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World’s Toughest Race Starting in Oceanside

Tuesday, June 16th, 2009 by The Best Places in San Diego

snc00341What’s harder than climbing Mount Everest and covers more ground than the Tour de France? It’s the 27th Race Across America starting this week in Oceanside.

If you thought the world’s toughest athletes who have climbed the world’s highest summits or finished multiple Ironman races call it quits after accomplishing those impressive feats, you thought wrong. They go on to compete in the toughest challenge of them all … riding bikes 3,016 miles from Oceanside, CA to Annapolis, MD for a torturing elevation gain of over 100,000 feet in 8 – 12 days.

For a point of comparison, the 2009 Tour de France only covers 2,174 miles in 21 days. As for Mount Everest, it is 29,029 feet high.

Ultimate Ironman Athletes

So, who are these crazy blokes who sleep only a couple hours a day for over a week while pushing their Mount Everest climbing, Ironman racing bodies through the ultimate test?

They include among others:

  • Four time winner Jure Robic, a Special Forces soldier from Slovenia
  • Three time winner Wolfgang Fasching from Austria who personally vouches that completing the Race Across America is harder climbing to the summit of Mount Everest.
  • South African Michele Santilhano, who has climbed to the highest summit on all seven continents.
  • Twelve-time Ironman Florence Debout and her teammate Robyn Benincasa, a San Diego firefighter and two time World Champion with TV Producer Mark Burnett’s Eco-Challenge in Borneo and Gerald Fusil’s Raid Gauloises in Costa Rica.

snc00340As you may have noticed with the last profile, some racers do compete on teams of 2, 4, or 8. It will be interesting to  follow one of the two-person teams led by Christina Domecq. She will be broadcasting live on SpinVoxAdventurers.com from her cell phone throughout the race using voice recognition technology developed by a company she cofounded. Along the way, she will be attempting to raise $500,000 to help fellow entrepreneurs with micro loans.

Another interesting team to follow will be the 4-man Team Surfing U.S.A. with professional surfer Laird Hamilton, Rage Against The Machine’s bassist Tim Commerford, and 76-year old health club pioneer Don Wildman.

Watching the Race

The solo woman competitors started on their journey today at noon. You can catch the men’s solo competitors tomorrow (Wednesday) at noon when they kick-off from Oceanside Pier. (The Navy Seals will be parachuting in at 11:30AM.) If you can’t make it for tomorrow’s lunch time start, dust off your bikes and bring them to watch the Teams Start on Saturday at 2PM.

Saturday is the big event day when The Strand next to Oceanside Pier is shut down to vehicles allowing cyclists of all talents to enjoy a leisurely ride along the beach. An Expo starts at 9AM while event-related speeches followed by team introductions start at noon.

So, go to Oceanside Pier to give a loud send-off to these brave adventurers as they head off to compete in the ultimate physical challenge. While you are there, make time to visit some great Oceanside Attractions.

Tour Map, Details & Coverage

Race Across America Map from raceacrossamerica.org

Race Across America Map from raceacrossamerica.org

 

Posted in Health / Fitness / Nutrition, Things To Do | 1 Comment »

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 »

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!

Posted in Enjoy the Outdoors, Health / Fitness / Nutrition, Military Presence, Places to Eat, Started in San Diego, Things To Do, Unique Gems, Volunteers | No Comments »

PETA Names Qualcomm #1 Vegan Friendly NFL Stadium

Wednesday, December 3rd, 2008 by The Best Places in San Diego

Healthy San Diegans can rejoice in having the most vegetarian food options when attending a NFL football game. Cited for serving “bean burritos, veggie sushi rolls, vegetable wraps, veggie hot dogs, and Gardenburgers”, PETA has named the San Diego Chargers’ Qualcomm Stadium the #1 Vegetarian Friendly Stadium in the Country.

It’s probably no surprise that the #1 and #2 spots on PETA’s Top 5 List are in California, the other being Oakland’s Coliseum. However, you may be surprised that #3 is Philadelphia’s Lincoln Financial, #4 is Minnesota’s Metrodome, and #5 is Green Bay’s Lambeau Field. Geez, where’s San Francisco’s Candlestick Park?

If you are a vegetarian, be sure to follow the PETA Files blog and if you are a Chargers fan you can follow them through their e-newsletter or on Twitter.

Posted in Health / Fitness / Nutrition, San Diego Ranking | 1 Comment »

San Diego High School Baseball Players in Major League Baseball

Thursday, August 21st, 2008 by The Best Places in San Diego

A whopping 33 baseball players from San Diego High Schools played in Major League Baseball this year. That is an impressive statistic, which I doubt any other metro area can match. To put it in perspective, I came from a state, albeit a small one – Delaware – where it was big news when one player finally made it to the majors – Delino DeShields. Maybe Los Angeles can give us a run for our money but I couldn’t find a list of baseball players from L.A.

Some of the more recognizable major league players who got their start in San Diego include Barry Zito, Cole Hamels, and our own Padre, Adrian Gonzalez. See the full list of Major League Baseball Players from San Diego, which is maintained by the San Diego Hall of Champions Sports Museum. (By the way, the San Diego Sports Museum is the largest sports museum in the country.)

The Sports Museum also maintains lists of NBA and NFL players from San Diego high schools. The number of NFL players from San Diego is quite impressive as well and is likely one of the best in the country. To boot, we had two local football players from the same high school nominated as finalists for the 2004 Heisman Trophy, which was a first in Heisman Trophy history.

So, if you were every curious as to who from San Diego is current playing in professional sports, you now know you can keep track of them with the San Diego Hall of Champions Sports Museum web site.

Go San Diego!!!

Posted in Health / Fitness / Nutrition, San Diego Ranking | No Comments »

Solana Beach Company Serves Up Healthy Snacks to Kids Nationwide

Sunday, August 17th, 2008 by The Best Places in San Diego

Do you remember the days in school when you would hit up the Coke machine for a cool, refreshing drink (or to keep yourself awake in class) and then the snack machine for a Twinkie or a box of mini-chocolate donuts (especially when the cafeteria options that day stunk)?  Snacking on junk food and sugary drinks didn’t seem to matter all that much to our health or physical looks.  We were lucky not to have the internet or 200 channels of TV.  Instead, we were outside running around until we could barely see the end of our nose and our parents were yelling for the umpteenth time that it was time to get inside and wash up.  All of that excercise kept us in great shape.

Boy how times have changed.  Kids nowawdays sit inside a lot more than we did.  They flip through hundreds of TV channels, chat online, play video games, and even watch the gardener take care of the yard, and the maid clean up the bathroom.  (Whatever happened to chores; another activity that always kept us active?)

Our new sedate lifestyles can no longer cover up the effects of sugary drinks, Twinkies, and donuts.  The government and other organizations have been encouraging kids to become more active like we were in our school days but it just isn’t happening.  There are just too many distractions that keep kids from playing outside until mom or dad pulled them by the collar into the house.

The lastest effort to combat poor health and obesity is through a better diet.  Out go the Coke machines and the junk food vending options and in come the flavored waters and vegetable chips.

If you been reading this blog, it’s no surprise that a San Diego company is once again leading the way on creating a healthier America.

YoNaturals, a Solana Beach company, has taken the lead to bring healthy food vending machines to schools across America.  The company has been in business for two years and the accolades from school administrators are already pouring in.

YoNaturals has now launched a new program with its web site called schoolhealthyvending.com.  The new program makes it easy for schools to use the healthy vending machines as fundraisers. I can tell you from personal experience that this is a great idea.  I was in charge of running the Coke machines in school as a class president.  It was such an awesome money maker that I started peddling Otis Spunkmeyer Cookies for the school business club. Yes, I’m guilty of pushing junk food but you’ll have to admit, it was during a time when it didn’t seem to matter since we were so active as kids and burned off all the calories.

If you take a look at the YoNaturals snack and drink choices for their vending machines, I think you’ll agree with me that healthier snacking will become attractive to kids.  If I were still in school, I would certainly push these healthier options. I’m confident they would bring in just as much money and with what we know now, I wouldn’t feel as guilty pushing them.

Will these healthy snack options finally tackle the problem of childhood obesity?  I think they are something that will put us in the right direction but there’s nothing better than running around and staying active like in the good-ole-days.

Posted in Health / Fitness / Nutrition, Started in San Diego | 1 Comment »

Admiral Baker Golf Course Offers One of Nation’s Top Bargains

Wednesday, August 6th, 2008 by The Best Places in San Diego

The Admiral Baker Golf Course was recently named the 7th best bargain golf course in the nation. This distinction was made by Golflink.com, which is the most popular online golf site with over 1 million visitors a month. You can read user comments about the two 18-hole courses at Admiral Baker Golf Course.

The list of top bargain courses was based on analysis of those courses that incur greens fees under $50. Topping the list was the Bethpage State Park Golf Course in New York, which hosted the 2002 U.S. Open Championship and will once again host the U.S. Open in 2009. Considering Admiral Baker is on the same Top 10 list as Bethpage is quite a tribute to bargain golf in San Diego.

You do have to be a member of the military family or the guest of one to access the courses at Admiral Baker. You can check out the Navy’s MWR web site for more information on the Admiral Baker Golf Course, which is located in Mission Valley. Current rates range from $9 to $29 for a round of golf. I don’t think you will be able to beat those rates anywhere.

Posted in Enjoy the Outdoors, Health / Fitness / Nutrition, Military Presence, San Diego Ranking | No Comments »

Do You Live In a Walkable San Diego Neighborhood?

Thursday, July 31st, 2008 by The Best Places in San Diego

Walk Score has published a walkability index for every community in the country. As a whole, San Diego ranks 16th in the country for walkability. The most walkable communities in San Diego are all downtown.

Not only does Walk Score rank each neighborhood, they also provide a nice color map of the San Diego region, with the most walkable areas colored in green.

See how your neighborhood ranks for walkability. If you want to help improve the walkability of your neighborhood, learn how you can help at WalkSanDiego.com. Walk San Diego is a grassroots organization that has become very active in building more walkable neighborhoods in San Diego.

Posted in Enjoy the Outdoors, Health / Fitness / Nutrition, San Diego Ranking, Volunteers | No Comments »

San Diego Spas Continue to Win Top Honors

Saturday, July 19th, 2008 by The Best Places in San Diego

Travel + Leisure Magazine just released its World’s Best Awards for 2008. They too heap honors on San Diego Spas, just like my recent posts noted about Conde Nast’s Top Spas issue and the Zagat’s Survey for the best spa in the country .

Despite writing a few posts about San Diego Spas being ranked among the tops in North America, it appears each new release introduces a spa that I have yet to write about. So, for the first time, I introduce you to Cal-A-Vie in Vista, Travel + Leisure’s #1 Destination Spa in North America. They were the only spa to earn a score in the 90’s, at a hot 94.44 out of 100.

I’ll talk more about Cal-a-Vie in a moment. I want to point out Travel + Leisure lists the Golden Door in Escondido as the #2 Destination Spa in North America. San Diego appears to have cornered the market for world-class destination spas by garnering the top two spots in this year’s Travel + Leisure World’s Best rankings. The Zagat post I mentioned earlier provides more details about the Golden Door.

Travel + Leisure also places the Spa at the Hotel Del Coronado in the Top 20 for Top Hotel Spas. I’ll look to write about them in a future post. For now, I want to concentrate on North America’s #1 Destination Spa.

I can’t speak to it from experience, but from my research, Cal-a-Vie is a spa resort that offers a retreat for people looking to develop a stronger connection with their inner soul. The spa resort’s mission is “to provide guests with a peaceful atmosphere in which to inspire positive changes in their attitudes and lifestyles…”.

To accomplish this, accommodations are limited to 24 guests nestled away on 200 private acres. To get a glimpse of the atmosphere at Cal-a-Vie, you can read a description and view a few photos on the Setting and Accommodations pages.

Cal-a-Vie offers all-inclusive packages for a minimum of three nights starting at $3,600. However, the typical package is a week long and includes accommodations, meals, fitness classes, spa treatments, and instruction on nutrition and cooking. You can check out the full list of packages on their spa packages page.

If you enjoy a particular activity, such as tennis, Pilates, or sipping tea, you should check out Cal-a-Vie’s listing of special program weeks that emphasize a particular activity.

If you have any experiences with our great San Diego Spas, please feel free to share them in the comments below.

You can view all of Travel + Leisure’s World’s Best Awards on their web site.

Posted in Enjoy the Outdoors, Health / Fitness / Nutrition, San Diego Ranking | No Comments »

American Council on Exercise

Saturday, June 28th, 2008 by The Best Places in San Diego

If you have worked with a Fitness Trainer or if you’ve read articles about fitness in your local paper, chances are the San Diego based American Council on Exercise had something to do with it.

Founded in 1985, today ACE is one of the largest fitness certification, education and training organizations in the world. They have certified over 200,000 fitness professional around the globe. They have created one of the most referenced fitness information web sites, which includes all of the information you could ever need on the proper form for weightlifting, stability training, yoga poses and more.

Their exercise library lists multiple resistance training exercises for each muscle group allowing you to find a variety of exercises that work best for you. On their Fit Facts page, there is documentation on how to choose a fitness trainer, what exercises to perform when you are pregnant, and how to manage an exercise program for several different health challenges, including arthritis, heart disease, and stroke. Their Fit Facts page also provides resources for Nutrition, Supplements, and Kids Fitness issues.

Considering that new studies often result in changes to fitness and nutrition recommendations, you can stay up-to-date on the latest in health and fitness from American Council on Exercise.

If you think that is a lot of information, they also have a section of Frequently Asked Questions on Health and Fitness as well as over 2,000 healthy recipes.

This goes to show that not only do San Diegans do a great job of living a healthy lifestyle, which we’ve discussed in previous posts, but we also do a great job of trumpeting the need for rest of society to live a healthy lifestyle through San Diego based organizations, such as the American Council on Exercise and companies, such as Jazzercise. To read about other ’started in San Diego’ firsts when it comes to health, I’ve created a new category called Health / Fitness / Nutrition. Enjoy.

Posted in Health / Fitness / Nutrition, Started in San Diego | No Comments »

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