San Diego Bay

San Diego`s large bay has military, commercial and recreational uses. This large bay is lined with docks, restaurants and hotels. You will see all types and sizes of boats on the bay all year. There are so many places to stop and enjoy the scenery along the bay from Point Loma to San Diego to Chula Vista to Coronado. We are lucky to have parks and beaches on both sides of the bay. A favorite tourist spot is Seaport Village but just across the bay is Old Ferry Landing Marketplace in Coronado. This quaint shopping village has many interesting shops and restaurants, free parking and many wonderful spots to spend an hour or a day. The view across the bay of the San Diego City skyline is always interesting and changing. You can take a ferry to the other side for a small fee and enjoy the calm waters. This is another of San Diego`s treasures that can be used all year with many different points of interest along the waterfront. Enjoy!
For more information go to: http://www.coronadoferrylanding.com/ http://www.thebigbay.com/ or http://www.seaportvillage.com/

San Diego Wooden Boat Festival

June 16 and 17, 2012 marked the 22nd anniversary of the San Diego Wooden Boat Festival at Shelter Island. The event is held at the Koehler Kraft Shipyard just across Shelter Island Drive from Humphreys Half Moon Inn. Koehler Kraft is a working shipyard so there are boat materials and various boats in all stages of manufacture and repair. There was food, music and wooden boats of all types. This is a fun event and all proceeds go to benefit Challenged America. If you like beautiful boats in a beautiful setting you should attend this fun festival. Enjoy!
For more information see: www.woodenboat.com www.koehlerkraft.com and click the `wooden boat festival` link http://www.challengedamerica.org/

Little Italy, Mercato & Pacific Beach on a windy day

When we feel like Italian food. I mean when we really feel like authentic Italian food. We go to Little Italy. The pasta, sausage, meatballs and sauce are like no other place in San Diego. Yes, you can get great Italian food at lots of other places around the county, but you cannot get so many great options of fresh Italian to prepare a meal at home. There is a favorite shop for pasta, a favorite shop for bread, a favorite shop  for sausage.....well you get the picture. We headed to Little Italy for some food for Saturday night dinner and had the added pleasure of the Mercato (farmers` market). The Mercato, the food for dinner, lunch at a fantastic Italian restaurant and the view of San Diego Bay are all included when you decide to visit Little Italy on a Saturday.
For more information visit http://www.littleitalysd.com/

 Last Saturday was a rainy and windy day so we stopped just north of Crystal Pier in Pacific Beach to watch the wind surfing and kite boarding that goes on there when the wind kicks up. Even when the weather is bad, life is good in San Diego. Enjoy!

La Jolla Children`s Pool

The Children`s Pool in La Jolla has been one of our favorites for many years. This beach has a protective wall that allows safe swimming.The wall was built in 1931 with funding provided by Ellen Browning Scripps. Over the past few years the beach was closed to people due to the large number of seals that have made this their home. There was a movement by some over zealous animal rights people to try to get the beach closed completely to humans. This seems to be faltering. We wrote about this issue back on March 31, 2011. At that time there were only seals on the beach. last Sunday April 8, 2012 the beach still had seals, but also had people on the beach and in the water. This is a great development. As you can hopefully see from the above photo, people and seals can get along fine at this wonderful beach.
For more information see: http://www.friendsofthechildrenspool.com/ and www.sandiego.gov/lifeguards/beaches/pool.shtml

Heritage Park

We have visited Old Town San Diego many many times. For some reason, we have never ventured over to Heritage Park. This is where six Victorian-era homes and a synagogue have been relocated and restored. The synagogue is Temple Beth Israel which was the first synagogue in San Diego. You can reserve it for weddings, receptions and bar mitzvahs. There is a small shop in one of the homes, but the others are not always open to the public. Heritage Park is a fun place for a short stroll to see these great old buildings. Enjoy!
For more information see www.sdcounty.ca.gov/parks/heritage or http://www.heritageparksd.com/

Whaley House

Whaley House is located in Old Town San Diego. This Greek Revival style brick home was built by Thomas Whaley in 1857. At the time it was said to be one of the finest brick buildings in Southern California. Over the years the building was used a general store, residence, court house and the first commercial theater in San Diego. This historic house is open to the public for tours at a nominal fee. Besides the interesting artifacts and history, the house is considered the number one most haunted house in the United States. Enjoy!
For more information see http://www.whaleyhouse.org/

Blue Sky Ecological Reserve

Blue Sky Ecological Reserve in Poway is one of those quiet out of the way places to take a hike. This 700 acre riparian habitat is a good area to see what Northern San Diego County might have looked like before we built it up. There are native oak trees as well as other native plants and animals. The trail runs through a valley that has a small stream and lots of shade. This is an easy hike and dogs are permited. If you are looking for somewhere to enjoy nature for a few hours this is it. Enjoy!
For more information see www.poway.org/bluesky