Mount Soledad overlooks La Jolla and is home to the Mount Soledad Cross.  The land and the cross have experienced a long term controversy over the involvement of religion in government.  The cross was erected in 1954 and is 43 feet tall including the base and 29 feet across.  According to Wikipedia, there were three other crosses on the site before this final one.  The first cross was erected by private citizens from La Jolla and Pacific Beach in 1913 and was stolen in 1923.  Replaced, it was allegedly burned down by the Ku Klux Klan.  The second cross was erected in 1934 by a private group of Protestant Christians from La Jolla and Pacific Beach, but was blown down by strong winds in 1952.  The third cross was installed in 1954, but stormy winds damaged the 29 foot cross and it was replaced with the one standing today. 

In 1989, the City of San Diego was sued, charging that the cross violated the California Constitution and the first amendment of the U.S. Constitution.  In 1998 the City of San Diego sold the cross and the land it stands on to the nonprofit Mount Soledad Memorial Association and the site became the Mount Soledad Veterans Memorial.  Over the last 20+ years there have been many federal and state court delays, rulings against the cross, and finally in 2008 the U.S. Federal Judge ruled, "The Court finds the memorial at Mt. Soledad, including its Latin cross, communicates the primarily non-religious messages of military service, death and sacrifice.  As such, despites its location on public land, the memorial is Constitutional."  The ACLU has appealed the decision and the case is now with the 9th Circuit Court of Appeal. 

The views of San Diego from this site are stunning with 360 degree views of ocean, city, mountains, bays and even to the hills of Tijuana, Mexico.  The memorial is equally impressive with loved ones displaying, with pride, pictures and military records of those brave men and women who honored us with their military service.

For me, Mount Soledad is a place for quiet reflection of what is our past, our present and our future, and is truly an inspirational place to visit...