Taste of the Past | Old Town San Diego State Historic Park | July 11, 2015. Photo Credits: Krista. PhotoGrid iPhone app.

If you have ever wanted to step back in time, but didn’t have access to a time machine, look no further than a visit to Old Town San Diego. This “birthplace of California” offers events year-round for its visitors to experience pueblo life of the early 1800s. In Spanish American history, a pueblo is a town or village and San Diego was the original town of California when Mission San Diego de Alcalá was established in 1769 and the Californios settled in the village nearby.

Today, this little village area is known as Old Town San Diego and is open throughout the year with historic buildings and exhibits as well as restaurants and cultural events. During the summer months of July and August, the Old Town State Historic Park offers special events each Saturday for “Stagecoach Days” – Celebrating the West on the Move. Most of the events during Stagecoach Days are free and open to adults and children of all ages.

On July 11^th, I visited Old Town for the “Taste of the Past” as part of Stagecoach Days and it was like a field trip for my taste buds. The flyer described this event as a chance to “enjoy the aromas and flavors of early San Diego, and learn about food preparation and the cooking techniques of the 1800s.” We live less than two miles away from Old Town and enjoy visiting often, but this was my first experience at a tasting event and it was a great opportunity to sample some foods that I may not have tried otherwise. The interpretive and historic events in the plaza are free, but advance tickets ($10 each) are recommended for the “Taste of the Past” and the event sold out this year (2015). A very limited number of same day tickets were also available for purchase at the Old Town State Historic Park at the Robinson-Rose Visitor Center.

Taste of the Past Ticket. Photo Credit: Krista.

Our trip back in time started with picking up my “Taste of the Past” ticket from Will Call at the Robinson-Rose Visitor Center. I received a two-sided card with a list of the restaurant locations and a map of Old Town showing the 10 spots I would be visiting on this self-guided tour stopping for “bites of history” along the way. Our first stop was in the Fiesta de Reyes area where I sampled Mole Azteca (1) and Tamales de Barbacoa (3). Both were delicious! Next we stepped inside the Temecula Olive Oil Company and tried a Muffaletta Spread, made with locally sourced olive oil, on bread.

We continued to the back of the Fiesta de Reyes area to Rose’s Tasting Room located next to the Casita Verde Home & Garden Shop. Rose’s was the only location where you had to be over 21 to enter as Rose’s offers local wines and micro brews. The historic offering from Rose’s was Syllabub (4), a whipped cream dessert, typically flavored with white wine or sherry. This version was made with a dry apple wine made from Julian apples. Next we were off to Old Town Root Beer & Jerky to try Beef Sticks and Beef Jerky (5). The ambience inside this shop was charming and they also offer root beer floats.

Exiting from the Root Beer & Jerky shop, we walked along the edge of the Plaza and stopped next at Rust General Store for a sample of Beef & Biscuits (a.k.a. “Picadillo”) (6). The baking powder biscuits had some rosemary which added to the flavor. From here we walked past a covered wagon and entered the Cosmopolitan Hotel & Restaurant. We walked past the 1800s style saloon and went to the back patio for our next tasting. The Cosmopolitan was offering Seeley Stew (7) with a small slice of sourdough bread. This entrée was one of my favorites in the savory category from this tasting event. I liked the flavor and the way the Cosmopolitan paid homage to Albert and Emily Seeley, the original owners of the Cosmopolitan Hotel from 1869 – 1888. The Seeleys most likely served a similar stew to their guests during the Cosmo’s hey-day in the 1870s.

Bites from the “Savory” Category plus at Taste of the Past. Photo Credits: Krista. PhotoGrid iPhone app.

We were nearing the end of my Taste of the Past experience, and walked to the opposite corner of the Old Town Plaza for the final 3 stops. I completed the savory bites at El Patio with Chili Verde (9). Across the way, Old Town Ice Cream was offering old-fashioned Homemade Vanilla Ice Cream out of a hand-cranked ice cream maker. This one brought back fond childhood summertime memories of taking turns cranking the ice cream maker to make our own homemade ice cream. The final destination was Cousins Candy. This is a small shop that is jam-packed with all sorts of candy, sweets, fudge, and handmade saltwater taffy. For the tasting, Cousins offered a piece of Chocolate Fudge and a Vanilla Taffy (10). These were both excellent! The candy shop was definitely my favorite in the sweet category from this tasting event.

After we completed the self-guided tour, we walked around the Plaza area and watched some of the historical reenactors, dressed in 1800s period outfits, who were showing off some additional cooking techniques, weaving wool into thread, playing 1800s games, and so forth.

If you’re interested in travelling back in time to the 1800s this summer, the Old Town Historical Park is offering more events for the remaining Saturdays in July and August. Upcoming events include: Days of the Vaqueros (Cowboys) – July 25^th; Trades that Shaped the West – Aug. 1^st; Soldiers & Citizens – Aug. 8^th; TwainFest – Aug. 15^th; and The West on the Move – Aug. 22^nd. All of the events are from 12 noon until 4 p.m. except TwainFest which is from 11 a.m. till 5 p.m. For more information, contact the Robinson-Rose Visitor Information Center at 619-220-5422 or visit the official Old Town San Diego SHP website. For additional information about Old Town’s historic sites, click here, and for information about other Living History events, click here.

Bites from the “Sweet” Category at Taste of the Past. Photo Credits: Krista. PhotoGrid iPhone app.

Disclosure of Material Connection: I have not received any compensation for writing this post. I have no material connection to the brands, products, or services that I have mentioned. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255: “Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.”