12-11 Dec San Diego, CA

 

This post is based primarily on Don's notes, occasionally supplemented with MT's notes from our cruise in November-December 2023. When information from other sources is added—for further explanation to readers or to satisfy our own curiosity—that is set off in a text box (as this one).
Most of the photos that accompany this post are from Don’s camera (with a caption indicating the time it was taken); those from MT’s iPhone are indicated by “MT” placed at the beginning of the photo caption. Photos from any other source (such as the public domain Wikimedia Commons), occasionally used for clarification, indicate that source in the caption.

The Viking Daily newsletter showed today's weather forecast as "Partly Cloudy 67° F" and "Sunrise: 4:42 AM."

Don woke at 6:10 (MT was already up).

After 7 days at sea, we arrived at San Diego. The Viking Daily listed the scheduled arrival time as "7:00 AM."  However, the ship's engines stopped before 6 am, as we could see the lights of San Diego from the bay.

The Viking Daily newsletter described “San Diego, California, USA” as follows:
“Known as “America’s Finest City,” San Diego is celebrated for its beautiful white-sand beaches, temperate climate and lush green parks. Claimed by Spain in 1542, this inviting pocket of Southern California gained international notoriety in 1915, when it hosted the Panama-California Exhibition to commemorate the opening of the Panama Canal and mark the city as the first American port for ships heading north. More than a dozen Spanish-Moorish style buildings were built for the occasion. Today, these stunning structures house world-class museums and are part of Balboa Park, the nation’s largest cultural park. The most famous attraction among this 1,200 acres, the San Diego Zoo, hosts some 4,000 animals and 800 species and draws animal lovers from the world over.”

San Diego, with a population of over 1.4 million, is located close to the Mexico-United States border. It has been referred to as the “Birthplace of California,” since it was the first site visited and settled by Europeans on what is now the West Coast if the US. Upon landing in San Diego Bay in 1542, Juan Rodriguez Cabrillo claimed the area for the Spanish Empire, forming the basis for the settlement of Alta California (translated as Upper California) 200 years later.
The name of San Diego can be traced back to the 17th century, when Portuguese explorer Sebastian Vizcaino bestowed it upon the area in 1602. He named the bay “San Diego de Alcalá” in honor of 15th-century Spanish Saint Didacus of Alcalá, also known as Diego de San Nicolás,
A military post called El Presidio Reál and the Mission San Diego de Alcalá, both founded in 1769, formed the first European settlement in what is now California, located in the present-day city of San Diego. In 1821, San Diego became part of the newly declared Mexican Empire. With the rest of the Mexican territory of Alta California, it was ceded to the US in 1848 following the Spanish-American War.

Alta California, along with the Baja California (Lower California) peninsula, comprised the province of Las Californias, but was made a separate province, named Nueva California (New California), in 1804. Following the Mexican War of Independence (1810-1821), it became a territory of Mexico in 1822 and was renamed Alta California in 1824, At that time, the territory included all of the present-day US states of California, Nevada, and Utah and parts of Arizona, Wyoming, and Colorado. The treaty ending the Spanish-American War in 1848 ceded most of the areas comprising Alta California to the US. In 1950, California joined the union as the 31st state.

 

MT Monday, December 11, ‎2023, 6:09 AM Viking Star: first sighting of lights of the port of San Diego, shortly after sunrise.

MT 6:28 AM Viking Star: lights of city of San Diego, shortly after sunrise (mild telephoto 66 mm).

6:29 AM Viking Star: city of San Diego, as the ship was still moving shortly after sunrise (mild telephoto 66 mm).

At 6:45, Room Service Breakfast arrived (ordered for 6:45-7:15).

At 8:30, we went to the terminal meeting place for the shore excursion "Panoramic San Diego" at 9:00.

 

The My Viking Journey web site described the  Panoramic San Diego shore excursion as follows:
 
INCLUDED
Day 32 – San Diego, California, United States
Monday, December 11
8:30 AM / 9:00 AM / 12:00 PM / 12:30 PM
3 Hours
EASY
SIGHTSEEING
Scenic Balboa Park, Charming Gaslamp Quarter and Old Town
 
See the sights of San Diego on a scenic drive.
 
Embark your motor coach and begin your tour along the waterfront. Pass the USS Midway aircraft carrier, one of the longest-serving aircraft carrier designs in history. Continue to the lively Gaslamp Quarter, home to an array of Victorian-era buildings, restaurants, cafés, trendy shops, upscale boutiques and art galleries. It was named the Gaslamp Quarter in 1868 due to its installation of modern gas lamp streetlights. Visit Balboa Park, stroll through its famous gardens and take in its many museums and theaters before heading to San Diego’s charming Spanish-influenced Old Town. Founded in 1769 by Spanish explorers, the first European settlement in California is now home to historic buildings and museums. Enjoy free time to leisurely explore the neighborhood’s Mexican heritage and colonial-era atmosphere before rejoining your guide and returning to your ship. 

HOWEVER, the only stops on our excursion were Hotel Coronado, Balboa Park, and the Old Town.

8:57 AM Viking Star: view, from bus window across terminal parking, to Santa Fe depot and downtown San Diego (Don originally thought the Mission Revival style twin campaniles of the depot's main entrance were a church).

9:03 AM Viking Star: view, from bus window, of part of Coronado Bridge on horizon at left.

 

 San Diego-Coronado Bridge (By Photo by Frank Mckenna. frankiefoto - https://unsplash.com/photos/vLs9662YrRI, CC0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=67455160).

 
The San Diego-Coronado Bridge, commonly referred to as the Coronado Bridge, crosses over San Diego Bay, linking San Diego with the city of Coronado.

9:03 AM Viking Star: view, from bus window, of most of Coronado Bridge, with city of Coronado in distance.

The first stop on our excursion was the Hotel Coronado.

9:12 AM View, from bus window, of Hotel Coronado.

 

Aerial view of Hotel Coronado (By Armandoartist - Own work, CC BY-SA 4.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=56051584).

 
The Hotel de Coronado, also known as The Del and Hotel Del, but commonly as Hotel Coronado, is a historic beachfront hotel in Coronado, California, just across San Diego Bay from San Diego. It is a rare surviving example of an American architectural genre—the wooden Victorian beach resort. It is the second-largest wooden structure in the US. When it opened in 1888, it was the largest resort hotel in the world. It was designated a California Historical Landmark in 1970 and as a National Historic Landmark in 1977.
In the mid-1880s, the San Diego region was experiencing a real estate boom, At the time, it was common to build a grand hotel as a draw to an otherwise barren landscape. In 1885, a group of investors bought Coronado and North Island, about 4,000 acres. Construction of the hotel began in 1887. It opened in 1888 with 399 rooms. When it was sold to a new owner in 1963, he nearly doubled its capacity to 700 rooms. It now has 757 rooms.

The bus stopped at Hotel Coronado for us to take a short, unguided tour.

9:18 AM Hotel Coronado: near main entrance, with Rotunda on left (MT at bottom right).

9:19 AM Hotel Coronado: plaque designating the hotel as a California Registered Historical Landmark (telephoto 79 mm).

9:21 AM Hotel Coronado: fountain near main entrance.

MT 9:21 AM Hotel Coronado: Don and MT by fountain near main entrance.

9:23 AM Hotel Coronado: Dragon Tree  near main entrance, flanked by bird of paradise flowers.

9:24 AM Hotel Coronado: MT taking photo of Dragon Tree (behind white bench at left) near Rotunda and main entrance.

MT 9:24 AM Hotel Coronado: MT and Don on bench by  Dragon Tree.

Then we went in the main entrance to see the interior of the hotel.

9:25 AM Hotel Coronado: Christmas tree just inside main entrance, with exit to inner courtyard in right background.

Passing through the main lobby, we went to the inner courtyard, where we found another Christmas tree.

9:26 AM Hotel Coronado: MT getting ready to take photo of  Christmas tree in courtyard.

MT 9:27 AM Hotel Coronado: Christmas tree in courtyard.

Then we went back into the luxurious lobby.

9:30 AM Hotel Coronado: slightly different view of Christmas tree in lobby.

9:32 AM Hotel Coronado: plaque  in lobby for

"Victorian Building

"Est. 1888

"Construction on the Queen Anne-style hotel began in March 1887 and was completed in eleven months, an amazing feat. Guests started arriving from all over the county at the end of January 1888. Although there was never a grand opening, the day the main dining room opened on February 19, 1888, is considered the hotel's birthday. The Victorian Building was the largest wooden structure in the U.S. until 1944 and was designated  National Historic Landmark in 1977.'

Then we went back outside the main entrance.

9:33 AM Hotel Coronado: another view of Dragon Tree near main entrance.

9:33 AM Hotel Coronado: plaque for Dragon Tree near main entrance.

9:34 AM Hotel Coronado: Rotunda.

9:34 AM Hotel Coronado: view, around side of Rotunda, toward beach and sea.

9:34 AM Hotel Coronado: view, around side of Rotunda, toward beach and sea.

MT 9:36 AM Hotel Coronado: bird of paradise flowers near Dragon Tree (visible at top right).

Then, at the appointed time, we got back on the tour bus.

9:52 AM - View, from bus window, to Mexico.

Our next stop was Balboa Park.

Balboa Park is a 1,200-acre historic urban park in San Diego, placed in reserve in 1835*. The park hosts various gardens, museums, theaters, restaurants, and the San Diego Zoo. The park hosted the 1915-16 Panama-California Exposition and the 1935-36 California Pacific International Exposition, both of which left architectural landmarks. The park and its historic exposition buildings were declared a National Historic Landmark in 1977 and placed on the National Register of Historic Places.
In 1868, the city of San Diego set had aside this land for a large city park. For the first few decades of its existence, “City Park” remained mostly open space. The change of the name from City Park to Balboa Park occurred in 1910, as San Diego began to prepare for the 1915 Panama-California Exposition. (Vasco Nuñez de Balboa was a Spanish explorer best known for crossing the isthmus of Panama to discover the Pacific Ocean in 1513.)
The exposition’s lead designer and planner chose to fuse the styles of highly ornamented Spanish Baroque architecture with the Spanish Colonial architecture created during the Spanish colonization era in New Spain-Mexico and the lower Americas, with Churrigueresque and Plateresque detailing “updating” the already popular Mission Revival style—to create the Spanish Colonial Revival style.
______________
* Spain and later Mexico made a practice of setting aside large tracts of land reserved for the common use of citizens. In 1835, the Alta California authorities set aside a 1,400-acre tract of pueblo land in San Diego for the public’s recreational purposes. This land included the site of present-day Balboa Park, making it one of the oldest places in the US dedicated to public recreational usage.

10:10 AM Balboa Park: sign for "Casa del Rey Moro Garden."

The Moorish-inspired Casa del Rey Moro Garden was designed by Richard Requa for the 1935 California Pacific International Exposition in San Diego. It was influenced by the Moorish gardens of Ronda, Spain, also called Casa del Rey Moro (House of the Moorish King).

10:11 AM Balboa Park: arcade and ornate tower of Casa de Balboa building.

MT 10:11 AM Balboa Park: ornate tower of Casa de Balboa building and arcade.

 

10:12 AM Balboa Park: ornate façade of theater of Casa Del Prado complex.

10:13 AM Balboa Park: sign on side of Casa Del Prado complex, listing organizations found inside it.

10:13 AM (Cropped) Balboa Park: sign on side of Casa Del Prado complex, listing organizations found inside it.

10:16 AM Balboa Park: view from Casa Del Prado westward down El Prado street to California Tower and dome (telephoto 130 mm).

 

View westward from Casa del Prado down El Prado street to California Quadrangle with California Tower; in the right foreground is the entrance to the Museum of Us (By Rhododendrites - Own work, CC BY-SA 4.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=52440416).

 
The California Quadrangle includes the California Building (with dome and California Tower), The California Building, with its ornate façade and blue-and-gold dome, together with the adjoining California Tower, are among the most recognizable landmarks of San Diego. The Quadrangle and Tower are on the National Register of Historic Places.
The Museum of Us is a museum of anthropology housed in several of the historic landmark buildings of the California Quadrangle. The main museum is housed in the California Building.

MT Balboa Park: Man playing saxophone along street.

10:20 AM Balboa Park: statue of El Cid  Campeador.

El Cid Campeador, located at the entrance to the Plaza de Panama at the end of El Prado, is an 11-ft tall bronze equestrian statue on an 11-ft base depicting the 11th-century knight and warlord El Cid. The Spanish word campeador means “champion.” This statue was originally created in 1921 by the artist Anna Hyatt Huntington, and the original is located at the Hispanic Society of America in New York City. This copy was cast in 1927 and was dedicated in 1930. There are many other copies of Huntington’s statue throughout the world, including San Francisco, Buenos Aires, Seville, and Valencia.

10:20 AM Balboa Park: sign on base of statue for: 

"El Cid Campeador

"Anna Hyatt Huntington Sculptor

"Presented by the Trustees of the Hispanic Society of America 

"July 5, 1930."

MT 10:20 AM Balboa Park:  closer view of El Cid Campeador statue.

10:22 AM Balboa Park: corner of arcade (telephoto 93 mm).

The backbone of Balboa Park is El Prado, the east-west roadway that gives order to the collection of famed 1915 Spanish Revival exposition buildings. Both sides of El Prado were designed as continuous arcades, which function as walkways that shelter pedestrians from sun and rain. The arcades also help create a cohesive linkage between the many structures along El Prado.

10:24 AM Balboa Park: sign with "Map of Balboa Park's Central Mesa" near information booth.

10:24 AM Balboa Park: a closer view down El Prado street to California Quadrangle with California Tower and dome.

MT 10:24 AM Balboa Park: view down El Prado street to California Quadrangle with California Tower and dome (telephoto 82 mm).

10:24 AM Balboa Park: San Diego Museum of Art -façade .

 

San Diego Museum of Art – detail of façade (By Daderot - Own work, CC0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=26830048).

 
The San Diego Museum of Art, which opened in 1926, was designed in a Plateresque style to harmonize with existing structures from the Panama-California Exposition of 1915. The dominant feature of the façade is a heavily ornamented door inspired by the doorway at the University of Salamanca. The museum’s exterior design was also influenced by the Cathedral of Valladolid. The original construction took two years. The museum houses a broad collection with particular strength in Spanish art.

10:26 AM Balboa Park: life-sized statues of 17th-century Spanish painters Velázquez, Murillo, and Zurbarán on façade of the San Diego Museum of Art (telephoto 93 mm and cropped).

10:27 MT AM Balboa Park:  Don by façade of the San Diego Museum of Art.

10:31 AM Balboa Park: California Tower and dome on El Prado.

10:31 AM Balboa Park: Simon Edison Centre for the Performing Arts, with Old Globe Theatre at left.

 

 

Balboa Park: Old Globe Theatre (By Bernard Gagnon (Own Work at  https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Old_Globe_Theatre#/media/File:Old_Globe_Theatre,_San_Diego.jpg).

 
The Old Globe is a professional theater company in Balboa Park. Plays are performed in three separate theaters in the complex collectively called the Simon Edison Centre for the Performing Arts.
The Old Globe Theatre, a copy of the Globe Theatre in London, was built in 1935 as part of the California-Pacific International Exposition. During the exposition, it hosted 50-minute versions of Shakespeare plays. At the end of the exposition, the Globe had been received so well that a nonprofit theater company was formed to save the temporary structure from demolition. In 1978, the Globe Theatre was destroyed in an arson fire, and it was rebuilt in 1981. 

 

10:35 AM Balboa Park: back side of El Cid Campeador statue we passed as we headed back to meet our bus (telephoto 109 mm).

10:47 AM Balboa Park: entrance of Museum of Us (identified by small plaque on lower left), through bus window.

Balboa Park: entrance of Museum of Us, then identified on the door as “Museum of Man” (By J.olsen356 - Own work, CC BY-SA 4.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=59307066).

 
The Museum of Us, previously known as the Museum of Man, is housed in the buildings of the Balboa Quadrangle.

Our next (and last) stop was the Old Town San Diego. At the first two stops, a guide from the bus did not conduct a tour, but just told us to explore on our own and what time we needed to return to the bus. For the Old Town, she actually guided us for most of the time, but still allowed us some free time at the end to leisurely explore the neighborhood.

The Old Town San Diego State Historic Park pays tribute to the cultural influences that made California special. The park was established in 1968 in the Old Town neighborhood of San Diego. Restored and reconstructed buildings in the park are now museums, shops, and restaurants that capture the energy of the community during the Mexican and early American periods, between its first settlement in 1821 and 1872, when it lost its dominant position to Downtown San Diego. The central plaza is lined with buildings—some dating back to the 1820s—that offer a glimpse of the lifestyles of both ordinary residents and the most wealthy and influential. Five original adobe buildings are part of the park. In 1989, the site was registered as a California Historical Landmark. In 1971, it was added to the National Register of Historic Places.
When California was admitted to the US as a state in 1850, San Diego (still largely limited to the Old Town area) was made the county seat of San Diego County, although the town’s population was only 650. The Old Town area remained the heart of the city until the 1860s, when development of the site of present-day downtown San Diego (known as “New Town”) began, because of New Town’s proximity to shipping.

10:56 AM Old Town San Diego: view, from bus window, of Whaley House; our guide said it was the "most haunted house."

 

Old Town San Diego: Whaley House (By Joe Mabel, CC BY-SA 3.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=9140194).

The Whaley House is widely regarded as “America’s Most Haunted House." It is known for its historic significance, the tragic deaths of the Whaley family, and numerous reports of paranormal activity. Built in 1856-57, it was the first and finest home in Southern California, a central pillar of Old Town. The house’s history, including its location on the grounds where executions were carried out, adds to the sense of mystery.
The two-story Greek Revival style house was designed by Thomas Whaley and made of bricks from his own brickyard. It is the oldest brick structure in Southern California. Besides being the Whaley family home, it was also San Diego’s first commercial theater, a second county courthouse, and a bilingual general store.

11:00 AM Old Town San Diego: view from where our bus parked toward the entrance of the square with signs for "Old Town State Park" and flags.

11:01 AM Old Town San Diego: part of our tour group departing bus with our guide (in black with microphone) with entrance of the square with signs for "Old Town State Park" and flags in background.

11:02 AM Old Town San Diego: Church of the Immaculate Conception.

 

Old Town San Diego: Church of the Immaculate Conception – bell rower and façade (By Joe Mabel, CC BY-SA 3.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=9112630).

 
The Catholic Church of the Immaculate Conception was built in a Mexican style to match the local architecture. It is located on San Diego Avenue just before the entrance of Old Town. The parish was established in 1849, near the place where Fr. Junípero Serra (who founded Mission San Diego) celebrated his first mass in California in 1769. Masses were first held in parishioners’ homes, until a small chapel, now known as the Old Adobe Chapel, was built in 1858. Construction of the current church began with the placing of a cornerstone in 1868, but the church was not completed until 1917, due to funding, population movement to the south, and a fire that devastated Old Town. It is still an active church.

MT 11:05 AM Old Town San Diego: mural of Mexican dancers (mild telephoto 38 mm).

11:06 AM Old Town San Diego: back yard of Whaley House and separate kitchen.

11:12 AM Old Town San Diego: Church of the Immaculate Conception and the adjacent Fr. Junipero Serra Hall.

MT 11:13 AM Old Town San Diego: sign for "Old Town San Diego State Historic Park" (mild telephoto 51 mm)

11:14 AM Old Town San Diego: Wallach and Goldman Square (see sign at right) just inside entrance of the park, with our guide in foreground.

11:15 AM Old Town San Diego: our guide said these two buildings were  from 1860s, identified by signs as "Assayers Office" on left and "Printing Office 1868" on right.

The map of Old Town provided by California State Parks made it possible to know what the signs on these houses, hard to read in Don’s photo, say. The signs on the porch identify the house on the left as “Assayers Office,” now occupied by the “Miner’s Gems” shop, but the sign on the roof says “Casa De Pedrorena De Altamirano 1869.” The sign on the roof of the house at the right identifies it as “[Casa de] San Diego Union 1868” and “Printing Office” (now a museum).
 

Old Town San Diego: Casa de Pedrorena de Altamirano (By Bernard Gagnon - Own work, CC BY-SA 3.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=25656174).

 
The Casa de Pedrorena-Altamirano, also called Casa de Pedrorena, was built by Miguel de Pedrorena in 1869. It was the final adobe house built in Old Town. In 1871, he gave it to his sister Isabel de Altamirano, who had married the son of another prominent family.
 
Col. William Gatewood, who had been the publisher of a newspaper in San Andreas, California, came to San Diego and rented a small frame building from Manuel de Pedrorena, which the latter had built in 1851, and had his printing equipment shipped there. The San Diego Union was born when its first edition came off the press in 1868. It was the oldest daily newspaper in Southern California. The newspaper was printed in this building until it was moved to “New Town” San Diego in 1871. The house in Old Town was restored to its original appearance in 1967, after being purchased by the owner of the newspaper in 1965. Now known as the San Diego Union Building, it houses a museum called “The Birthplace of the San Diego Union.” The museum includes a print room, editor’s office, and a Washington hand press similar to the one used to print the first edition.

11:15 AM Old Town San Diego: map of Old Town, with numbered sites identified by sign above for "Museums & Information Center" and "Restaurants & Purveyors."

11:17 AM Old Town San Diego: First San Diego Courthouse (on left) and building identified on sign as "Colorado House," both now museums.

The First San Diego Courthouse is a small brick building originally constructed by the Mormon Battalion that arrived in 1847 to support the US military garrison in the pueblo of San Diego. Mexican and US members of the Boundary Commission used it as their headquarters in 1849. In 1850, the state legislature of California incorporated the town of San Diego. From then until 1869, the building served as the city and county courthouse. The building was destroyed in 1872 by fire, but was reconstructed in 1992.

 

The Colorado House, built circa 1851, was at first a hotel but later subdivided for several businesses. The building burned in the fire of 1872. Reconstructed by California State Parks in 1992, it currently serves as the Wells Fargo Museum.

11:17 AM Old Town San Diego: La Casa de Estudillo, identified by signs at left for "La Casa de Estudillo Museum" and at right for "La Casa de Estudillo."

  

La Casa de Estudillo, also known as the Estudillo House, is a historic adobe house constructed by the prominent Estudillo family in 1827. It was considered one of the finest houses in Mexican California. It was restored in 1968 by the state Park Service. It is designated as both a National and California Historical Landmark.
 

Old Town San Diego: one wing of Casa de Estudillo, viewed from inner courtyard, with rooms connected by an exterior corredor (By Mike Fitzpatrick from Annapolis, Maryland, USA - Interior Court Yard, CC BY 2.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=4477760).

 
The large, U-shaped building is constructed in the Spanish Colonial style, meaning that the house’s 13 rooms are set consecutively in the building and connected only by an exterior covered corredor (as opposed to an interior hallway). The house is topped by a cupola from which bullfights and festivals in the adjacent plaza could be seen. 

11:17 AM Old Town San Diego: La Casa de Estudillo - entrance by sign at left for "La Casa de Estudillo."

MT 11:18 AM Old Town San Diego: Plaza de las Armas/Washington Square, with flagpole made from a ship's mast.

The Plaza de las Armas (Square of the Canon) is also known as San Diego Viejo Plaza (San Diego Old Plaza), Old Town Square, and Washington Square. It was the center of the Pueblo de San Diego, the first permanent Spanish settlement in California, founded in 1835. The first houses built at this site were built around 1821. By 1827, over 30 adobe homes had been built around the square. The major buildings and houses of the pueblo were built around this square. By 1890, many of the original houses and buildings had become run down and many of them were demolished. In the 1930s, the Works Progress Administration (WPA) restored a few of the remaining buildings, including the Case de Estudillo.

11:22 AM Old Town San Diego: Cosmopolitan Hotel, with a sign for "Los Angeles Stage Office" on near corner of first floor.

The Cosmopolitan Hotel was originally built between 1827 and 1829 as a one-floor Spanish colonial style, thatched-roof adobe home for a cattle rancher. By 1869, it was restored and extended with a second floor into a stagecoach stop and hotel. The stage master converted the old adobe into an L-shaped Greek Revival hotel. He renovated the original first story and added a wood-framed second story and balconies.
 

Old Town San Diego: flagpole and canon of Plaza de las Armas in 1872, with Cosmopolitan Hotel in background (By US Navy(Life time: 1846) - Original publication: US NavyImmediate source: https://www.californiahistoricallandmarks.com/landmarks/chl-63, Public Domain, https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?curid=74886563).

 
In 1888, he sold the hotel, and in the following years it was used as an olive factory, In 1928, it was remodeled in Steamboat Revival architectural style. By 1930, the building was renamed as “The Miramar,” a hotel and restaurant. During the 1950s, it was renovated into an upscale tourist motel.
In 1968, the same year Old Town became a state historic park, the property was sold to the State of California. The State entered into an agreement with a restauranteur that led to the restoration to the period of the Cosmopolitan Hotel. The Cosmopolitan reopened as a Hotel and Restaurant in 2010, after massive restorations to revitalize its 1870s grandeur. In 2014, the Cosmo was taken over by Old Town Family Hospitality Corp.

MT 11:22 AM Old Town San Diego: Johnson House.

The Johnson House, or Johnson Building, was built in 1870. It was a wood-frame prefabricated office building that was brought by ship to San Diego, which was typical of many American buildings in that area at the time. It has a false front and a full-length wooden porch. George Johnson, a steamboat captain on the Colorado River and owner of Rancho Santa Maria de los Peñasquitos had it built on a vacant lot on the Plaza de las Armas. A few years after 1889, the Johnson family lost their rancho to creditors and moved into this building on the plaza, where the captain died in 1903. The house was reconstructed in 1989 by California State Parks.

 

11:23 AM Old Town San Diego: Casa de Alvarado/Rust General Store.

La Casa de Alvarado (Alvarado House) is an adobe house built prior to 1830 as the home of the Alvarado family. It originally had a thatched roof, earthen floors, and wood-barred windows. The house, which had deteriorated over a period when it was rented out, was reconstructed in the 1980s for the Old Town Park. It currently houses the Rust General Store, an 1860s-inspired general store, The products reflect the history and culture of people living in, and the places trading with San Diego during the American/Transitional time from 1846 through 1872.

MT 11:33 AM Old Town San Diego:  Santa on the wagon (mild telephoto 38 mm).

Then we got back on the bus to return to the  cruise terminal.

11:51 AM San Diego: view, from bus window of old sailing ships docked near cruise terminal. 

Around noon, at the end of our 3-hour excursion, we arrived back at the Viking Star.

Around 12:00, we went to the World Café (Deck 7) for lunch, which we ate on the adjacent Aquavit Terrace, followed by sherbet.

12:53 PM San Diego: view, from our stateroom window, of USS Midway carrier docked near cruise terminal.

2:19 PM Viking Star: view of old sailing ships (telephoto 93 mm).

MT 2:50 PM Viking Star: view of USS Midway, with the number 41 on its tower (telephoto 93 mm).

The USS Midway (CVB/CVA/CV-41) is an aircraft carrier, formerly of the US Navy, the lead ship in her class. Commissioned eight days after the end of WWII in 1945, Midway was the largest aircraft carrier in the world until 1955. She operated for 47 years, seeing action in the Vietnam War and serving as the Persian Gulf flagship in Operation Desert Storm in 1991. Decommissioned in 1992, she is now a museum ship at the USS Midway Museum in San Diego.

MT 2:54 PM Viking Star: tower of USS Midway, with the number 41 (telephoto).

MT 5:16 PM Viking Star: lights of old sailing ship and city at night (telephoto 77 mm).

MT 5:54 PM Viking Star: lights of USS Midway, with number 41 illuminated, and city at night (telephoto 76 mm). 

The Viking Daily newsletter listed at 8:00 in the Star Theater (Deck 2): "A Very Viking Christmas: Join your entertainment team for a festive celebration featuring some of your favorites during the Christmas and holiday season featuring the Viking Vocalists and Resident Pianist Simina and very special guests." Some of the very special guests were the Viking Star Choir, of which MT was a member, for their final performance.

MT 7:34 PM Viking Star: Viking Star Choir, led by Viking Vocalist Evie Brettell (at right); MT with microphone in center.

MT 8:10 PM Viking Star: Viking Vocalists.

MT 8:13 PM Viking Star: Viking Star Choir, with MT.

MT 8:13 PM Viking Star: Viking Vocalists, with Cruise Director Kate. 

MT 8:41 PM Viking Star: Viking Vocalists, with Cruise Director Kate, leading a singalong. 

The Viking Daily newsletter said all passengers had to be back on board by 9:00, as the Viking Star prepared to set sail for our next (and last) port of Los Angeles (97 nautical miles).

Following Viking instructions, we had to put our suitcases out in the hallway by 11 pm, with Red 4 tags attached, to help locate our luggage in the cruise terminal, where we were to pick them up at 7:45 am.