Sicilian Festa in Little Italy

Little Italy is always a popular destination. On Sunday May 22, 2011 Little Italy had a Sicilian Festa. This is a street fair that featured lots of booths with a variety of food, drink and merchandise for sale. There where several stages set up with Italian music and dance. There were also some tents highlighting the history of Little Italy and Italian heritage. This is a very large event and India Street was filled with Italians and Italian wanabees. The weather was great and the food even better. You can never go wrong with food in Little Italy. For more information go to www.sicilianfesta.com Enjoy!

South Park

The South Park neighborhood of San Diego is east of Balboa Park and (imagine this) south of North Park. The buildings in the area date back to the early 1900`s. Most of the buildings are well kept and many are the craftsman style of construction. There are lots of great places to eat, drink and shop. You need to explore the tree lined streets as not everything is located on a main drag. South Park has several events each year that help show off this interesting neighborhood. There is the Old House Fair in June and the quarterly walkabouts. This years Old house Fair is June 18,2011 and the next Walkabout is July 16, 2011. This is a great place to visit and explore on any weekend. For more information go to http://www.southparkscene.com/ Enjoy!

Goodan Ranch and Sycamore Canyon Open Space Preserves

The Goodan Ranch and Sycamore Canyon Open Space Preserves are located in the southeast area of Poway. From the west they can be accessed from Garden Road just off  Poway Road. There is also an access to the east off Highway 67 south of Scripps Poway Parkway. This is a great area for hiking, mountain biking and horseback riding. There are dirt roads and trails running throughout the area. You will see a variety of native plants and animals along trails. There is also a new ranger station at the site of the old Goodan Ranch house. The ranger station has restrooms, drinking fountains and a nice area inside to relax. For more information go to http://www.goodanranch.org/ Enjoy!

Julian

Julian is a small town in the mountains to the northeast of San Diego. It was originally founded after the Civil War when gold was discovered in the area. Julian has lots of shops and restaurants and is famous for apple pie. There are even apple orchards in the area. You can pick your own apples in the fall. Julian is always a great destination for a weekend drive. We like to make a loop and take the Highway 78 through Julian on the way up or back and Highway 79 through Cuyamaca the other way. The drive is a big part of the appeal to Julian. There are farms and open space and you may even get a chance to see some deer or turkeys. This is especially true if you are on the road early or late in the day. There is so much to see and do on this day trip that you may have trouble deciding. For more information go to http://www.julianca.com/ Enjoy!

Coronado Island

Often when someone thinks of Coronado Island they only think of The Hotel del Coronado. There is nothing wrong with this as the `del` is one of the best places to visit in San Diego. But Coronado Island  has lots more to offer than just the `del`. This is a wonderful little town of cute homes and great restaurants and shops. The beach is possibly the nicest in San Diego and there are places to rent sail boats on the bay and bicycles for exploring the island. Next time you visit Coronado Island do youself a favor and do some sightseeing on some of the residential streets before you find a great restaurant for lunch or dinner along Orange Avenue. If you are like many of us and seem to always head to the Hotel del Coronado, you will find some very pleasant surprises waiting for you just outside the `del`. If you have some extra time, come in from the south along the strand. Enjoy!