Have you read Two Years Before the Mast? You might remember how author Richard Henry Dana describes the tiny Mexican town of San Diego which he visited in 1835. He would ride into town for pleasure when not unloading, loading or drying cattle hides at La Playa in Point Loma. His famous work of literature vividly describes a fandango in Old Town at the home of Don Juan Bandini.
Bandini’s casa would eventually become Old Town’s Cosmopolitan Hotel, and the very room where the first waltz was likely danced in California can be visited in the hotel today. That’s the room in the above photograph!
Today I ventured into the Cosmopolitan Hotel and discovered two interesting signs in the historic room. The first explains how an extravagant wood floor was installed by Bandini for dancing. It was probably the first wooden floor in California.
Dana wrote in Two Years Before the Mast:
“A great deal has been said about our friend Don Juan Bandini, and when he did appear, which was toward the close of the evening, he certainly gave us the most graceful dancing that I had ever seen.
His slight and graceful figure was well calculated for dancing, and he moved about with the grace and daintiness of a young fawn. He was loudly and repeatedly applauded, the old men and women jumping out of their seats in admiration, and the young people waving their hats and handkerchiefs.”
More photos of the restored room today…
A second sign explains how in the later 1800’s, after the abandoned Bandini house had been acquired by Albert and Emily Seeley and converted into the Cosmopolitan Hotel, big social parties took place in this room once again. They were the talk of the town!
Would you like to visit the historic room yourself? Look for a friendly tintype photographer outside this door. Then step through!
While you’re at it, you can have an old-fashioned tintype photograph taken as a keepsake. Perhaps pretend you’ve traveled back in time to the mid-1800’s, when this photographic technology was developed!
…
I post new blogs pretty often. If you like discovering new things, bookmark coolsandiegosights.com and swing on by occasionally!
I live in downtown San Diego and love to walk around with my camera! You can follow Cool San Diego Sights via Facebook or X.
Feel free to share!
Cool San Diego Sights! 