The Best Places In San Diego!

San Diego finally has its first Five Diamond Restaurant - The Addison in the Grand Del Mar Resort. Serving French Cuisine, the Addison offers four course meals starting at $98.  Only four restaurants in North America were added to this year’s Five Diamond Award List issued by AAA.  Congratulations to the Addison.  We are lucky to have you here in San Diego.

Four Season Resort Aviara in Carlsbad and The Lodge at Torrey Pines once again were named to AAA’s list of Five Diamond Award Winning Hotels. Only 103 establishments in North America earned that distinction this year.  The San Diego area offers more Five Diamond hotels than such cities as Boston and Seattle.

What better place could you live to enjoy a Five Diamond Staycation! San Diego has it all - fine dining, luxurious resorts, and great year-round weather.  (It’s the middle of November and as I write this it is a balmy 90 degrees outside.)

One of the benefits of living in San Diego is we get to enjoy ice cream season year-round.  The cool treat was especially enjoyable over the past couple weeks as the temps rose to record levels in San Diego, while we got to watch the news show snow falling in New York, New Jersey, and Pennsylvania.

Although it’s finally cooling down, the election day weather forecast shows San Diego and much of the south will still have decent ice cream eating weather. That means we can take advantage of Ben & Jerry’s Free Ice Cream offer on election day!

Just show up with your ‘I Voted’ sticker from the polling booth and get a free scoop of your favorite ice cream. Better yet, head to the Seaport Village locations and take a picture of yourself strolling along the San Diego Bay with your scoop of ice cream and send it to your friends living in colder climates.  You will find a shop on the east end near the outdoor Gazebo and on the west end near the historic merry-go-round.  Two more great picture taking spots to send to your friends. Both of those shops will be serving free scoops from 5PM - 9PM.

You will also find Ben & Jerry’s locations at Horton Plaza and the UTC Mall but I believe both of those locations stop serving free scoops at 8PM.

Be sure to vote on Tuesday, get a free scoop of Ben & Jerry’s ice cream, and enjoy San Diego’s wonderful weather.

Football training camps are underway.  The regular season is almost here.  Football fans are getting ready by buying tailgate grills from a Poway company, which Reader’s Digest recently said is one of the Top 100 New Discoveries.

Freedom Grills, which owns the registered trademark for “The Official Grill of Tailgating”, sells BBQ Grills that attach to the back hitch of your SUV or Pick-up Truck.  One of the tailgating grills is small enough not to require towing and has been featured in the Wall Street Journal and New York Times.

However, if you are one who likes to make a statement, you should check out their $250,000 World’s Most Extreme Tailgating Vehicle.

So, the next time you come across one of these cool grills as you peruse the tailgate parties at Qualcomm Stadium, or even at the local park or campground, know that it is a San Diego company that’s helped to redefine the tailgate party.

The latest ‘Best of San Diego’ has been published in the August issue of San Diego Magazine. The annual ‘Best of San Diego’ issue always open my eyes to new places worth checking out.

For instance, did you know you can ride a mechanical bull in North Park? How about working out at a gym that overlooks Petco Park? For the astronomers, did you hear about the first annual starfest coming to Julian?

Learn more about where to go and what to do in the August Issue of San Diego Magazine. You can also take a look online.

AOL has just released its City’s Best List for San Diego Restaurants. Find the top 10 San Diego restaurants in 22 categories ranging from Barbecue to Vegetarian.

Are you looking for something new in your dining routine? Freshen things up by taking a look at what AOL voters have ranked as the Best San Diego Restaurants. Do you want to reward yourself with a nice after-dinner dessert? How about finding a cheap place to eat? The AOL City’s Best List has the answers.

Check to see if your favorite San Diego restaurants made the list. A few of my favorites made #1, including Bronx Pizza, In-N-Out, Rubio’s, and Extraordinary Desserts. I had a few #2s as well, including Hash House A-Go Go and Studio Diner. How about your favorite places? Did they make the list? If not, share them below and put them on the voter’s radar screens.

Bon Appetit!

AOL City’s Best List for San Diego Restaurants.

Downtown San Diego will be full of excitement this weekend as over 125,000 attendees from around the globe arrive for the 2008 Comic-Con Convention. In this post, I’ll describe the hoopla around Comic-Con for the locals and provide a list of resource links for Comic-Con attendees.






Comic-Con is a Huge Star-Studded Affair

The San Diego Comic-Con began at the U.S. Grant Hotel in 1970. At first, the Comic-Con convention focused on its namesake, comics. Now, it has grown to become the largest pop culture event in the world covering comics, toys, video games, and more. The Comic-Con Exhibitors page also notes this is the largest convention in the United States in terms of attendees. Exhibitors include big name companies such as BBC America, Mattel, Harper-Collins, Hasbro, and NBC.

Comic-Con is a Hollywood favorite. Major movie production companies such as Lions Gate Entertainment, New Line Cinema, Sony Pictures, Warner Bros, Walt Disney, and Lucasfilm will be on hand to build up a groundswell of support for upcoming movie releases and to spot the newest trends in pop culture. Hollywood stars expected to appear for the 2008 Comic-Con include Will Smith, Kiefer Sutherland, and Dan Aykroyd. Several other notables will be speaking at the event, including writers Ray Bradbury and Dean Koontz as well as actress Noel Neill (Lois Lane).

Comic-Con Tickets are Sold-Out

Comic-Con is so popular that all single day and four day passes are sold out. Scalpers have been earning several hundred dollars reselling tickets. However, the Variety Magazine Blog shares a word of caution on buying scalped Comic-Con tickets. It appears the automated ticket readers at Comic-Con will associate tickets with the buyer’s name in their database. Those without the proper I.D. will be turned away. The Comic-Con web site notes name changes can no longer be processed but those with complimentary badges may still register online.

Traffic & Transit

The Convention starts Thursday night and runs through Saturday. Fortunately, the Padres are out of town playing in Pittsburgh. Otherwise, the Gaslamp and East Village could have been a real mess. The Trolley is running their special event Red Line and expanded Green Line Service. Attendees can view the full trolley schedule for Comic-Con at the MTS web site.

Drivers can pull up the directions for Comic-Con from Google Maps. There is parking underneath the convention center. However, if you don’t mind walking a couple hundred yards, there is a large parking garage just southeast of the convention center where Harbor Drive meets 8th Avenue.

Another option would be to exit the I-5 at 10th Street. Drive all the way down 10th Street and park at a garage around the Padres’ Petco Park. Petco Park is across the street from the San Diego Convention Center. This option keeps you from getting caught up in the traffic in front of the Convention Center and in the Gaslamp Quarter.

The Comic-Con web site also provides a map of local parking garages.

Comic-Con 2008 Schedule

The Comic-Con web site offers a convention center map and fully searchable program schedule. There will be free wi-fi courtesy of DreamWorks. If you have any trouble accessing their site because it is too busy, let me know and I’ll try to post the map and schedule.

The Latest Information on Comic-Con

Comic-Con RSS Feed from Comic-Con

Comic-Con Blog from Variety Magazine

Comic-Con Preview from Entertainment Weekly, including 27 Sneak Peaks

Live Video & Blogging from Ugo.com gaming web site

$5,000 Sweepstakes from MashOn.com

Things to do in San Diego

Should you need a break from the Convention, here are a few things going on in San Diego during Comic-Con. All are within a 10 minute walk of the convention center unless otherwise noted.

Gaslamp Dining - Get the full list of restaurant options in the Gaslamp Quarter

Gaslamp Entertainment - Get the full list of entertainment options in the Gaslamp Quarter

Phantom of the Opera at Civic Theatre

Music of Billy Joel at the 2008 Summer Pops on the South Embarcadero

Movies, including ‘The Dark Night’ at Horton Plaza and the Pacific Gaslamp Stadium

The Dark Night on IMAX - 15 minutes drive north of downtown; just off I-15. More info on IMAX.

Dave & Busters - Directions from Google Map - 10 minute drive northeast of downtown; just off I-8 near Qualcomm Stadium.

Have a great time in San Diego!

San Diego has taken top honors as the 2008 Cookout Capital. Blue Rhino conducted a survey to identify the cities with the best weather for grilling.

San Diego finished a surprising 15th last year. That must have been due to the hot summer we had in 2006. Our weather returned to normal last summer, securing us the top spot based on having the most days that are under 90 degrees and dry.

It is nice to be reminded once in a while that we live in America’s Finest City.

Torrey Pines Mesa is arguably one of the most beautiful places in the world. It’s namesake, the Torrey Pine Tree, only exists in two places in the world, including the Torrey Pines Mesa. It is home to scenic hiking trails at the Torrey Pines State Reserve, a world renowned gliderport (which I’ll discuss in tomorrow’s post), and a world class golf course, which hosted the 2008 U.S. Open PGA Golf Championship.

It is only fitting the world’s top medical researchers have been attracted to the Torrey Pines Mesa to create one of the largest concentrations of (more…)

San Diego has one of the most beautiful skylines in the world. I would not say it is on the scale of New York City or Sydney, Australia just due to the sheer size those cities offer. However, the reflecting waters of San Diego Bay in the foreground and the recent construction of several new buildings, make our skyline one to enjoy.

Great views of the city can be found from Point Loma, Harbor Island, and Coronado. I love all of them since each offers a different vantage point. Point Loma, especially Cabrillo National Monument, is great because it overlooks the city and San Diego Bay from 400 feet above sea level. Harbor Island is relatively quiet and provides a sidewalk the full length of the island so you can get exercise while enjoying the view. It is also a great place to wait for someone arriving at Lindbergh Field. I’ll talk more about these places in later posts. Today, I want to talk about my favorite view of San Diego, which comes from Coronado.

Coronado’s Centennial Park provides the closest views of the skyline. You have an unobstructed view of the tallest downtown buildings .

You can see the San Diego Convention Center with it’s white sails rooftop. If the sails remind you of (more…)

PBS Fans of Yan Can Cook rejoice with the opening of his Yan Can Restaurant at San Diego International Airport. Chef Martin Yan has hosted over 1,900 episodes of his Emmy Award winning Yan Can Cook shows on PBS since 1982. You may also be familiar with one of his 28 cookbooks or line of kitchen tools.

Lindbergh is the first airport in the world to host a Yan Can Restaurant. It is located in Terminal One before you reach the security line. The 1,750 square-foot restaurant will feature traditional favorites such as Kung Pao chicken, Mongolian beef and specialties including chicken lettuce wraps, veggie spring rolls and crispy pot stickers.

Are you a fan of his shows or cook books? Let us know. Have you tried out the new restaurant? Give the rest of us some feedback.