The Best Places In San Diego!

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.

If you think it was life on our beaches or camping in our mountains that got featured as good stress reliever on the CBS Evening News a few days ago, you are not even close.

Think of something more drastic.  Something more smashing.  The newest business venture to help people relieve stress comes from the Smash Shack in downtown San Diego.

If you ever wadded up a piece of paper and threw it against a wall to vent your frustration and then started to pick up something heavier like a plate or drinking glass and felt like doing the same, the Smash Shack is just the place for you.

Have at it!  Bust those plates! Shatter those glasses! You can even obliterate your old cell phone. Day or night, the Smash Shack will get you properly geared up and provide you with the amo and the wall to let it all out.  For some ideas, here is the Smash Shack Menu of items.

So, if something ticks you off at work or if you need to get over your date from hell, just head over to the Smash Shack near the Gaslamp and have a smashing good time.

If it is still hard to fathom that someone made this simple concept into a great business, just watch this video from CBS Evening News.

I started this blog back in February after a two week visit to the hospital for heart surgery. (A word to the wise: Wash your hands frequently and do whatever it takes to avoid random viruses, a few of whom like to attack the heart. I was one of the lucky ones to recover and am back to running several miles each week.)

I could have created a blog to share my thoughts and experiences on overcoming the challenges of being knocked off ones feet, adapting to circumstances, and then ultimately fighting for recovery. However, I personally was more moved by the appreciation I re-established during my two-week hospital stay for the great fortune we have for living in San Diego.

It dawned on me there are very few places in our country, if any, that enjoy many of the privileges we have living here in America’s Finest City. I wrote in my first blog entry that I had the great fortune of spending two weeks in probably one of the best hospital rooms in the country. I stayed in the same room Mother Theresa had stayed in when she had heart surgery. Every evening I enjoyed watching the sun set over the Pacific, with a view of the Torrey Pines Golf Course, home of the 2008 PGA U.S. Open Championship, in the foreground. Now, how many hospital rooms in the world can you think of that offer a view of a golf course, ocean, and beautiful sunsets?

Looking back on my 10 years in San Diego, I began to remember all of the great attributes that attracted me to San Diego in the first place. Hoping that others do not have to go through the challenging experience I endured to re-appreciate all of the great things about San Diego, I decided to create this blog to remind people what a great place we live in. I aim to write each post about something that makes San Diego unique or at least makes it stand out from other cities. So far, I have thoroughly enjoyed sharing my findings with others.

That brings me back to the question I asked in the title of this post. What about yourself. Do you have thoughts or experiences you would like to share with others? Do you tell your friends and family about things that you think others might have an interest in as well? Chances are, there are other people out there who can benefit from hearing about your experiences or who can learn from your knowledge.

Blogging has become mainstream. You hear every TV and radio personality telling you to check out their blog. If you think there must be too many blogs now that everyone is talking about them and thus yours will get lost in the shuffle, think again. People are always yearning to learn more or find someone else they can relate to. You might just be the person they are looking for.

Here in San Diego, there are blogs about communities (such as San Elijo Life or La Mesa Real Estate), moms (Mel, A Dramatic Mom in La Costa), food (places to eat out and easy recipes), dealing with life in one’s 20s (Girlola) and much more.

What do you have to share? — Viewpoints on politics? Knowledge on economics? Advice on dating? Experiences as a Taxi Driver? (There’s actually a San Diego Taxi Blog.)

If I’ve wet your appetite at all to start your own blog, why don’t you start by meeting some of the local bloggers. The San Diego Meetup group for bloggers, SD Bloggers, is getting together on Tuesday, October 28th in downtown San Diego. Over 225 members have joined since its inception a year ago. You will meet about a 100 of them on Tuesday. They are a friendly group and drinks are free for the first hour courtesy of Integral Impressions, owned by one of our fellow bloggers. Sign up to attend the SD Bloggers meet-up and get some inspiration to start your own blog!

For the next couple months, we will see one of the fastest sailboats in the world navigating San Diego Bay.  The BMW Oracle Racing Team is in town with their brand new trimaran boat. The 100 foot sail boat with 148 foot mast is docked behind the San Diego Convention Center.

The America’s Cup competitors from BMW Oracle will be working to acclimate themselves to the new boat as they prepare for the next racing season.  You can read more about the planned stay in San Diego from the Valencia Sailing blog and view pictures of recent practices held in San Diego Bay on the BMW Oracle Racing Team web site.

I know who I’ll be cheering for - BMW Oracle.  Hopefully, you’ll cheer for the ‘home team’ as well!

Go where Hollywood goes to get their fill for farming life.  Every year, the Antique Gas and Steam Engine Museum hosts a Harvest Fair the last couple weekends in October. It’s the same museum Hollywood turns to for farm equipment they use in movies such as L.A. Confidential, Mulholland Falls, and Pearl Harbor.

Spread over 50 acres in Vista, you will get to enjoy live entertainment, wagon rides, tractor games, demonstrations of antique farming equipment, watch a blacksmith, and of course, eat food from the farm.

This is a working farm manned by 1,100 volunteers. You’ll get to see them harvest the crops and bring them to the kitchen to make delicious food. Teach your kids the farming way of life or explore it for yourself.  The Harvest Fair runs the next two weekends from 10AM - 4PM.  Here are the directions to the Vista Gas & Steam Engine Museum from Google Maps. Have fun.

Did you get a rush from watching the Blue Angels flying around town last week? How about when the Red Bull Air Races were in town?  If you have a penchant for aerobatic flying, you’ll want to head out to Borrego Springs later in the week.

The annual Borrego Springs Akrofest takes place Friday and Saturday (October 17th and 18th).  Generally, about 40+ pilots, from around the country compete in one of five aerobatic contests. You can see the types of planes by looking at the 2007 results. To get a better idea of what to expect, watch this great six minute video made at the 2000 Borrego Springs Akrofest. Coverage of the aerobatics starts about 3 minutes into the video.

You can get directions to the Borrego Valley Airport from Google Maps. If you are interested in becoming an aerobatic pilot, visit the San Diego Aerobatic Club web site.

October 2008 is a great month to take your kids under the age of 12 to the San Diego Zoo or Wild Animal Park. Save on the normal $16.50 admission fee and introduce your kids to our world famous animal parks. For this month only, kids can enter for free with an adult.

The San Diego Zoo includes a Children’s Zoo area where they can get face paintings, pet sheep, watch a kids show, and more easily see the animals.

One kids favorite are the meerkats, which can be found at both the Zoo and Wild Animal Park.  The Zoo has a number of tiger cubs that will interest kids but they can be hard to see at times.  There is also a baby in the Gorilla Exhibit. The Wild Animal Park has several playful lion cubs, who frequently entertain guests.

To help your kids learn more about the animals, the Zoo’s web site has a special section for kids. For more information, visit the web site for the San Diego Zoo and Wild Animal Park.

People travel from all over the world with their sights set on visiting the San Diego Zoo.  We are lucky to have it in our backyard and this free kids offer is a great reason to visit the Zoo or Wild Animal Park today.

No.  That is not a misprint in the title.  The current King of NASCAR is from San Diego. El Cajon to be more specific.  Who knew that San Diego was such a hotbed for racecar athletes.  I guess I should have known when I wrote a recent post about all of the other professional athletes that grew up in San Diego.

Who is this King of NASCAR? His name is Jimmie Johnson.  Like me, you may have heard his name mentioned in the news over the past couple years but don’t know much about him if you haven’t followed NASCAR. So, here is a primer about our fellow San Diegan, who is the king of our nation’s 2nd most popular sport to watch on TV, following NFL football.

Jimmie Johnson was born in El Cajon and attended Granite Hills High School.  Since his rookie season (2002), Johnson has finished in the top 5 in ‘points’ for the NASCAR Championship every year.  He has won the NASCAR Championship the past two years.  Now Johnson is on track to win his third straight Championship, which so far has only been achieved by one other NASCAR driver in history back in the 1970’s. (Geez, I didn’t know NASCAR has been around that long.)

There are 26 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series races that determines who can compete for the NASCAR Championship during the final 10 races of the NASCAR Season. The NASCAR Chase for the Championship consists of the top 12 drivers entering the final 10 races.  With only six races remaining, Jimmie Johnson currently sits atop the leaderboard and is the odds on favorite to win his third Cup.

So, if you are like me and may have a spark of interest now in following our fellow San Diegan, then question is when to cheer for him.  When watching ESPN sports news, it seems like there is a NASCAR race every day of the week. Well, it turns out there are several different NASCAR Series.  It also turns out, the NASCAR drivers compete in multiple Series. (There is apparently a bit of controversy that surrounds that.) You will hear many of the well known names competing in NASCAR races that are part of the NASCAR Nationwide Series. The top level one where all of the money is made is the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series, which frequently takes place the following day on the same race track as the Nationwide Series. Wikipedia has a nice write-up on the difference between the Sprint Cup and Nationwide Series, as well as the controversy related to drivers competing in both.

To follow the progress of Jimmie Johnson in these final six races as he attempts to tie the long-held NASCAR record, visit the NASCAR Sprint Cup web site where you will find the current standings and upcoming TV schedule. With the exception of this afternoon’s race, the rest of the races will take place on Sundays and all can be see on ABC.

You can learn more about Jimmie Johnson and read his bio on the NASCAR web site. He certainly appears to be a good guy.  He and his wife (sorry ladies, but he is taken) started a foundation to help children and families nationwide.  Among the groups they have supported is San Diego’s Habitat for Humanity.

So, if you’ve never followed NASCAR, now’s a good time to check it out while cheering for a fellow San Diegan.  Go Jimmie Johnson!

The Nation’s Largest Military Air Show is right here in San Diego. You will see jets whizzing around University City, Miramar, Mira Mesa, Kearney Mesa, and Scripps Ranch all week as they practice for their shows that begin this Thursday, October 2nd. Thursday’s show is only open to military families. The rest of the public is welcome to join in the spectacle on Friday, Saturday, and Sunday.

The stars of the show are always the Navy’s Blue Angels. We missed them last year when they had other obligations requiring the Air Force Thunderbirds to serve in their place. Being this is a Navy and Marine town, the return of the Navy Blue Angels will be a welcome sight. Be aware that the Blue Angels perform during the daytime shows and not during the night time show on Saturday. By the way, did you know the winter home and training grounds for the Blue Angels are just east of San Diego at the Naval Air Facility in El Centro?

Two of the newest military aircraft are set to fly over MCAS Miramar. The F-22 Raptor will perform just before the Blue Angels during the afternoon performances. The MV-22 Osprey is tentatively scheduled to perform during the morning sessions. Get familiar with the Osprey because there will be several squadrons of this tilt-rotor aircraft stationed at MCAS Miramar starting in 2010.

One of my favorites is the B-2 Stealth Bomber. If you are outdoors this week going for a walk and notice a shadow engulf you, look up quickly and you’ll probably see the Stealth Bomber. That happened to me several years ago near UTC. I had no idea it was coming up behind me, flying low over the building tops, until its large shadow engulfed me before I heard the noise of the jets.

Considering this is the country’s largest Air Show, bring lots of sun tan lotion and plan on spending the whole day touring the exhibits and watching the performances. If you don’t have the whole day, be sure to check the air show schedule so you’ll know when to look for your favorite performances. Also, bring a lot of patience because traffic getting in and out will be very, very slow … especially Saturday afternoon when the day show spectators are leaving and the night show spectators are arriving.

If you buy your tickets online, you’ll save a few dollars per person. The Friday and Sunday shows are the cheapest ($11 for Adults and $8 for Kids), but again you’ll save a few dollars each if you buy them online. Several levels of premium tickets are also available.

Have fun!

Mark your calendars.  Two weeks from today is the start of the 4th annual Solar Energy Week in San Diego.  This year’s Solar Energy Week will be supercharged as San Diego hosts the national Solar Power Conference and Expo at the San Diego Convention Center.

The two biggest events open to the public are the Family Solar Energy Day on Sunday, October 12th and the Public Night at the Solar Power International Convention on Wednesday, October 15th.

Family Solar Energy Day runs from 1PM - 4PM at Spanish Landing Harbor. (See Google Map.)  There will be lessons for the kids and adults on how solar power works, experiments using solar power, prizes and other activities.

Public Night at the Solar Power Convention runs from 5:30 - 8:30 PM in exhibition halls F, G, & H at the San Diego Convention Center. (Lower Level near 8th Avenue - Petco Park side of the Convention Center.) You will find over 400 solar energy companies exhibiting at the show. There will be seminars on using solar energy in the home and a program for those who want to find jobs in solar energy. Programs start between 6 and 7 so don’t be late.

Visit the Solar Energy Week web site for more information on commercial and residential solar tours also being offered that week.

If you want more resources on using solar power at home, visit this post from May.