Encinitas's landmarks reflect its mix of spiritual, artistic and beach-town history: a bluff-top ashram, a 1920s movie palace, a pair of land-locked "ships", a guerrilla mosaic and a much-mocked surfer statue.[1] Most are in or near downtown Old Encinitas.
Self-Realization Fellowship
The Self-Realization Fellowship (SRF) temple and hermitage have been an Encinitas landmark since the 1930s.[1] Paramahansa Yogananda founded SRF in 1920. After returning from India in 1936, he moved into the Encinitas hermitage, a surprise gift from his disciple Rajarsi Janakananda, and wrote Autobiography of a Yogi there.[2][3] The meditation garden, with flowers, koi ponds and small waterfalls, runs to the cliffs above Swami's.[4] The SRF Encinitas Temple on Second Street holds Sunday services, meditations and kirtan.[4] George Harrison spent time at the retreat, and Ravi Shankar gave his first U.S. concert there in 1957.[3]
La Paloma Theatre
Frank E. Brown built the La Paloma in 1927–28 as a 540-seat silent-film theatre designed by Edward J. Baum. It opened on February 11, 1928, with The Cohens and Kellys in Paris, and Mary Pickford attended.[5] Sound equipment for talkies was added in 1928. The theatre has handmade floor tiles by Claycraft Potteries of Los Angeles. Artists including Jerry Garcia, Eddie Vedder, Nickel Creek and Loreena McKennitt have performed there, and owner Alan Largent restored it in 2016.[5]
Encinitas Boathouses
The S.S. Encinitas and S.S. Moonlight are two houses built to look like boats. They have never been to sea. Miles Minor Kellogg, a maritime engineer from Michigan, built them in 1929 from wood salvaged from the Moonlight Beach Dance Parlor and the Encinitas Hotel.[6] Each is 15 feet tall and has 19 portholes, a galley, a steering wheel and rudders. They were added to the National Register of Historic Places on October 21, 2019. The Encinitas Preservation Association bought them in 2008 for $1.55 million and plans to turn them into a museum.[6]
Surfing Madonna
The 10-by-10-foot mosaic shows the Virgin of Guadalupe surfing, with "Save the Ocean" written beside her. Mark Patterson and Bob Nichols installed it covertly on April 22, 2011, on the Encinitas Boulevard rail bridge. The city fined Patterson $500 and he paid about $6,000 to have it removed. After a period at Cafe Ipe in Leucadia, it was reinstalled across from its original site at the corner of Highway 101 and Encinitas Boulevard.[7]
Cardiff Kook
Magic Carpet Ride, a 16-foot bronze surfer in Cardiff, is known locally as the Cardiff Kook, from surfer slang for a "wannabe", because of its awkward stance. It received an "Onion" in the San Diego Architectural Foundation's 2007 Orchids & Onions awards, and locals regularly dress it up, in costumes ranging from a lucha libre mask to a papier-mâché shark.[1]
Other sights
- Original Encinitas depot (1887), now a coffee shop at 510 North Coast Highway.[8]
- San Diego Botanic Garden, 37 acres with North America's largest public bamboo collection.[9]
- San Dieguito Heritage Museum, Lux Art Institute and the Encinitas Historical Society.[1]
- Humanity, a bronze by Maidy Morhous at the J Street overlook (2018).[1]
- Olivenhain Meeting Hall, built by the German colony in the 1890s.[10]
Visiting
Most landmarks are within walking distance of Encinitas station and downtown: the SRF gardens, La Paloma, the Surfing Madonna and the Boathouses are all in Old Encinitas.[8] The Cardiff Kook is a short drive or bike ride south on Coast Highway 101, and the Botanic Garden is inland on Quail Gardens Drive.[9]
Common questions
- Can you visit the Self-Realization Fellowship gardens in Encinitas?
- Yes. The meditation gardens above Swami's are open to visitors, and the temple on Second Street holds public services.
- What are the boat houses in Encinitas?
- The S.S. Encinitas and S.S. Moonlight, two boat-shaped homes built in 1929 and listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 2019.
See also
Notes and sources
- Encinitas, California. Wikipedia.
- Paramahansa Yogananda. Wikipedia.
- Self-Realization Fellowship. Wikipedia.
- Swami's. Wikipedia.
- La Paloma Theatre. Wikipedia.
- Encinitas Boathouses. Wikipedia.
- Surfing Madonna. Wikipedia.
- Encinitas station. Wikipedia.
- San Diego Botanic Garden. Wikipedia.
- Olivenhain, Encinitas, California. Wikipedia.