Labor day has come to pass and that means that summer is over too. I had a great summer and I feel like reflecting before our seasonless San Diegan socialites start wearing over the knee boots and pretending like its fall.
Here are 10 things that make me love the city I've spent the last decade in.
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| Me on my first outdoor rock climbing trip in Mission Trails Regional Park |
1) Rock Climbing
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| Indian Cove in Joshua Tree |
If you've been on this blog for more than a second you would know that I am in LOVE with rock climbing. And San Diego is perfect for it. Mission Trails Regional Park is one of the largest urban parks in the United States and is full of routes. Also a half hour away are Santee Boulders with its 5 minute approach from a high school parking lot (and a minimal rack), and Mount Woodsen the most perfect single pitch top roping park San Diego has. If you like a longer approach El Cajon Mountain offers all day sport multipitch. A two hour driving commitment can get you to Tramway, Joshua Tree, and Taquietz. If I stayed within 200 miles of San Diego County borders I'd probably have more rock climbing than could last a lifetime.
Rock climbing is exciting, adventurous, and on the most part, free (by the time you buy all the equipment that is). Perfect temperate San Diego makes rock climbing accessible all year round.
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| Mount Woodsen, Elsas Crack |
2) The Beach/Surfing
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| Maria Learning how to Surf |
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I would be remiss if I didn't mention San Diego's Grand tourist destination, the beach. Even if I haven't been working on surfing lately, I would still love walking the coastline, floating around the waves, shopping the beachside boutiques, and drinking around a bonfire. Could I imagine living further from the ocean? Maybe. There isn't anything else in my life to replace the soothing roar of the waves hitting an empty beach in the morning.
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| Maria Riding it |
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| La Jolla Surf Shop |
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| Pulling it into Fletchers Cove in Solona Beach |
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| Encinitas beach |
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| Bonfire at La Jolla Shores |
3) Dog Parks, Dog Beaches.
I love that there are so many things for my pup to do besides just stay at home and wait for me to come back from my lifetime of adventures. In addition to the dog beaches and parks, San Diego is amazingly dog friendly over all. I can take her to Kobey's Swapmeet, farmers markets, and lots of stores. Maybe San Diego is dog friendly because a big part of what makes San Diego awesome is the outdoors.
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| Buffy at Dog Beach |
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| Buffy on the San Dieguito Hiking Trail. |
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| Buffy in Ocean Beach |
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| Buffy at Petco |
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| Buffy at Santee Boulders |
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| Buffy and me at Del Mar Dog Beach |
4) Culture
I had a hard time coming up with this amenity. When I say culture I mean art, books, movies, museums, documentaries. San Diego has amenities that helps me understand lives outside of my own. I love going to Balboa Park to check on new exhibits, visiting the pop up art exhibits all over town, Comic Con, Bands at the local dives, historical landmarks, and performances.
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| Sitting at a cafe downtown |
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| Bands at the local dive |
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| Me at the New Childrens Musuem |
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| Downton on the way to the ballet |
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| December Nights -- the Best Pop Up all year |
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| The Natural History Museum |
5) Wine Country
While San Diego's Wine Country doesn't hold a candle to The Napa/Sonoma of the North, its a relaxing and glamorous day for the 45 minute commitment drive to Temecula. I have done a good job of driving up at least once a year for the last three years, and its just getting to the point where I can take a few bottles back with me.
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| Long Shadow Ranch |
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| Robert Renzoi Winery |
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| In front of the Vineyard |
6) Amazing Hiking
Hiking is great exercise, low risk, scenic, quiet, and calming. One of the reasons I love living in North County San Diego is that I am near the mountains and hundreds of miles of trails of hiking. Black mountain is only a mile away and is a perfect after work hike. Seeing that mountain after doing something as pedantic as grocery shoping makes me feel like I am close to nature. Iron Mountain, acclaimed to be one of the best hikes in the county, is only twenty minutes away. Its easy to feel close to nature in the big city.
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| The Potato Chip Hike |
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| Black Mountain |
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| Hilltop Community Park |
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| San Dieguito |
7) Vegetarian Restaurants
I don't eat meat. That would really limit my options if I lived anywhere else. San Diego has been incredibly accommodating. There are vegetarian options at every resturant and there are whole vegan restaurants popping up every week. My favorites are Pomegranate in North Park, Loving Hut (a chain?), The Field downtown, and Callahan's in Mira Mesa. I don't take photos in restaurants very often, but when I do, the results are amazing.
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| At the food truck festival |
8) Skiing
I went skiing for the first time every last Christmas and I loved it. We went all the way to the California side of Lake Tahoe, but there are skiing amenities as close as an hour by car. Skiing is fun and exhausting, but also amazingly picturesque. As soon as I start skiing, its suddenly the winter wonderland that makes me understand the meaning of Christmas.
I love the fact that if I were committed enough, I could climb, ski, and surf all in the same day.
9) Julian
Its hard to say why I like Julian so much. There isn't much to do there. Its a great day trip, with apple pie, cider, and historical reenactments, but pie alone doesn't make it worthy of the top ten reasons to love San Diego. I love julian because its a complete change of scenery from the normal San Diego megalomania, the beach culture, the fashionistas. Julian is a pocket of small town in the mountains. Its an easy way to get away from the San Diego vibe if you are sick of it, and its only 30 minutes away.
10) Education
UC San Diego and San Diego State are actually the reasons I still live in San Diego. Of course, its not college alone that makes me love San Diego, its college in addition to everything else. I can have world class adventures while pursuing my world class education.
Surfer Magazine even put two schools in San Diego in their 10 top list best schools for surfing.
