Banning Mansion Museum and More

My friends and I wanted to visit the Banning Mansion Museum and Drum Barracks but we had some time to kill before they both opened so we drove around the neighborhood.

So we're driving along, admiring the tree lined streets when all of a sudden we see DOZENS of peacocks roaming the streets. DOZENS!

And everywhere you looked, the males were strutting their stuff!

Next, we drove down to the water's edge (because it wasn't that far) and found a neat little area to park and walk around...it was actually the statue that caught our eye. Naturally our curiosity got the best of us and we had to find out the story behind the statue.

Well, it turns out that this fellow is Mr. Banning who came to the U.S. at the tender age of 14 (I think) and worked hard and made big bucks. He did so well that he built a huge home which is now the Banning Museum that we were going to see!!

The view beyond the statue.

Here is a close-up of the statue. I was glad we stopped to check this out. It made the man more real to me and made me excited to go see the Banning home.

But first....we went to Drum Barracks. I've known about this place for several years but never had the opportunity to visit until now. The fact that there was a Civil War era fort in California blew my mind.

We waited in the court yard for our tour guide.

OK, confession time....no photos are allowed while in the barracks so I went into ninja stealth mode to take a few shots, LOL.

The stairs were super steep and narrow.

We had a very interesting tour and it ended outside in front of the building. We were allowed to take pictures so I shot a few of the exterior.

These rosebushes (bare at the time) are 100 years old!!! If you are into history at all, I recommend visiting this place. For more info make sure to click on the link at the beginning of this post.

We got in the car and drove a mile to the Banning Museum which was undergoing restoration but you can see some great photos of it if you click on the link at the beginning of this post.

Oh we're not done yet. Come back for a look at Point Fermin Lighthouse.