I was meeting friends in San Clemente for an annual get together. Every year, I make the long drive on a Friday in horrendous Los Angeles and Orange County, traffic through the San Fernando Valley across the 101 and down the 405 South. Quite possibly the worst traffic in the world on a hot August afternoon in my estimation! (If you don’t live in So Cal, the traffic is every bit as nasty as the movie Falling Down where Michael Douglas gets out and leaves his car on the freeway out of frustration.)

This year, I realized I could take the Amtrak Surfliner to San Clemente Pier and sit back and relax. Yes, what a lovely way to go! All fine and good until I got off one stop too soon. I had been listening to the stops and heard the next one to be San Juan Capistrano. The train stopped for about three minutes and I knew San Clemente was after San Juan, so I got off when the train stopped again. Apparently, we had stopped to let another train pass. I was feeling incredibly stupid! I may be blonde, but no one ever accused me of being air-headed. The next train being an hour later, I called for a ride. Hey, live in L.A. We don’t wait around; we drive. Pathetic, I realize… Then I discovered this lovely little neighborhood surrounding the train station.

Now, if you know the area, you probably think I’m talking about Mission San Juan Capistrano. But, on the other side of the tracks is California’s oldest neighborhood: the Los Rios Historical District - complete with a petting zoo and a Rios family member in a residence that has been occupied by the family for over 250 years. That fact alone would probably excite somebody, but I got even luckier in my find: I found the original jail complete with the holding cell! (I know you were waiting for the bail bond connection – and being a bondsman and a marketer – there always is one.)

I also found a lovely young woman working in a local shop who knew the local history. The jail cell, now sitting outside and across the street from the old jail, had two different signs: one indicating circa 1869; the other 1860. Apparently, the cell used to be inside the building, but had been dismantled, moved and reassembled.

The woman told me that when people were arrested they were kept in the holding cell until it was full, then they were moved to the main Orange County jail in Santa Ana. Wow! She didn’t know I was a bondsman or how incredibly interesting it is to me that even 150 years ago most Orange County arrests led to Santa Ana jail! What a great outing! I couldn’t have planned it better… unless I brought my camera instead of just my cell phone.