San Diego, CA

Traveling from Home

Our current homebound way of life is undeniably tainted with mystery.  I find myself questioning the end of quarantine as I wonder about reaching the end of a rainbow.  Above all, in these uncertain times, I can’t help but send my heart out to those that don’t have a home to retreat to, or those who have a home that poses a threat to them in some way.

Rainbow in North Park, San Diego
A rainbow after a recent rainstorm from a window in our condo complex in North Park, San Diego

I am grateful to be healthy, safe, and comfortable at home, as I hope all of you reading this are, as well.  And as many of you can probably also relate to, one of the biggest dampers on my spirit is not being able to travel, and even worse, not even being able to confidently plan future travels.
Italian pizza flag San Diego Siamo Napoli
Friends who run a local Italian restaurant, Siamo Napoli, made a pizza honoring Italy’s COVID-19 battle on the last night they were open to the public.

Each passing day seems to bring contradictory information from government officials and scientists alike, rumors, and worst of all, the turning over and over of my own mind, lost in the lack of distraction.  The “COVID-19 scare,” as my favorite morning radio host has been calling it lately, makes it uber-challenging to stay positive about the prospect of international travel in the foreseeable future.
North park bandanas
A nearby vintage shop in North Park with a sense of humor.

Instead, like many of my loved ones and probably many of you, I’m loving the delicate joys on my daily neighborhood walks,
Wildlife in North Park, San Diego
Wildlife around every corner.

including the bird that pooped on me mid-flight – I’ve heard it is good luck – and observing the subtle and not-so-subtle transformations of the neighborhood, North Park, San Diego, where I’m currently perched.
A North Park church offering drive-thru confessions.
A nearby church is offering drive-thru confessions.

I’ve dedicated myself to cooking my way through my new Indian cookbook, Fresh India by Meera Sodha, cleaning and organizing, daily meditating with my Insight Timer app,
Spring in North Park
Welcoming spring on my daily walks has been a great joy.

and tending to my new indoor plant friends, who are my only living company if you don’t count the occasional fly that makes it through the screen or the little worms that occasionally make a cameo in the fresh herbs from the market.
I often catch the bunnies sunbathing when I walk in our Old Town, once saturated with tourists and now empty.

I have to admit, guiltily, that with acknowledging the gravity of the deaths, sickness, sadness, isolation, despair, anxiety, fear, frustration, and boredom that have come with this pandemic, I am also grateful for this “pause” on life to catch my breath and check-in with myself.  I’ve pursued a double life for many years: two continents, Europe and North America, and two professions, travel and theatre.  Isn’t it easy to get caught in the current of life until you finally make it out and ask yourself, “Why did I get out?” or “Why did I stay in for so long?” and “By the way, where am I?” (A little existentialism never hurt on a Thursday morning in quarantine, right? Ha!)
San Diego Repertory Theatre COVID-19 closing
The theatre I worked at for many years ended performances and shut its doors.

Meanwhile, I’m taking the opportunity to dust off a myriad of memories and photos of adventures that were tucked away for safekeeping.  Some long ago, like magical Berlin, and others recent, like boisterous Puerto Vallarta.  I was caught in the current for a long time, moving too quickly to download these adventures, but I’m sitting on the shore now, enjoying the pause, and putting them back together.  Because, in actuality, we all really can travel now. With our imaginations. Anywhere we’d like to go.  No one can stop us from that – we are bound only by the limits of our own creativity.
Chalk painting in North Park
A family diligently and creatively paints a North Park sidewalk with optimistic chalk designs.

I hope a few anecdotes and intriguing snaps from my travels will inspire your traveling daydreams from the comfort of your own homes.  New adventures coming soon.  Hope to see you then.
In the meantime, if you have some extra time on your hands, start traveling now with a few of my most beloved travel adventures:

And a personal favorite of mine, especially for artists and lovers of art:

A Halloween walking tour through a San Diego historic neighborhood


San Diego’s North Park neighborhood piqued my interest many years ago when a tiny street called Ray Street dotted with artist studios started welcoming the public to their studios every month.  Prior, I had only thought of North Park as a fairly crime-stricken region of San Diego that was best to avoid.  Fast-forward a decade, and the neighborhood is booming with businesses and new residents, but most artists can’t afford to be there anymore.  A downside of neighborhood redevelopment.  Fortunately, the upsides are numerous, including the creation of the North Park Historical Society in 2007, which is the local group behind the official designation of the North Park Dryden Historic District, which boasts several blocks of California bungalows and Spanish colonial revival homes.  I watch the changing of the seasons jogging the streets of this gorgeous neighborhood as homeowners enthusiastically decorate their already eye-catching homes.

I pass this house every day but just noticed its incredible tree because of all the jolly pumpkins hanging from the branches.

And my favorite season of all to enjoy this neighborhood is – you guessed it – Halloween.  These homeowners are so creative and artistically inclined with their spooky decor.

One of my favorite bungalows in North Park’s historic district dressed up for Halloween.

If you are visiting San Diego or live here, pay a visit and take a nice long stroll at dusk along 28th and Pershing Streets, bordered to the north by Landis Street and to the south by Upas Street, and everything around and between.

Skeletons dancing on doors…

Enjoy a trip back in time, a lesson in California architecture, and a good laugh at these Halloween decorations with a sense of humor.

This home alone is worth the trip. This is just a portion of their extensive decorations.

And the best part is no costume is required.


Although, if you are so inclined, your costume will be admired by the neighborhood joggers, like me, and, no doubt, the homeowners too!

Not so easy to see the black crows in the dark, but they are surrounding this mannequin in this homeowner’s take on Hitchcock’s Birds.
More crows make a theme of scary bird decorations!
A typical North Park streetscape with a pumpkin peeking out from the bushes. 
I didn’t notice this guy climbing out of his grave until I peeked through the fence to take a pic of this darling home.
Black flamingo = genius.
Another great bungalow joining in on the Halloween spirit.

If you’re interested in seeing some fascinating historical photos of the neighborhood and learning more about its history, this PDF by the Save Our Heritage Organisation is a great read.

San Diego Uncovered: Enjoying some of the best beer the United States has to offer

As promised in my last blog entry, here’s the first entry on my list of favorite experiences as a San Diego local.

1. Enjoying some of the best beer the United States has to offer
As a pseudo San Diegan, I’ve taken on San Diego’s reputation for creating craft beer as one of my personal bragging rights.  Unfortunately and obviously, I have had absolutely nothing to do with contributing to the amazing infrastructure of San Diego’s craft brewing industry which has spurred not only a thriving cultural scene related to beer, but has also significantly influenced the national craft brewing industry.   But I am certainly doing my part in the PR department.  Not because I feel obligated.  I truly believe that a trip to San Diego would be wholly incomplete without scheduling ample time for sampling the local brews (unless you don’t like beer, in which case, you can stop reading now).

Whether you trek to a brewery or do the tasting in the comfort of one of San Diego’s many restaurants and bars offering rich selections of local brew, is entirely up to you.  Or both!  There is an endless assortment of innovative breweries which often claim local and sometimes national and even international fame including Stone, AleSmith (my favorite!!), Ballast Point, Lost Abbey, Mission, Pizza Port, Coronado, Firehouse, etc (here’s a clearer list).  A trip to any of these breweries is a sneak peek into the super trendy world of craft brew, which is giving wine a run for its money.  Your added benefit is you will learn more about hops than you ever cared to know.

Due to the thriving beer scene (as defined by this New York Times article), there are many tour services popping up making it even easier for you to enjoy a worry free tour of several breweries without driving or having to worry about hours and scheduling.  The driving point is important, as craft beer tends to be higher in alcohol content than typical domestic beer.  Otherwise, if you decide to go solo, make sure to call in advance to ensure the brewery is open and offers tours.

Nick, my favorite bartender from the Ritual, explaining a beer to me.

If you feel like taking it easy and you can live without an in-depth perspective on the importance of hops and an insider’s glimpse into the mind of a beer brewer, than skip the brewery tour and go straight to one of San Diego’s many restaurants and bars rich in local and national craft brew selection.  Depending on how much you love beer, I suggest approaching this in one of two ways.

Your first option is to have a casual yet elongated, tasty and relaxed lunch at one of my two favorite Pizza Port locations in Solana Beach and Ocean Beach, or the Coronado Brewery.  Pizza Port obviously specializes in pizza, where the Coronado Brewery offers a tasty American-style menu.  And each of these restaurants are about five minutes from the ocean, so you can enjoy a stroll along the ocean after you’ve indulged.  This is a great option if you aren’t a beer fanatic but want to enjoy some quality local beer.

Your other option is just to go straight to where all the brewers go to drink beer, which I’d say, is a safe bet.  The destination?  30th St.  This is, hands down, my favorite destination in San Diego.  I even bought a condo on 30th St so I wouldn’t have to go far to enjoy all the beer this street has to offer.

30th street connects three neighborhoods in San Diego rich in history and character – University Heights, North Park, and South Park.  Along 30th St you will find bars and restaurants with some of the best beer selections you can find – anywhere.  Seriously, I found myself longing for an evening in Toronado as I perched on a bar stool at the Délirium Café in Brussels, Belgium.  But, after all, I am a California girl.

The owners of the Ritual Tavern in North Park, Mike and Stacey.

There’s even a beer bus that runs between the neighborhoods every third Wednesday.  But if you happen to be in the neighborhood on a night when the bus isn’t running, your biggest dilemma is choosing between the neighborhoods and all the awesome places in each of the neighborhoods.  My recommendation is to begin in the center, which is the community of North Park, at the intersection of 30th St and University Ave, and go from there.  From this intersection, you have no more than a two block walk to three of my favorites – Toronado, The Ritual Tavern, and The Linkery.  The Ritual’s beautiful interior and intimate bar paired with service that treats you like family and a small but impeccable beer selection match the spirit of the 30th St culture.  And before you know it you will be enjoying a deep conversation with several home brewers, maybe a brewer from Stone and possibly even dining on one of their special beer tasting dinners.  After the Ritual, head down to the Linkery before they close for an after dinner drink to sample their fabulous cask selection in affordable half pints and watch the city go by from their fabulous urban location.  Then stumble back up to Toronado to finish the night off with a bang in the stark, yet holy (for beer lovers) environment.

Other favorites include the family friendly picnic tables and outside bar surrounded by sand at the Station Tavern, to traditional, down & dirty, and legit at Hamiltons (both in South Park), and the higher art of bar food and beer at Blind Lady Ale House in University Heights.

Only after an evening exploring 30th St will you fully understand what warranted one of my favorite beers to derive its name from this special place – the 30th St Pale Ale by Green Flash.

Stay tuned for my next favorite San Diego experience,  More than just pasta and olive oil in Little Italy, to be published within the week!

San Diego Uncovered: My favorite experiences

They say you can take the girl out of San Diego, but you can’t take the San Diego out of the girl.  I am no exception to that rule.  As I write this blog entry from exactly 6,201 miles away from San Diego – according to Google maps – in my current home of Bologna, Italy, I should feel far away.  But I can still feel that unmistakable cool ocean breeze, I can tase my favorite burrito at Rubio’s, I can still see my friends smiling.  San Diego and my nearby hometown of El Centro, CA still feel like they are right around the corner.

But, logic prevails, and I must admit that 6,201 miles are a lot.  Chances are, you’ll be heading to San Diego before I do.  So I thought I’d give you my personal rundown of my fave experiences in San Diego, the moments that I pursue when I want to forge out of the predictability of my routine and forget that I’m a local, forget stress and responsibilities and just be a tourist in my own fabulous city for a day.  These are also my go-to’s for showing out-of-town-guests the best San Diego has to offer.

San Diego is not a place that can simply be taken at face value, and quantifying and explaining all it has to offer is no easy task.  While it is famous for surf, sun, and the zoo, if you give it a chance and just dig a little deeper, San Diego will show you a side that you never expected.  Not only can you get a tan, but you can also find exactly what your heart desires.

Here’s my list of favorite experiences, in no specific order.  Each experience will be a separate blog post that I will be publishing over the next few weeks.

1. Enjoying some of the best beer the United States has to offer
2. More than just pasta and olive oil in Little Italy
3. A day on an island
4. Beach bums at their best in Northern San Diego County
5. Two for one – Culture and nature in Balboa Park
6. Baseball and Hipsters in the East Village
7. A day at the mall
8. Lavish elegance in downtown San Diego
9. Taco Tuesday in Old Town – A little bit of local, a little bit of tourist
10. Downtown La Jolla – Tradition happens for a reason
balbo
So, without further adieu, I present experience number one: Enjoying some of the best beer the United States has to offer.

Happy exploring!!!!