Palm trees lining the highways. Sun almost always shining. Big city vibes in a small city space. Smiles and laughter heard from every corner.

Welcome to Oceanside, California.

I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again: I love Oceanside. I wasn’t expecting to be as enthralled with this city as I have become over my various day trips out here from San Diego.

The Mission San Luis Rey in Oceanside, California, is an awesome deep dive into California's history. As a native Californian, I never thought too much about our history until recently. In fact, as a kid, history was my least favorite subject. We visited a few missions in elementary school, but I never cared too much about them as I moved into my adult life.

Things changed as I got older.