Rusted & Rustic: Julian & Santa Ysabel Frontier Roots — Supreme San Diego Backcountry — Wild Mountain — Autumn Adventure
It’s a gorgeous autumn dawn in the San Diego backcountry desert. The mountains and the valley floor are ablaze with color.
And my favorite thing to do on a beautiful day like this, is to head up into the mountains and visit Julian and Santa Ysabel, two charming historic frontier towns.
Our first stop has to be the Julian Pie Company in Santa Ysabel for apple cider donuts.
The next stop in the little hamlet of Santa Ysabel, is the old general store. Inside are antique and vintage treasures, many dating back to the colonial and revolutionary eras. As well as art, crafts, and sewing supplies, and even a hardware section, it’s 15 miles to the nearest hardware store in Ramona.
Let’s check out The Barn vintage market in Julian, my favorite place for all things rusted and rustic. They have one of the best backcountry mountain design aesthetics I’ve seen, featuring a great mix of vintage, antique, rustic, and even a bit of steam-punk. The resident Emus are friendly and photogenic, after all livestock makes the ranch.
I love the way they dress different rooms and sections into vignettes, I always get so much inspiration for my little backcountry abode here. Just with fewer haunted antique dolls and skeletons. Although I know someone whose house is full of both.
They have amazing, rustic, and very tasteful Christmas decorations in the season, so that is a must if you are doing a rustic farm-house Christmas theme like me.
Now we’ve arrived at my favorite place of all, the Calico Cidery in Julian. Julian often gets very busy, especially in the fall and winter when people come up here for apple picking, pumpkin patches, hay-rides, and the novelty of a day in the snow in Southern California.
What I love about the family-owned Calico Cidery, is that you can get away from the crowds and the stand-still traffic, and step outside into their gorgeous south-facing apple orchards.
They built a beautiful barn tasting room, and for someone who doesn’t usually enjoy cider like me, the cider is absolutely bone-dry, crisp and delicious.
Perhaps best of all, is that the orchard is scattered with picnic tables, and you can bring take-out from any of the nearby delicious restaurants like the Wynola Pizza and Bistro, and my personal favorite the Julian Beer Company which serves some of the best barbecue of all time, but good luck getting a table.
A flight is the best way to experience the different ciders of the season. The ranch was originally planted as a pear orchard, and then expanded to apples in the 1960s. The current owners, the Young Family, have added over 100 new varieties of apples to their multi-generational labor of love.
As the sun sets in Julian, the mountain chill is setting in. Let’s head back down to the desert and make a warm, cozy fire. Tonight we’ll be burning bone-dry sun-cured mesquite.
The only positive result of the drought has been the excellent firewood.
And it makes a lovely, crackling fire, at the end of a wonderful day in the San Diego Backcountry Mountains.
Thank you so much for spending the day with me, in one of my favorite places here in Southern California. I’m William Z. Brennan, but you can call me Will. I’m a natural lifestyle expert, founder of Desert Mountain Apothecary, and author of upcoming e-book Natural Lifestyle Optimization.
Until next time, & with lots of love, thank you watching.
The Businesses featured in Video:
Julian Pie Company
2225 Main St, Julian, CA 92036
21976 CA-79, Santa Ysabel, CA 92070
Santa Ysabel General Store
30275 CA-78, Santa Ysabel, CA 92070
The Barn Vintage Marketplace
4559 CA-78, Santa Ysabel, CA 92070
Calico Cidery
4200 CA-78, Julian, CA 92036
Wynola Pizza & Bistro
4355 Julian Hwy, Santa Ysabel, CA 92070
Music:
Sweet Relief — Zachariah Hickman
All the Fixings — Zachariah Hickman
Morning Mandolin — Chris Haugen
About Desert Mountain Apothecary: The original desert apothecary for mind, body & spirit: desert roots & desert mountain botanicals: Desert Mountain Apothecary by William Z. Brennan. Supremely natural natural skincare & botanical fragrance hand made with love from the purest natural source plant-based ingredients.
About William Z. Brennan: William Z. Brennan is a natural lifestyle expert, founder of Desert Mountain Apothecary & author of upcoming e-book Natural Lifestyle Optimization. Originally from New York, and with a background in fragrance, skincare, fashion design & bespoke mens tailoring, he is now based in the Southern California Desert.
About Natural Lifestyle Optimization: William Z. Brennan is the author of upcoming e-book Natural Lifestyle Optimization, a new way of harnessing habits and routines towards a transformation and renewal of mind, body & spirit. Pre-order your copy of Natural Lifestyle Optimization today!
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