Know&Go Guide: Santa Ana, Orange County, California
California is one of the oldest colonial parts of the USA and Santa Ana is the oldest town and capital of Orange County.
We’ve all heard of the Santa Ana winds, which sweep from the Mojave Desert down the foothills of the mountains, across the low, flat plains of Southern California taking dust and debris out over the Pacific Ocean. They can also make you crazy, if you believe the fiction written about them.
The first attribution of the name was in local newspapers in 1882 – much to chagrin of locals – seemingly due to fact that Santa Ana Canyon receives the most intense winds.
But don’t hold that against the lovely town of Santa Ana, which sits at the heart of Orange County. The landmark building is the Old Orange County Courthouse, the oldest in the state (name image above) but there are many impressive buildings and homes to admire.
Santa Ana started life in 1810 as the Rancho Santiago de Santa Ana, after a land grant from the Spanish governor of California to the Yorba family, following the Mexican War of Independence. It expanded considerably and changed hands to the Sepúlveda family (namesake of the Boulevard) then to William H Spurgeon in 1869, who founded the city.
The California Central Railway – part of the famed Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railway – came through in 1887, connecting Los Angeles to San Diego via Santa Ana Station and the Amtrak Pacific Surfliner continues the tradition to this day. Also cutting through town is the eponymous Santa Ana Freeway (US5/101), from Los Angeles to Irvine.
The population is still remarkably 80% Hispanic/Latino, showing it hasn’t changed much in the ensuing years from its origins. This bold mix of Mexican and American cultures provide a vibrant and quirky melting pot of arts, culture and great food.
Walking around the historic downtown I was taken with the quinceañera dress shops. These most extravagant and massive gowns – just waiting to be worn by lucky 15-year-old girls on the biggest day of their lives (outside of/including their wedding) – represent maturity, independence and individualism.
To learn more see below.
On this first trip I spent just one day/night in town and saw and experienced as much as that short amount of time would allow. Thankfully, its downtown historic district is eminently walkable and holds surprises around every corner, be it a fabulous building, colourful mural or arts space.
The city is well known for its arts culture and, on the first Saturday of each month, the very popular Downtown Santa Ana First Saturday Art Walk delivers live music and performances, over 20 galleries showcasing local art and artists as well as local vendors selling their wares.
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A short visual tour of the historic architecture in downtown Santa Ana.
https://storymaps.arcgis.com/stories/517836d6ef0345e1a9353d4584192d76
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To learn about the tradition and see some truly epic dresses visit these links.
https://www.britannica.com/topic/quinceanera
https://www.quinceanera.com/traditions/the-celebration-of-the-quinceanera-and-its-origins
https://duckduckgo.com/?q=quinceanera+dresses&iax=images&ia=images
Experience
Walking with a local legend!
Alicia Rojas is famous in Santa Ana and walking down the street with her you’d think you were with a movie star. She is one Travel Santa Ana’s signature artists and Director of the Santa Ana Community Artist Coalition. I was very lucky to have a private tour with her, to see the community murals and what an explosion of colour and vibrancy they were on a dull, grey day.
As the blurb from Travel Santa Ana says:
“Like a living, city-sized art museum, Santa Ana proudly displays one of Southern California's most extensive collections of murals. Starting with the Chicano movement of the 1960s, artists began painting massive images that commemorate the city’s colorful, multicultural heritage.
Pay attention as you explore; it's not uncommon to find them in alleys, on the sides of buildings, doorways, electrical utility boxes and even entire city blocks.” All this and more was true of my visit.
Bookings essential.
Expansive and impressive collections
Opening in 1936, it was devoted solely to the history of Orange County. After a six-times expansion in 1992, it’s been voted ‘Best Museum’ in Orange County for the past 30 years. Another expansion in 2007 added 2787m2 (30,000 sqft) allowing for nine permanent collection exhibitions and rotating exhibition spaces, thus becoming the largest museum in the OC.
I had a truly edifying time walking through, finding a Han Dynasty Tomb Warrior, South Pacific headhunters masks, a beautifully preserved coffered ceiling from a long-gone Spanish Mission and superb paintings depicting the county’s bounty.
There’s much more to see, all beautifully laid out inside this vast Mission Revival compound. It’s also an event space, where celebrations and weddings are a common sight.
Open Tue-Sun 10am-4pm.
Learning made fun!
I had a brilliant time learning about the historic architecture of Downtown Santa Ana from bon vivant and raconteur Tim Rush, founding board member of Preserve Orange County and the current Chair of the Historic Resources Commission of the City of Santa Ana.
We spotted many different architectural styles starting at the Richardsonion Romanesque Courthouse (centre), then down Main Street to its Zigzag Moderne old City Hall (top left) and the glorious Churrigueresque Santora Building (top right). Further along we spied the Beaux Arts old West End Theatre (centre bottom) and spotted a laid-back dude forever fishing off the roof (bottom left image) on top of an Art Deco building. Spying a clock tower in the distance, I discovered it was the Spurgeon Building (bottom right), the city’s first skyscraper, built in 1913 and named for the founder of Santa Ana itself.
Bookings essential.
Varied and eclectic art of all kind from all kinds
This pedestrial mall on W 2nd Street, with its fountain and Santora Building on the corner, is ground zero for the Downtown Santa Ana First Saturday Art Walk. It’s surrounded on all sides with galleries and art spaces. You’ll find every kind of art here from sculptures to photography, textiles to performance art. Here is a link to the arts in Santa Ana.
Santora Building
Gloriously ornate building with history and a new life
Opened in 1929, this California Churrigueresque* style building is a standout on Main Street. Santora – a portmanteau of Santa Ana and Orange – was designed by Frank Lansdowne, one of the premier architects of the region. Its grand lobby leads to three floors of shops and from 1934-1944, the second floor held the historic Daninger's Tea Room where “Hollywood’s young and beautiful (Lucille Ball, William Holden, Rosalind Russell, Jack Benny, etc) stuffed themselves with ‘the best food in Orange County.’”
As with the way of all old buildings, it sat unloved for a period until the late 1990s when local legend and theatre designer, Joseph Musil, moved in and opened his exhibit, Studio of the Theaters. While that’s no longer there, artists have been calling it home ever since.
*The Churrigueresque style dates back to the 1660s and the Churriguera family from Salamanca, Spain
Consume
Multi-cultural meal in a cozy pub
This place has a nice pub vibe, with dark wood and book-lined walls, and a separate dining area from the bar, where they serve local craft beers on tap. While you can sit near the bar and watch the many sports on large screens, they are silent and music is playing all the while. Here is where the locals hangout and that’s always a good sign.
Executive chef, Tony Castaneda, fuses traditional and exotic foods to perfection. I had a superb multi-ethnic dinner here: delicious Filippino lumpia (pork egg rolls), sublime American Mac’n’Cheese, delicate Italian Margherita flatbread and divine Southern Bourbon Pecan Praline – hand-churned-in-house – ice cream. It was Santa Ana on a plate!
Open Mon-Thu 11am-10pm, Fri 11am-12am, Sat 10am-12am, Sun 10am-8pm.
Purchase
Cultural market with every kind of delicacy and craft
Located inside the 4th Street Market, Alta Baja Market is “a specialty grocery store, cafe and community space dedicated to celebrating the foods and crafts of California, Mexico and the American Southwest.”
Owner Delilah Snell (image bottom right at left) is a proud Santañera who promotes her home town and local artists and artisans, giving them a space to perform and sell their wares. I’m glad the Art Walking Tour led by Alicia Roja’s (image bottom right at right) started here otherwise I might have missed it.
This is the kind of place you could browse for hours, grab a meal and a Michelada (beer cocktail), then browse some more. You’re guaranteed to find something unusual/fun that you can’t believe you’ve lived without!
Open daily 10am-4pm (kitchen closes at 3PM).
Rest
Comfortable hotel in heart of Orange County
I only stayed one night here, but it was eventful. After dropping my bags in my room, I returned later in the day and discovered what sounded like the local gymnastics team had moved in upstairs. The thumps were truly impressive and I’m sure I would have held up a ‘7.0 for difficulty’ paddle had I been witness to them. Thankfully, Lisa at the front desk was a star and moved me above the athletes to the top floor to avoid this happening again. My new room was more spacious and she treated me to a free breakfast to make up for the fuss. That’s some fine customer service right there!
The room was California large and the king bed was very comfortable. I took advantage of the on-demand movies had a blissfully quiet night. Breakfast was served in takeaway containers but was delicious, none the less, when enjoyed in my room. I would happily have stayed longer and used the rest of the facilities had time permitted.
This guide details all of the things The Packed Bag experienced. Please see Travel Santa Ana for more.