletcher, a historical YA fiction, and "The Lightkeeper's Daughter," by Colleen Coble, a 2010 inspirational romance.


Question: Have you visited a lighthouse? What did you like about it? Any stories you'd like to share?


References for this blog:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fresnel_lens
http://www.lighthousefriends.com/light.asp?ID=58
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battery_Point_Light

California Thursday - A Visit to Solvang, CA

About 2 hours north of where I live is Solvang, CA, a town in the heart of the Santa Ynez Valley. For those who enjoy California wine, The Santa Ynez Valley is home to several fine wineries including Alexander and Wayne and Blackjack. (seen in the movie "Sideways.")

I love to visit Solvang for several reasons. In fact, these last couple of years, it's been a rare opportunity to have a night with my husband. We usually like to go around my birthday which falls around the first weekend of June.

Solvang is a town that captures Danish ambience with replicated facades, Danish cooking, and old-fashioned charm. For me, personally, its strikes a romantic chord in my heart. My husband and I were married in the Danish city of Nykobig, Denmark in 1991. And while Nykobig and Solvang are miles apart, both have an ambience that endears itself to us.


Since my husband enjoys camping, we usually camp out at the local RV park in nearby city of Buellton. After we set up, we head off to Los Olivos to visit the wine tasting rooms.

One of our favorite rooms is the Alexander and Wayne winery. They do a wonderful job on their reds. The Pinot is my husband's favorite, while I tend to enjoy the Cuvee Five, which is a blend in the French style. This year, I tried their chardonnay and found it enjoyable. I don't care for an "oaky" chardonnay, but this one was light on the oak with nice fruit flavors.

Then it was off to test some olive oil. Usually we arrive when the town is having an Olive & Jazz festival, but we missed it this year. We popped into Olive Hill and sampled the flavors, buying a bottle of the basil and garlic. Think I just found a new novelty gift.


We then headed over to the Hitching Post for a steak dinner. I had the filet mignon. It was a bit pricey, but a nice treat. The steakhouse next to the Hitching Post, AJ Spurs, was also seen in the movie "Sideways."

My husband and I loved that movie. We adore Paul Giamatti, who is a great character actor.

The next morning, we grilled our breakfast, packed up the 4Runner, and hung around Solving. I enjoyed a "Danish waffle" and coffee while Brent had a doubt chocolate delight pastry with his java.

We walked up to the Santa Ynez mission. I usually take a mass at the mission, but I didn't this trip, just opting for a stroll. The rose garden at the mission isn't what you might think of as a traditional garden, since its surrounded by desert rocks and cactus.

The Santa Ynez mission is part of the missions established by Father Junipero Sierra. It has a traditional mission façade. The missions of California helped to settle the state in the late 1700's, early 1800's.


Solvang itself was settled in 1911 by Danish colonists wanting to avoid the mid-western winters. The name means "sunny fields."

On 5 June 1960, Princess Margrethe of Denmark visited the city. She returned in 1976, now Queen of Denmark. In 2011, Solving celebrated its 100 year anniversary. The Queen's husband, Prince Hendrik dedicated Solvang's centennial Plaza on 11 June, which was also his 77th birthday.

Other interesting facts:

Cyclist Lance Armstrong trained for the Tour de France in the area around Solvang since it provides a variety of conditions similar to the French challenges.

There's a vintage motorcycle museum in Solvang with bikes from 1910 on up.

My husband and I found a charming little shop with a Christmas-all-year theme. We also stopped into the Thomas Kinkcaide art gallery. I was surprised to learn Kinkcaide had painted a lot of Disney motifs, but my favorite was a portrait of Venice and St. Mark's Cathedral.

For me, Solvang reminds me of Denmark and my fond memories of Europe. Inspiration can be found everywhere. You go from the wineries, to the Olive tastings, to the mission, to the town itself and ideas just grow. Solvang is low-key, quaint, and charming. It's a nice getaway. Maybe next year I'll get 2 days to explore instead of one. ☺

California Thursday - The California Strawberry Festival

This year the Strawberry Festival is going to be held the weekend of the 15th/16th in May. It's always held in Oxnard, California which is near Ventura and the Coast. We've gone to the festival for the past 3 years and I was planning to go again this year - we'll see. My son, Andrew, makes his 1st Holy Communion on 15 May - we'll see if we'll go later on that day or on the 16th.

What do I love about the Strawberry festival? The Strawberries of course! Some of the ripest, tastest Strawberries come out of this festival. The prices for a box of strawberries are resonable. (sp?) It's $3 for a small green plastic container and about $20 for a big case.

Another thing I love about the strawberry festival is that it reminds me of of "New England," a little bit. They offer bands throughout the day, they have plenty of food stands and serve strawberries in ways that I wouldn't think imaginable. There's strawberry pizza, nachos and even kabobs. I love the nachos. hehe. Of course, there's strawberry margeritas and even strawberry beer (which reminds me of BerlinerWeise from Berlin!)

My son, Joe, sipping a strawberry smoothie



There's a playland for the little kids called Strawberryland and one year I even met Strawberry Shortcake. hehe! (Sadly, Andrew didn't want to pose with her because she was a girl!)

There's also an area for vendors to show off their wares. From clothes to jewerly, soap and candles and woodworking you can find a little bit of everything at the festival. The price is cheap to get in $12,00 for adults and $6.00 for kids. It's a homey kid of way to spend the day with the kids.




If you get a chance, check out the festival. I love collecting the festival posters. They always promise to be colorful.