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Volunteers Needed to Track Abundant Wildlife In San Diego

Wednesday, January 13th, 2010 by The Best Places in San Diego

Tracking printsDespite its dry climate, San Diego County is home to wildlife ranging from mule deer and coyotes to mountain lions and big horn sheep.

The San Diego Tracking Team is a group of volunteers who conduct surveys tracking the movement of wildlife and work to preserve their presence in San Diego.

Four times a year, the San Diego Tracking Team conducts training for potential volunteers at the Los Penasquitos Canyon Ranch House. One of those opportunities occurs this Saturday from 9AM – 4PM.

If you are interested in learning how to identify animal prints you come across on the myriad of hiking trails in San Diego but don’t necessarily want to commit a full day to training, the San Diego Tracking Club also offers 1 – 2 hour introductions once a month at the Ranch House. I participated in an introductory tracking event this past Saturday.

Several animal tracks were identified around the Ranch House and we were taught the process that is used to identify the types of animals they belong too. I learned it is not as easy as one might think and that it helps to develop a knowledge of the types of animals that roam the area, how many toes they have, whether or not they have claws, and their typical patterns of movement.

Tracking groupAnother interesting thing I learned was Bergmann’s Rule. In layman’s terms, it means the warmer the climate, the less body mass or volume that is needed by a mammal or bird and vice-versa. Thus, the animals, and as a result, their tracks, found in San Diego are smaller than ones found in northern parts of the country. The coyotes in San Diego are much smaller than the ones in Yellowstone. Now that I know this, the coyote noises I hear at night don’t seem as intimidating. :-)

Even if you attend the full day session this Saturday, you are not expected to be an expert volunteer. But, it is hoped you will volunteer a few times a year to help identify tracks for the experts to review.

So, here is your chance wildlife enthusiasts to get closer to nature and volunteer to help preserve wildlife at the same time.

As an fyi, this Saturday’s event is not posted on the San Diego Tracking Team web site. But, you are welcome to show up at the Ranch House by 9AM on Saturday. Directions can be found below the calendar of the 1-hour introductory tracking events.

Posted in Enjoy the Outdoors, Volunteers | No Comments »

Community Christmas Events in San Diego 2009

Wednesday, December 2nd, 2009 by The Best Places in San Diego

December is the 2nd sunniest month in San Diego (tied with February if you can believe it). With plenty of sunshine and daytime temperatures often reaching into the 70s, it can be hard to get into the holiday mood. That is especially true for those of us who moved from colder climates.

Last year I helped people get into the holiday mood by offering information on which neighborhoods do the best jobs decorating their homes for the rest of us to enjoy. (I’ll post a 2009 update for neighborhoods with holiday lights in a day or two since they won’t be in full swing until next week.) Because of the good response, I decided to expand with information on community holiday celebrations in San Diego.

There are quite a few to pick from starting tonight. Just about every community from Oceanside down to Chula Vista and out to Julian has something to offer those of us needing a kick-start to fuel our holiday spirit. In the coming weeks you’ll find a couple pet parades, four boat parades, and three outdoor ice skating festivals among your options.

So, get out there and enjoy!

Happy Holidays!

Wednesday, December 2: Horton Plaza Tree Lighting – 7:30PM; Enjoy a New York City style Christmas celebration in San Diego. Instead of Rockefeller Center, we have Horton Square where you can enjoy ice skating, a tree lighting, and if you can’t make it in person, you can watch it all on NBC 7/39. Or, get a double dose by checking out the live NBC New York web cam on Rockefeller Plaza where they are preparing for their tree lighting, which will also be shown on our local NBC station tonight at 8PM.

Wednesday, December 2: Hotel Del Coronado Holiday Festival – 4PM – 7PM; Includes Fireworks and Ice Skating with views of the Pacific Ocean.

Thursday, December 3: Carnivale on Cedros – 5:30PM – 9PM; Stroll through the Cedros Design District in Solana Beach and be entertained by colorful street performers, music, food, and festivity.

Thursday, December 3: Oceanside Holiday Tree Lighting – 6PM – 7PM; Following the tree lighting in front of the Regal Cinema, take part in the weekly Thursday night Sunset Market street festival and farmers market.

Friday, December 4: Coronado Holiday Parade & Christmas Tree Lighting – 4PM – 7:30PM; Be sure to visit the Hotel Del for Ice Skating afterwards.

Friday, December 4 & Saturday December 5: December Nights at Balboa Park – Begins at 5PM on Friday and Noon on Saturday; Ends at 10PM both evenings. This is the largest holiday event in San Diego with 300,000 visitors. Most museums will be open for free from 5PM – 9PM both nights and host special events. Events take place both indoors and outdoors throughout Balboa Park. Many of the main events take place at the outdoor organ pavilion near the middle of the park. If you do not arrive before 5PM, avoid Park Boulevard. All of the parking lots will be full. Between 5PM – 6PM, you can try approaching the Zoo Parking lot on Zoo Drive coming from the Hillcrest area. Otherwise, you will need to take a shuttle from pickup points around San Diego. (I wish I heeded this advice last year.) Check the event website for more information on the entertainers, venues, schedules, maps, shuttles, and parking. (By the way, if you have not been to Balboa Park, you are missing out on a great treasure. Learn more about it on my travel website.)

Saturday, December 5: Ocean Beach Holiday Parade and Fun Kids Zone – Set-up beings at 7AM in the Ocean Beach Pier parking lot. Parade heads down Newport Avenue starting at 5:05PM.

Saturday, December 5: North Park Marching Band Competition & Toyland Parade – Band Competition starts at 9:30AM at the North Park Recreation Center followed by the Toyland Parade at 11AM.

Saturday, December 5: Encinitas Tree Lighting and Holiday Parade – Tree Lighting is at 5PM; Parade starts at 5:30PM and runs along Coast Highway 101 from D Street to J Street.

Saturday, December 5: Chula Vista Village Starlight Parade – 6PM – Third Avenue from H to E Streets; 100,000 spectators

Sunday, December 6: La Jolla Christmas Parade & Holiday Festival – Starts at 10AM; Parade at 2PM (west on Girard and south on Prospect); Christmas Tree Lighting at 4:30PM (Recreation Center); Includes Antique Aircraft Flyover.

Sunday, December 6: Carlsbad Pet Parade and Tree Lighting – Pups on Parade begins at 12:30PM. (You can have your pet’s picture taken with Santa from 9AM – 12PM.) The annual Rotary Club tree lighting & festivities take place from 2PM – Dusk. Location: Shops at the Village Faire.

Sunday, December 6: Solana Beach Holiday Tree Lighting – 5PM at Fletcher Cove Park; Cookies, music, and a visit from Santa.

Thursday, December 10: Gaslamp Quarter Holiday Music Event – 5PM – 1AM; Live music performances at a dozen venues throughout the Gaslamp Quarter, including David Patrone performing on Broadway Circle at Horton Plaza; Free.

Saturday, December 12: Oceanside Harbor Parade of Lights – 6PM – 9PM; Parade starts at 7.

Saturday, December 12: Mission Bay Christmas Parade of Lights – Starts at 7PM followed by a Fireworks Display at 9PM; 100 boats; 60,000 spectators

Saturday, December 13: Gaslamp Holiday Pet Parade – Pet Expo from 1PM – 5PM; Parade starts at 3PM; Pet Costume Contest; Location: Hilton Gaslamp at 4th & K Street.

Sunday, December 13: San Diego Parade of Lights – From Shelter Island (5:30PM) to Coronado Ferrylanding (7:30PM); Begins with Fireworks. Repeated again on the 20th. You can also take a cruise with San Diego Harbor Excursions or Hornblower.

Saturday, December 19: Christmas at the Mission – 6pm – 9pm; Mission San Luis Rey in Oceanside; ‘Evening of a Thousand Lights’; Carolers in the Old Mission Church; free tastings from local restaurants.

Sunday, December 20: San Diego Parade of Lights – From Shelter Islands (5:30) to Coronado Ferrylanding (7:30); Begins with Fireworks. 1 of 2 Sundays. You can also take a cruise with SDHE or Hornblower.

Monday, December 21: Gaslamp Battle of the Bands – Marching Bands from universities competing in the Poinsettia Bowl and elite high school marching bands from the local area will entertain spectators along 5th Avenue during the evening.

Wednesday, December 30: San Diego Big Bay Balloon Parade – Starts at 10AM at the County Administration Building, runs along Harbor Drive, and ends at Seaport Village. Televised Nationally.

Julian Carolers – There are quite a few events in Julian during the month of December, including a Holiday Home Tour, Living Nativity, and Community Christmas with Santa. Any weekend will be nice to go enjoy the crisp mountain air, fall foliage, and the  Julian Carolers, who will be wandering around town from 4PM – 6PM on Saturdays.

Ice Skating

Hotel Del Coronado – November 25 – January 3, 11AM – 9PM Daily: Includes Views of the Pacific Ocean

Horton Plaza – November 19 – January 10, 10AM – 10PM Daily: Helps support Rady Children’s Hospital

Viejas Outlet – November 14 – January 3, Open until 10PM Daily.

Posted in Enjoy the Outdoors, Things To Do | No Comments »

Join Birch Aquarium to Snorkel with Sharks

Wednesday, April 29th, 2009 by The Best Places in San Diego

I vividly remember my first encounter with sharks. It was 1999 and I was enjoying my first summer in San Diego.

I had just finished kayaking near La Jolla Cove with a few friends.  We returned to La Jolla Shores and jumped out when the water was about waist deep. I felt something brush up against my leg so I glanced down and lo-and-behold there was a four-foot long fish swimming away. A moment later I realized I was surrounded by a whole school of 4- 5 foot long fish.  As I looked closer, the hair on the back of my neck started to stand up as my brain started to register them as sharks.

Quickly, another nearby kayaker must have seen the look on my face and told me not to worry; they were only harmless leopard sharks. Sharks? Harmless??

I was not ready to fully trust this stranger so I promptly found my way onto the beach where I could watch the creatures swim around from a safe distance. I was still skeptical about what the stranger had said until the next morning when the Union Tribune published an aerial photograph and story about the sharks in La Jolla Shores. The photograph captured hundreds of sharks swimming next to the beach.

Since that time, I’ve always made a point to take my out-of-town guests who visit during July and August to La Jolla Shores so they too can swim with the sharks. It’s one of the things that makes San Diego such a great place to live and visit. There’s a brief video of the sharks in La Jolla Shores on YouTube that will give you a glimpse of what you’ll see in the shallow waters.

If you would like to explore the life of leopard sharks in La Jolla Shores with experts (there are also smoothhound sharks and guitarfish), you can join the Birch Aquarium for a snorkeling tour. Tours go from 8AM – 10AM and are scheduled for several Saturdays and Sundays starting June 28 and ending September 19th.

For those who are more adventurous, the La Jolla Underwater Ecological Reserve is a great place to go scuba diving with sharks. The following YouTube video taken by a diver in La Jolla Shores to give you an even better appreciation of what to expect in the paradise called San Diego.

Don’t be scared. I’ve been swimming with the sharks since 1999 and now I’m the stranger who calms the newbies when they take their first dip in La Jolla Shores.

Posted in Enjoy the Outdoors, San Diego Ranking, Things To Do, Unique Gems | 1 Comment »

Red Bull Air Race Only U.S. Stop Is In San Diego May 9-10

Tuesday, April 28th, 2009 by The Best Places in San Diego

What do Barcelona, Budapest and Abu Dhabi have in common with San Diego? They are each, one of just six cities around the globe where you can watch the world’s best pilots perform aerobatic maneuvers as they compete in the Red Bull Air Races.

Red Bull Air Race Introduction

Fifteen pilots will be competing through an obstacle course at up to 250 mph over the San Diego Bay, between the Embarcadero (south of Seaport Village) and Coronado.

The three pilots from the U.S.A. are Mike Mangold, Kirby Chambliss, and Michael Goulian. Mangold was the  2007 Red Bull World Series Champion, while Chambliss was the 2006 Champion. However, both got off to a rocky start at the first race of this season in Abu Dhabi.

The planes arrived in San Diego last week on a 747. I got a nice up-close view of them being off-loaded from the 747 when I took a tour of Lindbergh Field on Friday. It won’t be long before we see them being put through their maneuvers in the skies over San Diego as the pilots prepare for the races.

San Diego Red Bull Air Races Preview

Two qualifying rounds take place on Saturday May 9th with the top qualifier earning a point towards the World Series Standings. The Wild Card round, Top 12, Super 8, and Final Round take place on Sunday, May 10th. You will get to see planes navigate the course about 30 times each day.

San Diego Red Bull Air Race Tickets can be purchased online. Ticket prices start at $20 ($10 for children and military) for spectator viewing and range up to $1,360 for VIP treatment at a High Flyers Lounge. This year, both spectator and special seating areas will be set up on the Embarcadero side of San Diego Bay. You can also buy a parking pass for Brown Field to see the planes up close on Saturday night.

This is the 5th year for the Red Bull Air Races and the 3rd for San Diego. Take advantage of our unique opportunity to see these flying aces with our own eyes. This will be the only stop in the United States this year.

If you can’t make it down to Red Bull’s San Diego Air Race, which will be broadcast around the world, you can catch a tape of it on Fox Sports Network sometime in September.

On a side note, you might be inclined to use the word ‘acrobatic’ when describing the amazing air maneuvers being performed by the pilots. However, the precision and skills of these great pilots are known as ‘aerobatic’ stunts.

Posted in Brains / Talent, Enjoy the Outdoors, San Diego Ranking, Things To Do | 1 Comment »

Flower Fields Attracting Visitors Throughout Southwest & Counterfeiters

Friday, April 24th, 2009 by The Best Places in San Diego

snc00067_1The wife and I visited the Carlsbad Flower Fields for the first time last Saturday. (Last year we got a birds eye view of the Flower Fields when visiting the Museum of Making Music.) If you are like us and always thought it was good enough to just see the Fields from a distance when driving by on the I-5 or visiting the adjacent Carlsbad Premium Outlets and Museum of Making Music, I’d think again. Not only did we get to enjoy the beautiful scents of the flowers but we also got to visually appreciate the amazing details of the flower petals.

The Carlsbad Flower Fields is the only place in the world for the public to visit a commercial grower of Ranunculus flowers. During your visit you will see workers out in the fields cutting the flowers and preparing them for shipment around the country. It’s interesting to watch how quickly they can cut, wrap, and place a price tag as they prepare the the flowers for distribution.

My wife and I got an early start by arriving a half-hour after it opened in hopes of avoiding the crowds. When I drove in the parking lot, I got a little nervous because buses from Corona, CA and Salt Lake City, UT had just dropped off their passengers. Fortunately, they didn’t need to hop in the ticket line so it only took a few minutes for us to get through.

That was just the first sign of how popular this destination has become. While we were waiting in the ticket line, the staff mentioned they’ve been having a problem with bloggers posting counterfeit 2 for 1 coupons on the internet. (I’ve heard of counterfeit tickets and coupons for high-priced events but for a $10 entrance fee?) Apparently, the only real 2 for 1 coupons were provided to the community newspapers in the surrounding neighborhoods.

Once inside, you’ll get to enjoy over 50 acres of flower fields. Most of the amenities, and crowds, are just inside the entrance. You’ll see a small LEGO display of flowers, vendors providing crowd favorites like Kettle Corn, Fresh-Squeezed Lemonade, and Strawberry Shortcake, and displays about how San Diego became the #1 producer of  floriculture in the United States.

A little farther inside, the wife and I browsed through the All-American Rose Garden looking for the winning roses in the years we were born. (The winning rose selections go back to 1940.)

Then we ventured into the Sweet Peas maze. It’s in a very small area and looked quite simple. However, it became quite an adventure and ended up being a team building exercise with fellow guests stuck in the maze. We passed advice to one another as we found ourselves constantly being one row shy of where we needed to be to exit the maze. (It was fun to watch couples enter the maze locked hand-in-hand but end up going separate ways as each started to express different opinions on where they needed to go to extract themselves from what seemed to be an endless puzzle. Happily, all eventually made their way out and were back hand-in-hand at the finish line.)

Once you go past the Sweet Peas maze, the crowds get lighter as you explore the rows of colorful flowers. Head up the hillside and you’ll get to enjoy magnificent views of the Pacific Ocean. As you exit the Flower Fields through the Armstrong Garden Center, be sure to buy the freshly cut flowers to enjoy at home.

To learn more about the Carlsbad Flower Fields and get advice on how to make the most of your visit (especially to avoid the long ticket lines), check out the Flower Fields profile on my San Diego travel web site.

Posted in Enjoy the Outdoors, San Diego Ranking, Things To Do | No Comments »

Huge International Sports Weekend in San Diego

Thursday, April 2nd, 2009 by The Best Places in San Diego

Several events will draw international attention to San Diego this first weekend of April.

On Saturday, the IRONMAN season gets its start in Oceanside and on Camp Pendleton as the world’s top triathletes compete for 20 qualifying spots to the 2009 Ford Ironman World Championship in Kona, Hawaii. Ironman California is sold out but you can cheer on the athletes and spend time exploring attractions in Oceanside.

One of the most internationally recognized regattas, the San Diego Crew Classic, takes place on Saturday and Sunday. Teams from the Ivy League to the Pac-10 and everywhere in-between will be in town to compete on Mission Bay.  This is one of the few collegiate Olympic Sports that gets coverage overseas through the likes of the International Herald Tribune.  It’s a festive atmosphere as alumni and fans rent party tents and cheer on their teams.  You to can be a spectator and then check out some Mission Bay attractions before the summer crowds arrive.

The World’s Fastest Road Race, the Carlsbad 5000 takes place on Sunday. Sixteen world records have been set on this ocean view race course. After cheering on thousands of local runners and before watching the elites attempt to set another world record, fans can take part in a Health & Fitness Expo and a Beer Garden.

Finally, the Women’s Professional Billiard Association will be kicking off their season at Viejas Casino. Watch the women’s top billiard players you’ve seen on TV and then take advantage of the discount shopping in the Viejas Outlets.

It’s going to be a busy weekend for ESPN in San Diego. Rather than being a TV spectator, get out and enjoy these world-class events taking place in our own backyard.  Have a good weekend San Diego!

Posted in Brains / Talent, Enjoy the Outdoors, Health / Fitness / Nutrition, Things To Do | No Comments »

San Diego Crowds Help Make Cycling History

Sunday, February 22nd, 2009 by The Best Places in San Diego

Great job San Diego!  Our outpouring of support for the Tour of California, which was seen around the world, made this the number one stage race for attendance in U.S. Pro Cycling history. The massive crowds that lined the entire 97 mile route from Rancho Bernardo over Palomar Mountain to the Finish Line in Escondido made up for the lack of crowds in Northern California, which was due to heavy rains during the first days of the nine-day race, and brought the estimated race attendance total to 2 million spectators.

Whenever I watched the Tour de France, I always got a good chuckle from crazy costumes some spectators wore as they ran alongside of the racing cyclists. (I’d also be petrified that one of the loonies would knock over the cyclists.) It turns out San Diego has its fair share of loonies looking to be seen on TV around the world.  The costumes ranged from sumo wrestlers to birthday suits but the one that stood out most for me was the guy wearing four-foot tall antlers on his head. He did a pretty good job sprinting alongside the cyclists as they reached the highest peak ever for the Tour of California. It was very cool to see a few inches of snow along the side of the road on Palomar despite temperatures being in the low 70’s at the bottom of the mountain.

Speaking of Palomar, in a post last week, I mentioned Lance Armstrong compared the climb of Palomar to the venerable Mont Ventoux stage of the Tour de France. Tonight, the editor-in-chief of Bicycling Magazine who wrote Positively False: The Real Story of How I Won the Tour de France with Floyd Landis, spoke with Jim Lasovic from NBC 7/39, and noted that Landis calls Palomar Mountain the best mountain for cycling in the world. (So, there you have it, two of the cycling world’s best riders praising our own Palomar Mountain.)

Not only is Palomar Mountain one of the best mountains for cycling in the world, but Bicycling Magazine rates San Diego as the #1 City for Cycling.

San Diego received great worldwide publicity from today’s final stage of the Tour of California. The TV coverage on Versus provided an overhead view of San Diego’s Wild Animal Park and continually made remarks about the big crowds that stayed well after the race had finished. Even one of the Versus analysts noted he is heading to the San Diego Zoo tomorrow.

I am so glad San Diegans made this event a huge success for our community. Let’s hope this  encourages the Amgen Tour of California officials to include San Diego once again in next year’s race!

(By the way, for those who saw the race on TV, if you were curious to know why the guy wearing the antlers had a Montana jersey, it was to cheer on the eventual Tour of California Winner, Levi Leipheimer, who is from Montana.)

If you have photos from today’s stage you want to share with others, let me know using the comments below and I’ll add them to this post!

Posted in Brains / Talent, Enjoy the Outdoors, San Diego Ranking | 1 Comment »

San Diego Addition to Tour of California Makes For “mini Tour de France”

Monday, February 16th, 2009 by The Best Places in San Diego

When Foreign Cycling Team Managers start referring to the Tour de California as a “mini Tour de France”, you know this four-year old bike race has finally come of age.

America has made many attempts over the years to create a bike race on our soil that would be respected among the cycling elites around the world. There have been many fits and starts. I got to see some of the attempts first-hand growing up in Wilmington, DE during the 1980s. Wilmington was frequently both the start and end points for the Tour de Trump, sponsored by The Donald, and then the Tour du Pont.

If any readers remember those races, I’ll never forget sitting at the bottom of Monkey Hill during time trials. The cyclists would head down the street that changed from blacktop to cobblestone and then made a 90 degree right turn.  Making the 90 degree turn while heading downhill on cobblestone was as nerve wracking for the spectator to watch as it was for the cyclist who had to navigate the corner. It was even worse during a couple of the years when there was a light drizzle making it nearly impossible to make a clean turn going any faster than a snail’s pace. We, the spectators, could always tell when a spectacular crash was impending just by judging the speed of the cyclist heading down the hill. (We tried to warn them to no avail. One even took out a street sign well after his body had left the bike.)

Unfortunately, sponsorship eventually waned and the race disappeared.

Anyways, back to the point of this post. The 2009 edition of the Amgen Tour of California is the fourth year of the newest attempt at creating an internationally respectable race in the States.

This is the first year San Diego is being added to the route. For a first time site, it is impressive the San Diego route will serve as the final stage of the nine-day race.

What makes it more impressive is the amount of attention the San Diego route is getting from the international press and foreign cycling teams who will be competing in the race.  The Norwegian cycling web site Syklingens Verden quotes one of the team managers saying “This year’s California is kind of like a mini-Tour de France 2009″ as a result of adding the San Diego stage. The team manager went on to compare the climb up to Palomar Mountain to the venerable Mont Ventoux stage of the Tour de France, the king of all cycling races.

Palomar Mountain is the centerpiece of the final stage in San Diego. At a summit of 5,123 feet, Palomar Mountain will be the highest peak ever included in the Tour of California.

The Tour of California will get an extra boost of attention with Lance Armstrong’s return to racing. In an interview with Velo News, which is posted on the fan web site for his Astana Team, Armstrong noted, “The first time I ever rode Palomar Mountain was in 1987. It’s been 22 years since I did it for the first time. I’ve done it many times since then. It’s an epic climb, I should say it’s a real climb.”  Armstrong is one of the most respected climbers in cycling and to have him call the Palomar climb ‘epic’ has the whole world watching this final Stage 8 in San Diego.

The cycling world’s largest contingent of fans are in Europe. For the first time, those fans will be able to watch American’s premier race during Prime Time in Europe. The Tour of California will be carried live by Eurosport.

So, get out there and cheer San Diego. The bike race in San Diego will be the most anticipated stage of the most prominent race in America and it will be seen live around the world.  This is San Diego’s big opportunity to make a lasting impression and encourage the world to come and visit one of the world’s best cities!

Visit the San Diego stage map for the Tour of California for more details.

Posted in Brains / Talent, Enjoy the Outdoors, San Diego Ranking, Things To Do | 1 Comment »

The Perfect Way to Spend a Winter Saturday in North County Inland San Diego

Friday, February 13th, 2009 by The Best Places in San Diego

img_9778-mediumSorry I’ve been ‘off-air’ for a couple weeks. I’ve been busy working on my San Diego Travel web site. There is a lot I want to write about. Today I am going to write about an experience I had been looking forward to for a nearly a year. Even with the extended length of anticipation and high expectations, I was not disappointed. Not only did I end up having an enjoyable Saturday morning, but I found a thrilling stretch of San Diego roadway and came to realize how easy it is to put together a perfect, inexpensive family outing during the lull of winter.

Last spring, I began my research to build the best tourist web site in San Diego. One of my surprise findings was the opportunity to see hawks and eagles in the wild with the help of guides in Ramona. I love visiting wildlife at the Zoo and Wild Animal Park but seeing large birds of prey in a relatively small enclosure just doesn’t seem to provide the majesty I always imagined for the national birds of the United States (bald eagle) and Mexico (golden eagle). To have the opportunity to see them up-close in the wild was something I couldn’t wait to experience. The only problem was, the Hawk Watch event is only offered on Saturdays during the months of January and February.

When January finally came around, I couldn’t wait to make the drive into Ramona. But no sooner did I start heading into the hills when my transmission started to die. It turned out I would have to wait another week to make my visit as I needed a new transmission.  (I was incensed that the transmission could not wait a half- day before conking out.)

Not only did I not make it that Saturday but my plans to visit on the subsequent Saturdays fell through at the last moments. (At least one of them was due to the fortunate opportunity to tour the USS Ronald Reagan, which I’ll write about in the coming days.)

OK. I’ll get back now on how to create the perfect family outing in San Diego’s North County Inland area.

Start your cool, crisp San Diego morning driving into the nearby countryside. The open fields and old farm homes eases any tension you may have built up during the week. Enjoy a warm welcome from the folks at the Wildlife Research Institute. They’ll offer morning refreshments as you take a look around their gift shop and wait for the outdoor presentation to begin at 9AM. (The event is free!)

img_9781-medium1As you gather around the founders, Jeff and Dave, you will see their staff has captured about a half dozen red tail hawks, falcons, and other birds of prey. As part of their studies, they place tracking devices on these rare birds to track their movements in the wild. One-by-one, the huge birds with wide eyes, sharp beaks, and wings spread to show their strength, are brought out to be tagged. The crowd gets a ‘bird’s eye’ view (pun intended) as guests get the opportunity to take pictures at nearly point-blank range.

You will learn about the basic differences between the varieties of hawks, their status in the region, and the efforts to help their populations grow.  Jeff and Dave have a lifetime’s worth of stories to share and easily answer countless questions from the gawking onlookers.

Later, Jeff and Dave take guests further down the road where visitors can watch the birds circle overhead or perch themselves on top of the various rock formations spread throughout the Ramona grasslands.  It is an enjoyable morning that visitors will not soon forget, for it is an unusual opportunity that most people in our country will never get to experience.

A few things I learned:

  • When you see a crow or raven chasing a hawk, don’t worry. Crows are the prey and they know it. So, they try to intimidate the hawks. Usually, the hawks just want to be left alone. But, if they get too annoyed, the crows better watch out.
  • When you see a hawk circling, look for colors. If see red, it’s probably a red-tail hawk. If you see white, it is probably a bald eagle and not a golden eagle. Eagles also fly very gracefully without movement of their wings. If you see a bird with a bit more of a forward angle to its wings and a constant movement (as though it is trying to balance itself), this is probably a turkey vulture.

So, how should you spend the rest of your Saturday? First, head into Ramona for lunch. It is just a few miles east on SR-67. After lunch, continue towards the opposite end of Ramona and make a left on SR-78. Within four miles, you will find yourself driving around hairpin turns along the side of a mountain with a panoramic view across a river bed to mountains on the opposite side of the valley. It will be the type of drive you see in car commercials. This will last for about five miles before you arrive in the San Pasqual Valley.  Despite my love for driving, this was my first time driving this stretch of road. I’ve driven throughout our county but never new about this particular route. It is by far my favorite short drive in San Diego. It is all the more beautiful during this time of year when the winter rains turn the hillsides bright green.

Once you are in the San Pasqual Valley, you can visit the San Diego Archaeological Center, San Pasqual State Historic Park, Wild Animal Park, and the award-winning Orfila Winery. After passing these attractions, you will only be a few miles away from highway I-15.

Before I forget, here are some more details about the Hawk Watch at the Wildlife Research Institute that I wrote about in my travel web site.

San Diego has a lot to offer. Take advantage of it!

Posted in Enjoy the Outdoors, Things To Do, Unique Gems, Volunteers | No Comments »

Explore San Diego Attractions You Never Knew Existed

Friday, January 16th, 2009 by The Best Places in San Diego

I promise you will find a tourist attraction you never knew existed in San Diego.  Ninety-nine percent of you will find dozens of San Diego attractions you never heard about before. How? By introducing you to the launch of The Best Places In San Diego, the best Theme-Based Travel™ Web Site and Tour Company in San Diego. (Note that the tourist web site is separate from this blog about unique aspects on living in San Diego.)

Downtown San Diego's Marina District

Downtown San Diego's Marina District

Organized by Theme and Location, The Best Places In San Diego travel guide includes hundreds of attractions throughout San Diego County from the Pacific Ocean to our Peninsular Mountains and Sonoran Desert.  If you think ‘hundreds of San Diego attractions’ must be either a) an exaggeration or b) include more than just legitimate tourist attractions, I don’t blame you. I’ll explain more in a moment.

I started this project several months ago when I got tired of visiting multiple travel web sites to find all of the attractions I wanted to visit when planning a vacation. It seemed as though I was spending more time planning a vacation than I actually spent enjoying it.  (I’m not one to just set up an umbrella and sit on the beach.)

I kept encountering two basic problems:

  1. No one travel web site ever comes close to listing all of the tourist attractions. Yet, each one  lists a different set of attractions. (To use San Diego as an example, some travel sites only mention the  top attractions, others mention attractions within a particular area such as within the City of San Diego, North County San Diego, East County San Diego, the mountains, or the desert and most travel guides leave out special niche attractions such as those related to active adventures or kid-friendly attractions.) I don’t know about you, but if I’m only going to take one or two vacations a year, I want to make sure I make the most of it. I don’t want to find out after-the-fact that I missed more than half of the attractions that could have made my experience all the more enjoyable.
  2. Most travel guides either give too little information (a one sentence description and contact information),  too much information (hundreds of user reviews, many of which say basically the same thing), or outdated information (the 2009 issue of a brand name travel book still describes the former Wgasa Bush Line Railway tour at the Wild Animal Park).

So, I set out to create a travel web site for San Diego from a tourist’s perspective.  As a tourist, I want to quickly know:

  • All of the attractions (Are there lesser known attractions that are related to my hobbies or special interests?)
  • The relative location of the attraction (Is the attraction I’m interested in visiting in a place called Carlsbad 5 minutes away or 45 minutes away from the hotel I’m staying at in downtown San Diego?)
  • Transit information (Do I have to rent a car?)
  • Traffic information (Can I avoid spending my vacation stuck in traffic?)
  • Cool things I should know about an attraction (Are there behind-the-scenes tours? Is there something I can brag about to my friends when I return home?)
Learn More about Quail Botanical Gardens

Learn More about Quail Botanical Gardens

To accomplish this, I created a travel web site where all of the attractions are listed in Theme Based categories.  To use an example, if you like ‘Trains’ or ‘Wildlife’, pick those respective themes in the right sidebar at The Best Places In San Diego and you will find a list of San Diego attractions related to those themes.

If you are going to be visiting a particular area of San Diego County, which is nearly as big as the state of Connecticut, select that location in the right sidebar and find a list of nearby attractions.

Whenever you pull up a list of attractions for a particular theme or location, you will find a summary for each related attraction.  This summary allows you to quickly find attractions that may be of interest to you. (The one thing I’ve always liked about travel books is you can always find things quickly using the index. Travel web sites don’t generally provide you any type of ‘index’, until now.) Just click on the attraction’s title or ‘read insider details’ for a full write-up on each attraction that answers all of the things a tourist would want to know.

At the bottom of each attraction’s write-up, you’ll find links to related themes and the location so you can find additional tourist attractions you may be interested in visiting. You will also be able to post recommendations on each attraction for other visitors. If I’ve missed some perspective on what makes the attraction a cool place to visit or if you find some detail about the attraction has changed and needs to be updated, you can submit it for me and possibly others to see.

Learn more about East County San Diego Attractions

Learn more about East County San Diego Attractions

I am happy to provide all of this information to you for free because I love San Diego and I want you to make the most of your experience with this wonderful area. I don’t charge any of the attractions to be included on The Best Places In San Diego like some other web sites do. (This is another reason why some travel web sites only list a small number of ‘paying’ attractions and leave the other ones out.) There’s no need to buy a San Diego travel book. Just print out the pages of the attractions you want to visit or access the content from your cell phone. (I’m still working to improve the cell phone view so you don’t have to scroll back and forth.)

All I ask of you is to spread the word about this web site and to let me know of out-of-town friends or groups who would like an escorted tour of San Diego. Compared to other major tourist cities, tour buses are relatively non-existent in San Diego. I’d like to change that. If you have ideas on how to reach out to those who want someone else to take care of their local travel arrangements, guide them around this huge area filled with attractions, and get them behind-the-scenes tours, let me know.

Learn more about the Chula Vista Nature Center

Learn more about the Chula Vista Nature Center

So, back to that original claim about ‘hundreds of attractions’.  I did accumulate a few hundred San Diego attractions after browsing through hundreds of travel web sites, travel books, and brochures at tourist hotels, and by talking to fellow San Diegans.  This project took several months longer than I planned because there are so many attractions. Even though The Best Places In San Diego includes far more tourist relevant details on more attractions than any other San Diego travel guide I have been able to find, there is still much more to add. Let me know if an attraction you like is not yet listed and then keep an eye out for the latest attractions added to The Best Places In San Diego.

I encourage you to find a new attraction and explore everything San Diego has to offer. It is a great place to live so make the most of it!

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