The Best Places In San Diego!

Whether or not you like his point of view, former San Diego Mayor and current Radio Talk Show Host, Roger Hedgecock, will be heard nationwide every weekday night from 6PM - 9PM Eastern Time starting January 5th.

In recent years, Roger Hedgecock became a more popular figure nationally as a guest on nationally syndicated conservative talk shows and as a fill-in for Rush Limbaugh.  Hedgecock will now have his own show broadcast nationwide from San Diego.  He will be replacing the time slot currently held by Michael Reagan, the adopted son of former President Ronald Reagan.

To learn more, read the Radio America press release and visit Roger Hedgecock’s web site.

In previous posts I’ve mentioned how the San Diego designed and built, unmanned drones assisted in wildfire fighting efforts and performed environmental research.  As was noted in those articles, the unmanned drones were originally built for use in the military.

Last week’s episode of 60 Minutes provided the closest look yet at the military uses of the unmanned drone.  More specifically, the feature story notes how the Predator won the Battle for Sadr City and set the stage for the current success of the U.S. Military Surge in Iraq.

If you missed the episode, here’s the video.

60 Minutes has a separate video that provides more background information about the Predator.

To learn more about the Predator and the Global Hawk unmanned drones and their connection to San Diego, visit the previous posts noted at the top of this article.

Congratulations go out to ATA Engineering in Carmel Valley.  They made this year’s Wall Street Journal list for Top Small Workplaces.  Only 10 companies nationwide earned the honor.

ATA Engineering, founded in 2000 and now employing 84 personnel, solves complex mechanical and aerospace engineering challenges.  Their work includes help in the development of the International Space Station to assistance on the design of amusement park rides.

So, what does ATA Engineering do that makes it a Top Workplace? The Wall Street Journal cited 100% Employee Ownership, managers and executives being paid on the same payscale as engineering staff, all employees earning the same percentage of their salary for bonuses, and allowing many employees at all levels to be a part of company decisions from hiring new employees to determining where the offices should be located.

So, congratulations go out to ATA Engineering for setting an example for small companies across the country.  Visit the ATA Engineering web site to learn more about the company and view their engineering opportunities. Maybe you can become a member of one of the Top Workplaces in America.

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.

The results for America’s Favorite Cities survey are in!  If you recall, I encouraged my readers back in March to make San Diego #1 on the Travel & Leisure magazine survey. I’m not sure what to think after reviewing the results.

San Diego failed to receive any top rankings out of 45 categories.  We were only competing against 25 other cities. However, we did finish #2 for Ideal Weather, Attractive People, and Perfect Place for a Family Vacation.  My more compelling concern is that it was the scores given by San Diegans that contributed to our poor rankings.

To be fair, San Diegans did score our city better than non-San Diegans…barely.  Out of 45 survey questions, we gave ourselves a cumulative 2 extra points.  (Each question had the potential for 5 points.) Unfortunately, other cities thought much more highly of themselves, helping to propel their cities to higher rankings.

If you were to compare the city rankings based only on what residents gave to their own city, San Diego gave up a whopping 15 cumulative spots in the rankings in comparison to what outsiders thought about San Diego.

That begs the question, ‘Is this a good thing because San Diegans are too modest to gloat about ‘America’s Finest City’ or is it a bad thing because we lack self-esteem about our own city?’.

Here are the categories where we gave up the most in rankings - Public Parks and Outdoor Access, Classical Music, Farmers’ Markets, Stylish People, Public Transportation and Pedestrian Friendliness, and Christmas Destination.   (Hmmm … Stylish People … maybe we are so caught up in trying to keep up with the Jones’s that we don’t take the time to appreciate what we do have.  Maybe this is indicative of us losing sight on what a great place we live in and it takes outsiders to point it out to us.)

Here are the categories where we flat-out scored ourselves worse than outsiders - Historical Sites and Monuments, Late Night / Club Scene, Traffic, and Affordability, not to mention some crossover categories from the previous section, including once again Stylish People, Classical Music, and Public Transportation.

I’m hoping we are a bit too modest but part of me thinks we are so caught up in ‘keeping up with others’ that we forget to appreciate what we do have.  Hopefully, I can help improve our perception of San Diego with this blog.  I’m also working on a special project that I will introduce in the coming weeks to improve our city’s image.

I’d be curious in hearing your thoughts on why we may have scored ourselves so low in comparison to how other cities thought about themselves.

San Diego native Tony Hawk became the sports cover boy in the 1980s as the #1 Skateboarder in the World.  He pushed skateboarding into the mainstream by setting a new standard with his death-defying tricks.  Becoming one of the first self-made rich kids, he was able to buy a home in Del Mar by the age of 17.  In the ensuing years, he won 73 out of 103 pro contests and finished in the top two in 92 of those contests.

The 1980’s sports cover boy is today’s business cover man.  Just this month, he is on the cover of Success Magazine and the first athlete-turned-businessman to be featured in Portfolio Magazine.

After tough years during the 1990s when Hawk was forced to refinance his home and eat with only $5 a day, he turned a once fledgling skateboard company into a business powerhouse. Tony’s business success in the areas of skateboarding, clothing, video games, national tours, and a New York Times Best-Seller has enabled him to create the Tony Hawk Foundation, which has assisted in the development of several hundred skateboard parks across the country. Both Tony Hawk, Inc and the Tony Hawk Foundation are based in Vista.

Learn more about our fellow San Diegan who is now gracing the covers of business magazines. You can read about the life of Tony Hawk and get his business tips in the Success Magazine article and then get more business strategy advice by reading his profile and watching several three minute video clips of an interview he did with Portfolio Magazine.

For his New York Times Best-Seller, Hawk: Occupation: Skateboarder, you can read more about that on Amazon.

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!