Two tours for the road

A panicked look at the calendar reveals summer is almost over! Time for a road trip! California is filled with fun and interesting places just a car ride away, and San Diego is one of them. After visiting the new Chinese pandas at the world-famous zoo and a stop at SeaWorld, we suggest two other sites for the road: Old Town and its nearby neighbor, the African Museum Casa del Rey Moro.
Just off the 5 Freeway, Old Town San Diego claims to be where California began. It’s one of 280 state park units and admission is free.
The walking tour guide book states that it is “The Mexican Pueblo that became an American frontier town.”
Old Town recreates the setting of California life between 1821 and 1872. Even if the kids are not into history, they will enjoy the unique shops, strolling Mariachis and delicious food, including a number of restaurants and vendors selling everything from root beer floats to organic chocolates.
San Diego developed into a trading outpost because of its strategic location near a large, sheltered bay. Ships from around the world unloaded luxury items and necessities, as the pueblo served as the capital of Alta, Calif.
But in 1846, the United States declared war against Mexico and the pueblo suffered from the conflict. But then, during the Gold Rush, Old Town became an important stopover for thousands of ‘49ers miners enroute to the central Sierra Foothills.
Restoration and stabilization of Old Town buildings began in 1968. Don’t miss San Diego House, which was owned by Richard Freeman, town constable and possible runaway slave.
Freeman and his partner Allen Light, an otter hunter, were the first men of African descent to settle in San Diego and were well received by the community. The two men opened a grog shop that closed in 1851, when Freeman died and Light left town for the goldfields.
The African Museum Casa del Rey Moro is located just on the other side of Old Town on Congress Street. Professor Chuck Ambers has collected a variety of memorabilia inside a house there, including statuettes, photos, books, coins, musical instruments, posters and other African and Afro-American, African-Spanish and African-Mexican artifacts.
“I’m not just into art, I’m into art history,” said Ambers.
A Vietnam veteran and local teacher in the school district and colleges in San Diego for years, Ambers was able to travel to 13 countries and has poured his personal funds into the museum, which he founded and named after a Moorish king 29 years ago.
“I’ve been to Egypt three times,” Ambers said during his $5 per person tour of the museum. Ever the teacher, he points out the four canopic jars he brought back from that country. “Those are canopic jars that the body parts were placed in during the mummification process. Look at those four jars and think of the word SILL – it stands for stomach, intestines, lungs and liver.”
The collection includes information about the African diaspora throughout the world and throughout history. From posters of Ethiopian knights in the 13th Century, to images of Russia’s Black Madonna; to books by writer Alexandre’ Dumas in France; to the pictures of the Africans who were part of Los Angeles’ founding.
“One out of every five cowboys in the American west looked like you and me,” Ambers notes during the tour, pointing out his Buffalo Soldier stamps. “And one out of five was a Mexican vaquero. So two out of five cowboys did not look like John Wayne.”
Although all the knowledge he wishes to impart through his collection can be quite overwhelming, Ambers doesn’t hesitate to also inform visitors that some artifacts and books there are for sale and could enhance anyone’s future book report.
One of those books is about Nathan Harrison, who was hailed by his contemporaries as a San Diego County pioneer.
“Born in Kentucky sometime around 1833, he endured slavery, a cross-country trek in servitude, the Gold Rush and the wild west,” it writes. Harrison acquired 112 acres, making him the first African-American homesteader and landowner in the region. And because of his roots in slavery, he is touted to be the most photographed nineteenth-century San Diegan.
“Harrison became a ubiquitous figure in San Diego history,” it continues. “He was allegedly present at nearly every significant event in the history of Southern California in the years following the American conquest.”
Ambers has posters for sale noting the inventions created by African-Americans, along with other items for purchase, including U.S. coins depicting Black historical figures.
“We’ve got some serious history in here,” Abers said proudly while vigorously shaking some antique slave chains. “So stop buying Air Jordans for your grandchildren, buy history!”