San Diego Getaway |
| This Californian city boasts perfect weather, an
azure skyline, awe-inspiring ocean views, friendly people and the facilities of
a metropolis with a small-town feel. I visit each summer for the Comic-Con film
and television festival then return each winter when the place is quieter but
no less magical. San Diego's got it all: glorious weather, a beautiful bay, a
lively arts scene, thrilling theme parks, a world-class zoo and wild animal
park, and an envious 70 miles of beaches. Families can "go native" by rooting for the home baseball team, the San Diego Padres, at PETCO Park, and by soaking up the So Cal beach scene. Join locals by bicycling, inline skating, jogging, and sunning on the sand along the three-mile boardwalk that connects Mission Beach and Pacific Beach. Coronado sports San Diego's widest sands plus a bike path that hugs the scenic shoreline and |
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| winds through Silver Strand State Beach. La Jolla, a posh suburb about 12
miles north of San Diego, is the place to hit the beach. Sea kayakers can
paddle to La Jolla Shores to explore caves and little kids can look for minnows
and crabs in La Jolla Cove's tide pools. Animal encounters in San Diego abound. At the San Diego Zoo's Wild Animal Park, more than 400 species roam across 1,800 acres of varied habitat. |
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Heart of Africa's winding trails
lead through 30 acres of recreated forests, savannas, and wetlands inhabited by
wattled cranes, okapi, and other animals, while the Wgasa Bush Line Railway
cuts through giraffe, white rhino, and ostrich territory. For the best view,
however, "float" on a tethered hot-air balloon that hovers 400 feet
above the grounds. New at the park and its sister facility, the San Diego Zoo, is iZoofari, podcasts of animal tidbits you download onto your MP3 player. Audio tours, available for download on site as well as online, include the Nairobi Village iZoofari, Monkey Trails, and Gorilla Tropics, making for a fun and fascinating way to get to know the zoo's creatures as well as the wider wild world. Polar bears, sharks, penguins, manatees, and of course, Shamu, everybody's favorite killer whale, star at SeaWorld San Diego, a marine park combining animal attractions with thrill rides. Little kids splash and play in Shamu's Happy Harbor, while older ones get wet on Journey to Atlantis, a water coaster. |
| In LEGOLAND, scale models of Manhattan, Washington, D.C., and other landmarks rise up out of 20 million LEGO bricks. Unlike most parks, this one caters to young kids with a fairytale boat ride and a driving school where six-year-olds finally get to be in charge behind the wheel. The TECHNIC Coaster, for older kids, dumps riders from the ticklish but not terrifying height of 42 feet. Wild Woods Golf, the park's mini-course, features 40 LEGO creatures, some of whom clap and cheer for you as you play your round. New as of summer 2006, water-filled Pirate Shores features two rides and two play areas. Board your ship on Splash Battle to fight a water cannon skirmish with other boats and the spectators. Treasure Falls, a just-scary-enough flume ride, plunges you 12 feet. At Swabbles Deck, preschoolers prance through water jets and fountains. Soak-N-Sail has more than 60 ways to get wet, including being doused by a 300-gallon bucket of water. At 1,200-acre, oasis-like Balboa Park, along with housing the San Diego Zoo, you .find the San Diego Natural History Museum, the San Diego Aerospace |  |
| Museum, and the San Diego Model Railroad Museum, touted asthe largest
operating facility of its kind in North America. Mission Trails Regional Park,
just eight miles from downtown San Diego, sprawls over 5,800 acres of hills and
valleys and boasts 40 miles of trails winding through oak groves, sage, and
chaparral. What do you miss most when you're away? The sights, the sounds and the party atmosphere of the Gaslamp Quarter. This is the bar and club district but, unlike many similar vibrant districts, there is no undercurrent of menace and threat here. Just good will and good times. What's the first thing you do when you return? Jump in one of the pedal cabs and get steered around the city by the one of the chatty, informative and enthusiastic young cyclists who seem to feel they have the best job in the world. Where would you meet friends for a drink? Croce's Restaurant and Jazz Bar (802 5th Avenue), owned by the widow of singer Jim Croce, is a wonderful place to get together over cocktails and enjoy live music. What are your favourite places for lunch? Ghirardelli Soda Fountain and Chocolate Shop (643 5th Avenue; 234 2449) serves exquisite ice cream. The Tea Pavillion in the Japanese Friendship Garden (Balboa Park; 231 0048) offers great sushi, noodles, soups and salads. And for dinner? The only thing more stunning than the ocean views is the food at George's at the Cove (1250 Prospect St, La Jolla; 858 454 4244). Don't expect much change out of $250 for two, but your taste buds will have had a treat to remember. More reasonable and extremely romantic is Baci (1955 Morena Blvd; 619 275 2094), where the steaks and pastas are just perfect. Where would you send a first-time visitor? Balboa Park, home to 15 museums, various performance venues, countless other attractions and gorgeous gardens. Public transport or taxi? The buses are cheap but infrequent; the trams, or trolleys, are more efficient. |
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