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We were in San Diego on April 9 when the Padres played their first home opener in Petco Park, the city’s striking new downtown stadium. A sellout crowd of 42,000 packed the $474-million facility which has won rave reviews from architecture critics to watch the hometown team beat the Giants in a 10-inning cliffhanger. In a unique and attractive touch, the stadium incorporates the old Western Metal Supply Co. building into its seating bowl, linking itself with the city’s past. One of the central goals of contemporary architecture is to make buildings that express and epitomize the place where they are built. Writing in The Union-Tribune the day after the opener, Ann Jarmusch noted that the stadium’s designers achieved that goal, extracting “the essence of San Diego and reflecting it in subtle yet profound ways. “The crisp-edged, sandstone-clad buildings echo Torrey Pines bluffs and mesas in color, texture and soaring height. Some have steeply sloped sides and flat roofs reminiscent of Mayan pyramids. Pipe railings and the off-white, exposed steel structure that cradles the seating bowl recall oceangoing ships, and a curtain of water splashes down a prominent wall. Just outside the outfield fence is a strip of sandy ‘beach’ where kids dig holes to their heart’s content.” The opening of Petco Park, with its constellation of restaurants and hotels, marks another stage in San Diego’s downtown renaissance. Along with Horton Plaza and the Gaslamp dining and entertainment district, the new development promises to give this great maritime metropolis a nightlife on par with its natural wonders. Paradise road San Diego is the most popular travel destination for OC residents, and we fit the county profile. This was our fifth family trip to the city in as many years. As long as you avoid rush hour on the way down and Sunday afternoon traffic on the way back, it is a quick, easy, inexpensive commute and, when you get arrive, there is everything in the world to do. We left Orange at 2:30 on Monday afternoon and were exiting I-5 at Oceanside in less than an hour. The northern part of San Diego County, from La Jolla to Oceanside, is a world unto itself. The best way to experience it is on historic Route 101, California’s own mother road, the main link between Mexico, Los Angeles and points north prior to the construction of I-5 in the 1960s. The road passes through Oceanside, with its surf museum and its famous pier, Carlsbad with its historic spa and picturesque village, Encinitas, known as the flower capital of the world, Del Mar with the race track founded by Bing Crosby in the 1930s, Torrey Pines with spectacular scenery and hiking trails and, finally, La Jolla, the jewel, the most beautiful place along the Southern California coast. All along the way there are old theaters and diners, great resorts and hotels, and, of course, beautiful beaches. It takes about an hour to drive from Oceanside to La Jolla on 101 if you don’t stop. But please stop. To swim or just walk on the beaches, to eat in 1950s style restaurants and explore unique shops and downtown areas. This is a corner of the world that should be meandered through. It was a bright, clear, spring afternoon, sunlight pouring down on the blue Pacific and white-capped waves, as we meandered south, arriving at the Hilton at Torrey Pines early in the evening. The Hilton Located about a mile north of UC San Diego on the coast road, midway between Del Mar and La Jolla, the Hilton at Torrey Pines makes a great headquarters for exploring North County. With its spa, large swimming pool and adjacent Torrey Pines Golf Course, the hotel is resort-like. But it also is a full-service business and convention hotel with the feel, in its bustling lobby, of a big-city hostelry. Lobby and guest rooms are finely furnished and filled with amenities. Our rooms overlooked the golf course with a view of the ocean beyond. An added treat was the sight of hang gliders rising like colorful birds from the cliffs to the south. Two exceptionally beautiful beaches are less than a 10-minute drive away: La Jolla Shores a few miles south; Del Mar City Beach a few miles north. Monday night, we drove back north to Del Mar and had a superb seafood dinner at Jakes, watching whitecaps crashing on the beach only a few yards beyond the plate glass. Wednesday afternoon we spent on the sand at La Jolla Shores. In addition to its delightful coastal cities, North County encompasses mountains and deserts and several inland attractions. We spent an exotic afternoon among the free-roaming giraffes, antelope and rhinos at the San Diego Zoo’s 1,800-acre Wild Animal Park and had dinner and the inevitable apple pie in the historic mining town of Julian. Besides being a fascinating and relaxing place to spend some time, the Wild Animal Park, along with the zoo itself, is one of the world’s leading animal research and breeding centers, saving species from extinction and reintroducing them into the wild. There are bird and elephant shows, opportunities to feed the animals, numerous gift shops and themed restaurants and the Wgasa Bush Line Railway that takes visitors on an hour long tour through African and Asian habitats where many of the parks 3,500 animals can be viewed. SeaWorld and points south We spent Tuesday afternoon at SeaWorld, always my favorite thing to do in San Diego. We saw the Orca show, of course, Shamu and baby Shamu doing amazing acrobatics with their equally amazing trainers, played with and petted the dolphins, went on the Wild Arctic and Ship Wreck Rapids adventure rides. New this summer is the Journey to Atlantis Adventure. The wet and wild 6-minute thrill ride tells the tale of Atlantis through simulated earthquake tremors and other special effects. We ate one breakfast and 2 dinners and saw a very funny and totally meaningless movie in La Jolla. The meals were at the Hotel Valencia’s Mediterranean Room (great breakfast with a fantastic view of Scripps Park and La Jolla Cove), La Dolce Vita (one of the best little Italian restaurants anywhere) and El Torito (reliably tasty, inexpensive Mexican). The Hotel Del After 3 nights at the Hilton, we moved south to the Hotel del Coronado, on what is commonly called Coronado Island. Coronado actually is the bulbous tip of the peninsula that forms the outer edge of San Diego Bay, but it has always had an island-like flavor of isolation. It was accessible only by a long, roundabout drive or by ferry until 1969 when the San Diego-Coronado Bridge finally linked it conveniently with the mainland. The city of Coronado is an upscale community originally developed by Elisha S. Babcock and Hampton L. Story, founders of the Coronado Beach Company who are commemorated by the Babcock and Story Bar at the Hotel Del, their greatest creation. The northern half of the island is occupied the U.S. Naval Air Station where naval aviation was born early in the century. The island’s main street is lined with interesting shops and the whole range of restaurants from casual to fine dining. There are miles of broad, clean beaches, daily air shows courtesy of Navy pilots practicing for war, several museums, an excellent repertory theater and a number of worthy hotels. But the star or the island, the Grande Dame, is the Hotel Del, a Victorian masterpiece of a seaside hotel that has history and cache enough to fill a book. Opened in 1888 by Babcock and Story (who bought the island for $110,000), the Del has hosted 10 U.S. presidents and just about every major Hollywood star from the Golden Age to the present. Scores of TV series episodes, mini-series and feature films have been made at the hotel, including “Some Like it Hot,” the Marilyn Monroe, Jack Lemmon and Tony Curtis classic that recently was heralded by the American Film Institute as the best comedy of all time. The movie plays several times a day on a hotel cable channel for guests to enjoy. King Edward VIII of England, who gave up his throne to marry former Coronado housewife Wallis Simpson, is rumored to have met his controversial bride at the Del and author Frank Baum’s vision of the Land of Oz was inspired, in part, by the turrets, towers and lacy woodwork of the elegant hotel. Not mired in the past it celebrates, the Del recently completed a $55 million renovation that reinforced the wooden structure, added dining and retail venues, opened up new views of the sea and refurbished all the guest rooms with luxurious, classic Victorian décor. Among many other awards and honors, the hotel has been named one of the Top 10 Resorts in the World by USA Today and designated Best Resort Getaway in Southern California by Los Angles Magazine. We had a large, airy room with a veranda overlooking the beach that was one of the nicest we have ever stayed in. We walked the beach, wandered the gardenlike grounds and atmospheric corridors and lounged on our veranda. Every moment in this hotel is a treat. Out and about The Del is the kind of resort that tempts you to stay put, to just relax by the pool or on some little balcony overlooking the flowering central courtyard, but we did go out a few times. On Thursday evening, we drove a mile or two to the Ferry landing a group of shops and restaurants on the opposite side of the island and took the pedestrian ferry over to the Embarcadero. It was a brilliant evening and the views of bay and city made the short trip more like a scenic harbor tour than a mere commute. From the Embarcadero we walked another mile or so to Horton Plaza and the Gaslamp District where we ate at Sammy’s Woodfired Pizza and did some window shopping. If you don’t care to walk, pedicabs can whisk you from the ferry landing to the Gaslamp and back. On Saturday night we went to Lamb’s Players Theater a few blocks from the hotel and saw “The Great Divorce,” a stunning play adapted by Producing Artistic Director Robert Smyth from C.S. Lewis’s book of the same name. With a minimalist set and powerful acting, 8 members of the company brought to life Lewis’s story, which illustrates how people’s attachment to their own self conceptions, limitations and pain cuts them off from God. We left San Diego at noon on Easter Sunday after 6 memorable days and headed home with only one short detour to visit the Mission San Luis Rey de Francia in Oceanside, capping a great trip. Steve Thomas is former editor of OC METRO Magazine. IF YOU GO Transportation: San Diego is a quick 90-minute commute on I-5 (as long as you avoid rush hour); it takes a little longer if you exit the 5 at Oceanside and take the more leisurely and scenic historic route 101. If you prefer to ride the rails, Amtrak’s Pacific Surfliner can whisk you down and back for $20 to $30 roundtrip, depending on the station you leave from and the class you travel. Go to www.amtrak.com for more information. Lodging: In North County you can’t beat the Hilton La Jolla Torrey Pines, 10950 North Torrey Pines Road, La Jolla CA 92037. Call 858.558.1500 or go to www.lajollatorreypines.Hilton.com. A luxurious, full-service hotel conveniently located mid-way between La Jolla Village and Del Mar. On Coronado, it has to be the Hotel Del, 1500 Orange Avenue, Coronado, CA 92118. Call 800.468.3533 or go to www.hoteldel.com. A world-famous destination resort with award-winning dining, a galleria of more than 20 upscale shops, a beautiful beach, pool and spa, programs for children and teens, extraordinary architecture and setting, and a unique historical ambience. Information: San Diego Convention & Visitors Bureau: 619.236.1212 or www.sandiego.org. For North County information, contact the San Diego North Convention & Visitors Bureau: 800.848.3336 or www.sandiegonorth.com. |
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