Heritage Square

It was a thoroughly enjoyable day. Picked up a few items at various stores in the morning, showered, had lunch, then set off with Suzanne at 1:25.
We got to Oxnard, a place I had turned my nose up at (my mother's phrase; of course, it should be "at which I turned up my nose"--sorry, I can't help myself!) and, I found out yesterday, I had maligned unjustly. Suzanne drove me through lovely parts of town, then we ended up at Heritage Square for a charming presentation.
Heritage square is an area where, with a federal grant, the city moved a number of large old houses from throughout the city, added beautiful landscaping, a brick walkway, and it became a tourist attraction. There are about ten houses, each big and beautiful, and each built in the late nineteenth or early twentieth century in a different ethnic style.
The presentation on "Hollywood in Oxnard: the 1920s" was so entertaining. It included some power point pics and was delivered by a docent dressed in flapper style. I love that kind of thing and this was terrific. It ended with a little nod to Roaring Twenties fashions for women. After, we took a kind of mini-tour, just of the outside of the area, conducted by a woman dressed in much earlier fashion--hoop skirt, bonnet, and so on, maybe from about 1870. That was fun and I want to go back when the tour includes the insides of the buildings.
We then sat on a porch at the La Doce Vita restaurant, Suzanne with iced tea, me with Chardonnay, and talked and talked. Suzanne filled me in on some of the history of the Mercy order, which I found fascinating. Driving home, she pointed out what are called "Mercy homes"--houses for low-income people bought and maintained by the order. I was really impressed; hadn't known the order did such a thing.
It was a fab day and we didn't get home until almost 5:00, at which point Ellen called for a certain reason. I went over there and as always, it was so good to be with her. Didn't leave until after my dinner time, but I wasn't hungry, so just had half of a spaghetti squash and later, my usual applesauce and berries.