Last 2006 Tour for Sean and Lara

Please Note: Your tour will be announced over the PA system. While you wait for your tour to start, please discover the travels we have explored this weekend, browse the gift shops, dine at exquisite locations, and get on board the Sean and Lara Express. For everyone’s enjoyment, food, drinks, gum and smoking are not permitted on the tour.

This is the final 2006 tour and we hope you visit our Blog in 2007 for future tour departures. Now.. hold on, hands and arms inside the train at all times, and this will be the wildest weekend tour in the wilderness…

First stop on the S & L Express, Casa de Fruta, where gourmet food, gifts and holiday baskets are abound. At Casa, you can pick up some dried fruits, nuts, chocolate covered fruits and nuts, healthy fruit, wine, meat and cheese. You can ride the Casa De Choo Choo, eat in the Candy Casa or at the Deli Casa. There is even a Camping Casa. Can we ride the train again, Lara? Fun for the whole family awaits at Casa de Fruta. Pee stop complete, and on to our next station. All Aboard!

Our next station, the San Juan Bautista Mission, located in the Hollister, California. This is the heart of earthquake country. Back in 1797, a Roman Catholic pilgrimage led by Father Junipero Serra brought Christianity to the wilderness near this San Andreas Fault retreat. We visited the wilderness and our second mission together. This is the site of the 15th mission in the California Mission chain and some say this one is the most spectacular. The Franciscan friars chose the site at the foot of the Gavilan Mountains, which they named Mission San Juan Bautista, after St. John the Baptist. The Mission was actually founded by Father Fermin Lasuen, who wasted little time bringing the Catholic religion to the local Mutsun Indians. We even lit a candle to commemorate our visit. How did Sean get into the manger scene?

The present church structure was completed in 1812. It has seen continuous use since its founding. The property surrounding the Mission belongs to the State of California. Just a few steps inside the massive carved entrance doors, you will find authentic altar statues, marble painted wall decorations, a huge sandstone baptismal font, lovely gardens and winter-blooming roses, all in place since the church's founding.

We step back in time some two hundred years, entering the old sanctuary, which architecturally hasn't suffered the ravages of time or ruin. Although there was some earthquake damage in 1906, reinforcements over the years have helped prevent problems from tremblers. The site represents an historic visit which is an easy visit from San Jose on the 101.

All Aboard! Next Stop, the Winchester Mystery House, Last Call!!!

Aboard our mystery tour train, our next stop was the Winchester Mystery House in San Jose, California. Lara has never been to a Victorian Spirit-filled Monolith before so we decided to visit. “Sara, we are coming for you!” Our tour guide said that in 1884, a wealthy widow named Sarah L. Winchester began a construction project of such magnitude that it occupied the lives of carpenters and craftsmen until her death thirty-eight years later. This is truly the most unusual Victorian mansion filled with unexplained oddities, which it has come to be known as the Winchester Mystery House.

We toured through 110 of the 160 rooms and looked for the bizarre phenomena that gave the mansion its name. “Sara, where are you?” We saw a window built into the floor, staircases leading to nowhere, a chimney that rises four floors and then stops, doors that open onto blank walls, and upside down posts, and unfinished rooms and an entry way that was never used. Theodore Roosevelt was even turned away at the front door and asked to use the servants’ entrance. He left shortly afterwards. No one has been able to explain the mysteries that exist within the Winchester Mansion, or why Sarah Winchester kept the carpenters' hammers pounding 24 hours a day for 38 years. It is believed that after the untimely deaths of her baby daughter and husband, son of the Winchester Rifle manufacturer, Mrs. Winchester was convinced by a medium that continuous building would appease the evil spirits of those killed by the famous "Gun that Won the West" and help her attain eternal life. Certainly her $20,000,000 inheritance was sufficient to support her obsession until her death at 82!

The Garden Tour was our last stop on the mystery train. A visit to the Winchester House is not complete until you have strolled through the beautiful Victorian gardens that surround it. Great care has been taken to restore the grounds to that time when Sarah Winchester had a full-time staff of eight gardeners, and imported trees, shrubs, and flowers from all parts of the world. Nearly 14,000 miniature boxwood hedges, large flowering Carolina cherry laurels, plants, and flowers have been replanted to provide beautiful color year-round. Numerous handcrafted European lead statues and elaborate fountains have been restored. We saw the original mythological statues, including Mother Nature, Cupid, a cherub, hippocampus, American Indian, deer, egret, frogs and swans. Mrs. Winchester's fascination with the supernatural is evident in the gardens, where we counted thirteen California Fan Palms lining the front driveway. I am hiring some of the gardeners to finish our backyard. Hmmmm! Guests also see the green house, garage, car wash, pump and tank houses.

All Aboard! Last station, San Jose, California, next stop, the San Joaquin Valley! After completing our tour of the House, we dined out in downtown San Jose. We ate at a fish place and tried for an early movie. Lara wanted to see Children of Men, but we were chased away after the theater over-sold the show. “I want my money back now….” And “Is that seat taken, Oh yes.” Then there should be seats left… ok my tirade for the evening… The S & L train left on schedule and we made it home to watch the Lake House instead (A very good movie by the way).

Please Note: Thank you for riding the S & L Express. After exiting the train, please watch your step, slowly walk to the exit, do not leave small children unattended, and secure your belongings at all times. Enjoy the rest of your evening and Happy 2006, Welcome 2007!!!!!!

S