Last week, during our California trip, we visited the town of San Juan Capistrano.
It’s familiar to all of us because we hear about the swallows returning there every year. And you may also know about Mission San Juan Capistrano.
My friend, Bev and I discovered a little side street in the town that’s chock-full of cafe-type restaurants, gift shops and garden shops. And almost every one of them had a sweet little fence out front.
We didn’t have lunch here, but we sure did enjoy walking down this little street and visiting the shops.
But this is my favorite picture from that outing. Apparently a “big hat” ladies’ club was having a luncheon, and we spotted these two making their way into one of the cafes. We thought it could possibly be a mother and daughter. But I love that the older lady was wearing her fancy floral frock over her slacks. And to complete the ensemble: sport socks and black Reeboks!
And she’s probably the most “well-to-do” lady in town…
Linking up to Friday’s Fences.
these days of mine 
Absolutely, positively loved the “big hat” gals … but my favorite part was that they’re holding hands. Darling!
What a fun trip you had 🙂 MJ
Looks like a really charming city – with a lot of personality! Love the big hats and fences…..what fun…..
Pam (and Sam)
You never know what to expect when you are in California! Wonderful place where people simply are themselves – no matter what others may think! Wish I had that much panache…enjoyed the photos!
Completely different lifestyle than the East Coast….Lovely little street!
haha Love all that tulle on one of the hats. What a great time you all had. Talk about “a fly on the wall”…you were a bird on a picket fence. Thank you for the views.
June is right it is a completely different and that’s what I love about both. The East with it’s perfectly manicured, everything in order thing they got going on and the West well…wild and whimsical! (Of course I’m totally generalizing here – but all in all! 🙂 )
Have a lovely weekend!
~d.
I love those little cottages with the fences, and someone who wears what they darn well please!
Funny way to dress; like a little girl playing dress-up.
now thats the stuff i love to see , something different than home, im sure
you all had a great trip. nice pixs.
San Juan Capistrano is so beautiful. I hope that you took the time to go to the Mission; it is gorgeous. I have a picture of my daughter there in front of a fountain in the courtyard. One of my favorites. Glad that you made the most of your time and saw as much as you could.
Oh, another street I would have loved! Great connection for Friday Fences too! If only I had the gumption to dress however the heck I wanted!! So fun!
Oh, those ‘big hat’ ladies were charming. So cute to see they had their fancy hats on with tennis shoes. That picture is priceless. What fun it would be to meander down those streets! Looks like you had a lovely time despite the absence of swallows.
What a charming area. I would love to walk around n explore this quaint little town. Love the dress code too…LOL
Los Rios Street .. looks very interesting. On Google Earth, too! – love that internet. Most of the time.. And those side streets are the coolest part of a trip sometimes .. !
ok, i’ve heard of the red hat ladies …but never seen white hat ladies. interesting indeed. so cute they are. i love the fence. very delicate. (:
Lovely Dianna! Your pictures remind me of Key West. San Juan Capistrano looks sunny and festive! Makes me smile that they are holding hands 🙂
that made me chuckle. thanks!
There’s just something about a little cottage with a white picket fence.
The last photo is my favorite, too 🙂
Regards and best wishes
Oh, I love that last one, too….wouldn’t you love to have heard their conversation.
Positively Victorian – love it. It is making me crave a cup of tea and a cucumber sandwich – and a big hat of course.
How cute. Everything looked so peaceful. I loved the ladies
in the big hats.
The picture of the ladies hand-in-hand is wonderful!
We always have alot of fun and run into something different everyday.. What’s next?
These cottages and their unique fences remind me of an artist’s colony–Irishtown?–in Baton Rouge. I wonder, like you, if the hat ladies are a mother and daughter and maybe mother has Altzheimer’s? Still wanting to choose her own clothes?
This looks like just my kind of small town to spend hours wandering around.
Love that cottage! And the sign out front of the second one “Nest”….great white picket fence to set them both off! So sweet, the big hat ladies!
Ohhh, I want to go there-looks like my kind of place! In all of my trips to California, I never ventured far from the beaches in San Diego…imagine that! Now, I definitely want to go back and visit some more of California!
Love the hat ladies…that will be me one of these days!
I wish everyone held hands more.
Great collection of fences!!!
My favorite thing about travel is finding the little streets, shops, places along the way that just charm you down to your toes. Looks like you found some of that in these photos! Sweet! Love the hats! ~ Sheila