I took this picture. Isn't it gorgeous?

Or at least re-touched. 

Star of India, the world’s oldest active sailing ship, spent three weeks in dry dock this summer for its decennial maintenance and came back looking better than ever in time to celebrate her 146^th birthday this Saturday, November 14.  The Maritime Museum of San Diego will give her a proper birthday party that day, complete with cake — and everyone is invited!

Built in 1863, Star of India sailed around the world 21 times before retiring when steam ships began to rule the seas.  After three decades of dilapidation, she was restored to her former glory through the efforts of San Diegans who donated their nickles and dimes as well as shipbuilding skills and man-hours.  Such a history of goodwill makes this landmark all the richer.

This ship is another reason why I love this town.  San Diego has such an impressive pantheon of cultural symbols for a west coast city, as well as a history of saving them from returning to dust.

And now we’re throwing them birthday parties!  Along with birthday cake to celebrate the Star’s 146^th. . .

• It’s Family Days at the Maritime Museum on both Saturday the 14^th and Sunday the 15^th.  Kids 12 and under will be admitted free.
  

  Insider Tip: Cover your ears!

• Making the Star’s birthday celebration even wilder, the Maritime Museum will stage more of its famous cannon battles on Saturday and Sunday.  You’ll get your chance to climb aboard our official state ship the Californian, or the Privateer Lynx and witness realistic cannon fights up close.  (Don’t worry, they forget to load the cannon balls every time!)

• If you prefer to have a bit more involvement in your ship battles, how about getting into one of the museum’s two decommissioned naval submarines for a life-size game of Battleship?  Would I make that up?  Sink or be sunk as you call your shots using radio communication.  And may the best sub commander win!

Star of India lives out her retirement alongside other historic beauties of the sea such as the steam yacht Medea and the steam ferryboat Berkeley, which houses most of the museum’s exhibits and displays, and you can go aboard and explore every one of them.  For an extra $3 you’ll be able to take a historic harbor tour aboard the 95-year-old Pilot.  What a party!

Be sure to hit up the International Visitor Information Center across the street (corner of Broadway & Harbor) for your discounted museum tickets.  For prices and details on the special programs and charters (which happen all year round) contact the Maritime Museum at (619) 234-9153 or visit www.sdmaritime.org.

Tags: downtown, fun, kids, maritime museum, museum, outdoors, san diego bay, things to do, what to do

(4 votes, average: 5.00 out of 5)

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Remember when Peter Brady made two dates for the school dance with two different girls and tried to keep them both without either one finding out?  His solution was simple: find a kid at school who looks identical to him for some reason and set him up with one of the unwitting young ladies.

I’m facing a similar double-booking problem this weekend — two huge, 2-day events that I look forward to each year: Adams Avenue Street Fair and the Pacific Islander Festival – both taking place September 26 and 27.  Unfortunately, without the wits and resources of a Brady, there’s no way for me to enjoy both days of programming.  Yes, these are my troubles.

Adams Avenue Street Fair

Gregory Page and Steve Poltz in 2004

Adams Avenue Street Fair is the outdoor event I most look forward to every year.  With six musical stages, carnival rides, and a food and arts & crafts bazaar, it’s San Diego’s most happening block party as well as Southern California’s largest free music festival.  I never miss it, and every year I come away with some great, new local discoveries, as well as chili-lime kettle corn breath.

It’s hard enough choosing which stage to go to at any particular time during Adams Avenue Street Fair, let alone deciding which day to cut entirely.  This year, the music I’m most looking forward to, or curious about, will come from Red Pony Clock, Akayaa & Bolga Zohdoomah, and Jack “Mr. Bongo” Costanzo & his Latin Orchestra.  And I can personally vouch for The Styletones and Gregory Page.

Find a complete schedule of performers and their websites here.

Adams Avenue Street Fair runs from 10:00 A.M. to 9 P.M. on Saturday, and from 10:00 A.M. to 6:00 P.M.

Street Fair Report 9/28/09: One thing this year’s Adams Avenue Street Fair had in common with those from most previous years is that it was the best one yet.  I became so swept up in the music on Saturday that I found myself returning for more on Sunday and, in the end, I stood up the Pacific Islander Festival (and my pulled pork and mac salad).  So much for multitasking.  Peter Brady — 1, me — 0.  But boy, did I dance this weekend!

Stevie Harris fronts the sensational Styletones.

Omo Ache Afro-Cuban Dance & Music Co. brings the real Caribbean vibe.

Charlie Konopka busks some San Diego blues on Adams Ave.

Yes, even the buskers brought the goods this year.  It reminded me of an embryonic South by Southwest.  If next year’s Street Fair is to top this year’s, I think these three acts will have to put something together.

Pacific Islander Festival

The other event I look forward to every year is the Pacific Islander Festival, also going on September 26 and 27.  This one takes place at Ski Beach on Mission Bay, and it celebrates the rich folkways of Melanesia, Micronesia and Polynesia with ethnic food, arts & crafts, cultural exhibits, and a stage with a steady schedule of musical and cultural performances.  It’s the place to go to sit on the grass with your plate lunch and shave ice and take in some ukulele combos and a poi ball dance performance.  That’s my kind of dinner theater.

Not pictured: lumpia, pulled pork, mac salad, fruit punch

The Pacific Islander Festival opens on Saturday at 9:00 A.M. and is pau at 4:00 P.M.  On Sunday, it’ s 8:00 A.M. to 4:00 P.M.

Limited parking is available for $10 in the lot on the west side of Ski Beach, but you should get there early to catch that worm.  A good alternative would be to park at one of the three remote parking lots and catch a free shuttle into the festival.  And wear sunscreen, bruddah!

Tags: festival, food, free, live music, outdoors, things to do, what to do

(3 votes, average: 5.00 out of 5)

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Of Stephenie’s 5 to Try This Weekend, here’s the one I tried — #1.

When you consider all the public art along downtown San Diego’s waterfront — from the temporary and seasonal to the permanent collections — it’s clear the Port Authority of San Diego is committed to art as a way to keep the waterfront dynamic and its visitors stimulated.

Each year, ArtWalk on the Bay celebrates that spirit by packing as many artists and art pieces into Embarcadero Marina Park North (right where Seaport Village is) as possible, along with art teachers, musicians (on two stages), and even demonstrations from culinary artists.

Here are some scenes from my art walk today — day one of ArtWalk on the Bay 2009.

You won't miss the herd of large, iron creatures in motion greeting you on your way into the festival.

Attention future painters, sculptors, mask shapers and kite makers: Start young! Start here!

Beat it, kid! KidsWalk drum circles are led by Susan Hall of RhythmWorx, and they're a blast.

And look! Real, live artists creating real, live art before your very eyes! This is Michael Summers, painter, painting.

This was just a small taste of day one of ArtWalk on the Bay.  The art festival stretches all along the Embarcadero North, and there’s still one more day to go.  The festival starts again Sunday at 10:00 A.M.

A tip for those of you not taking advantage of our great public transportation system to get to ArtWalk: Seaport Village offers the closest parking but it’s best to get there before noon for a good shot at that parking lot.  Otherwise, since there is no parking enforcement on Sunday, grab any of the metered parking spots along Harbor Drive and save your change.

Tags: art, downtown, festival, outdoors, public art, seaport village, things to do, what to do

(3 votes, average: 5.00 out of 5)

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The Monument

On August 15 and 16, the National Park Service, in an effort to get across to us that our national parks are awesome, offered free admission into more than 100 national parks across the nation, and it just so happens that we have one right here in San Diego.

Cabrillo National Monument sits above the Point Loma shore where it is generally agreed Juan Rodriguez Cabrillo, leading the first European expedition to explore what is now the west coast of the United States, landed his flagship the San Salvador in 1542.  (Cabrillo must have known he was in the right place when he climbed to the top to find this statue.)

It was his expedition that produced the first written description of the west coast of North America.  It would be another sixty years before anybody else would pay any attention to the region and, in 1913, President Woodrow Wilson would commemorate Juan Rodriguez Cabrillo with the national monument we all know and love today.

From this elevated spot in Point Loma, you can see San Diego — all of San Diego — on one side and the Pacific Ocean on the other.  And what’s that landmass just to the south?  Why it’s Tijuana, Mexico!  How many national parks can show you a bay, an ocean, and a foreign country?  Take that, Yellowstone!

It is easy to stand on this spot and imagine yourself in Cabrillo’s shoes –- the ocean at your back, looking over that big bay to the land beyond, rich with mountains, coastal plains and promise.  Now imagine you’re wearing thigh-high boots and poofy shorts.  That’s what it is to be an explorer, near as I can figure.

The Intertidal Area

Much more than a monument, here you can:

• EXPLORE the tidepools and their unique ecosystem.
• HIKE the two-mile Bayside Trail.
• VISIT the historic Old Point Loma Lighthouse.
• CHECK OUT the bookstore.
• SEE the “Age of Exploration” exhibit in the visitor center.
• LISTEN to Park Ranger talks on Point Loma’s military history.

ATTENTION, KIDS! You can earn your Junior Ranger badge from Cabrillo National Monument.  Just ask for a Junior Ranger activity at the visitor center.  After you have completed the program in the park, you will receive the Park Ranger badge and oath from an actual Park Ranger or volunteer.  If that’s not cool, I don’t wanna know what cool is!

Cabrillo National Monument is open every day of the year, from 9:00 A.M. to 5:00 P.M.  Regular entrance fees are $5 per vehicle, and $3 per pedestrian, bicyclist or motorcyclist.

Tags: cabrillo national monument, kids, national park, outdoors, things to do, what to do

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“The Sky Tonight”

We all know about one star that everybody comes to San Diego to enjoy (the sun, folks) but what about the billions of other stars that get virtually no play here in the city where there are too many lights at night to allow us access to the heavens?  (I know it’s a burning question.)  For me, summer does not officially begin until I can get a good look at that Summer Triangle so, being a resident, I don’t think twice about making the half-hour drive east on Highway 8 — at least as far as Descanso, just east of Viejas Casino — for a proper night sky.  But once a month, a clear night sky is within anyone’s view right in the heart of the city.

On the first Wednesday of every month, Balboa Park’s Reuben H. Fleet Science Center presents “The Sky Tonight,” a 60-minute planetarium show in the newly updated IMAX theater.  There, you can sit back in comfort and see a truly unobstructed view of our cosmic neighborhood as one local astronomer or another leads you on a tour of the sky that night — presenting the season’s constellations as well as any number of fascinating astronomical topics.  (On Wednesday, September 2, get to know the fall constellations.)

Stargazing on the Prado courtesy of the SDAA (Flash photography is not a friend to stargazing!)

And there is something here for everyone, including the astronomically illiterate (and I mean that affectionately).  Of course no one is astronomically illiterate after the show.  “The Sky Tonight” is generally recommended for ages 5 and up because of the material and the darkness required for a planetarium show, but you know your little stargazer better than anyone.  (My son was 2½ when he attended for the first time.  I was prepared to leave if things got out of hand, but it worked out all right.  Just use your best judgment, moms and dads.)

There are two shows on planetarium nights – one at 7:00 P.M. and one at 8:00 P.M. — and they do tend to fill up.  If I were you, I would arrive 30 minutes prior to showtime to buy tickets, or buy them online.  If you do happen to miss out on tickets, don’t worry — the San Diego Astronomy Association sets up a telescope outside on the Prado for free public viewing on planetarium show nights, weather permitting.

Want to spend more than a measly 60 minutes exploring the heavens?  How about three nights?

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Tags: astronomy, balboa park, camping, Julian, outdoors, starfest, stargazing, things to do, what to do

(3 votes, average: 5.00 out of 5)

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"Thanks for the memories . . ."

Earlier today, I ran across a dedication ceremony for the newest memorial to be installed downtown at Tuna Harbor Park on the bay, just south of the USS Midway Museum.  (Yeah, I didn’t know it was called Tuna Harbor Park, either.)  Over 100 people including yours truly, along with Port Authority officials, veterans, a Marine Corps band, and even a Navy admiral, were there to pay tribute to the newest inductee into the collection of military memorials: Honorary Veteran, Bob Hope.

The new memorial, “A National Salute to Bob Hope and the Military,” is the crowning piece in the Port of San Diego Public Art program’s Greatest Generation Collection, which is a series of art pieces and memorials honoring people, events and military heritage from World War II to present day.  Bob Hope’s presence in the collection is fitting since that is just about the same span of time that he spent entertaining U.S. troops overseas.

The Greatest Generation Collection has several other powerful pieces strewn about the area, including the Aircraft Carrier Memorial, the popular giant sculpture “Unconditional Surrender,” which recreates the famous Life Magazine photograph from 1945 of a sailor kissing a nurse in Times Square, and the bronze piece that gets me the most, “Homecoming.”  That’s the one that shows a sailor reuniting with his wife and child after a long deployment.  You don’t have to have served to understand the emotion behind that one.

"Unconditional Surrender"

With all the solemnity and emotion among the military monuments, they could sure use a visit from Bob Hope’s USO road show, which is what the new memorial depicts.  It’s actually comprised of 16 bronze statues — Bob “broadcasting from San Diego” Hope eternally entertaining 15 servicemen and women representing every branch of the military during every war since World War II.  The memorial says much by itself, but you can pick up a brochure about it, and the entire collection, from the Port of San Diego.

You’ll probably be down near Tuna Harbor Park at some point — visiting the USS Midway Museum or perhaps walking from Seaport Village to the Coronado Ferry — so odds are you’ll run into these pieces from the Greatest Generation Collection, as well as some other military heritage memorials.   Drop in on Bob’s show while you’re there and thank him for the memories.  (No, I never served.  I just have always liked Bob Hope.  If the Port of San Diego ever dedicates a Dorothy Lamour memorial, you know I’ll be there.)

"This is Bob 'San Diego' Hope. You all know San Diego, don't you? That's the southernmost town in Los Angeles!"

Tags: art, downtown, free, military, outdoors, san diego bay

(1 votes, average: 5.00 out of 5)

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This past weekend was one of the best weather weekends we’ve had in a while!  I really enjoyed my weekly beach volleyball games at Ocean Beach, but decided Sunday afternoon that my dose of beach on Saturday was just not enough for the weekend.

With 70 miles of beaches in San Diego, there are a lot of choices when you “think beach” around here.  When I want a nice view and a fun walk, I usually choose the La Jolla Shores beach.  LJS has a nice, long walkable beach.  All the way from the foot of the Marine Room Restaurant, past the Scripps pier and, depending on the tide levels, further down along the cliffs.

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Tags: beach, hotels, la jolla, outdoors, photography

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Downtown’s Gaslamp Quarter is well known as a nightlife destination as well as home to many of San Diego’s signature restaurants and boutiques, but those 16 square blocks south of Broadway also hold the key to the city’s fascinating history.

Like any Wild West town, the story of San Diego is rich with sensational stories of heroism and infamy – from its origins as “New Town” to its era as the red light district, through its time of decay into its renaissance – and you can relive it all through these unique and entertaining sightseeing tours.

• The Gaslamp Quarter Historical Foundation’s historical walking tour leaves every Saturday at 11:00 A.M. from the William Heath Davis House on 4th & Island Ave.  The house itself is the oldest surviving structure in downtown San Diego – each of its rooms showcasing a unique period in San Diego’s history – and it only gets more interesting from there.  On this tour, you’ll get to see the Gaslamp Quarter with new eyes as you retrace the steps of many colorful residents (including former San Diego “capitalist” Wyatt Earp), visit historic Victorian-style buildings, and walk the streets of the former red light district.
  The tour costs $10.00 for adults, and $8.00 for seniors, students and military.  Kids’ tours and private group tours are also available.

• Back Alley Tours focuses on the Gaslamp Quarter’s risqué history as our original red light district.  Here you will travel back in time to the more lawless days and nights of the ”Stingaree,” as it was known then.  Owner and tour guide Melanie Young prepared this unique and unusual tour by spending a year digging through the archives at the Museum of San Diego History reading periodicals and journals, studying historic photographs and absorbing every bit of historical information she could get her hands on.  The result is a unique and thoroughly entertaining look at old San Diego.
  Back Alley Tours take place in the evenings Wednesdays through Saturdays.  Tickets cost $20 each, or $35 for a pair. Seniors, students and military tickets are $18.
• Haunted San Diego Ghost Tours and Ghostly Tours In History provide a different kind of thrill after dark.  Hear macabre tales of San Diego’s history, explore its mysteries, and walk in the footsteps of some historical figures who met untimely or unjust demises in the streets of “New Town.”  Yup, they’re still hanging around, waiting for some resolution or perhaps just enjoying the San Diego weather.  Both tours also visit other historic districts of San Diego such as Old Town and Coronado. The tours are billed as “PG-13″ but don’t worry – it’s an Edgar Allen Poe spooky, not a Rosemary’s Baby spooky.
  Tour pricing varies by type of tour.  Check out their websites for details.

Will you ever look at downtown San Diego the same way again?  I quote the raven: “Nevermore!”

Tags: downtown, fun, Gaslamp Quarter, ghosts, history, museum, outdoors, things to do, tour, what to do

(2 votes, average: 5.00 out of 5)

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The Rock ‘n’ Roll Marathon returns to San Diego this Sunday, May 31st, for the 12th year.  More than 20,000 people will participate in the 26.2-mile footrace through San Diego’s streets and highways as live bands perform for them on 26 stages along the course.

The race begins at 6:30 A.M. on the Sixth Avenue side of Balboa Park and ends at the Marine Corps Recruit Depot.  Whether you have peeps in the race or not, you can participate by cheering on your fellow human beings from anywhere along the course as they reach for an extraordinary goal.

See the guy giving the thumbs up? Ryan Pascual: 427th place in '04 AND a winner.

While you’re out there cheering the runners on, look for the Running Elvi – a group of Elvis Presleys who turn up to run their blue suede shoes off each year.  And who knows what other spectacles may be running past this year?

See? I wasn't joking. Running Elvi!

The Rock ‘n’ Roll Marathon benefits The Leukemia & Lymphoma Society’s Team In Training program, and in the past eleven years, participants in this event have raised $134 million (net).

One more thing: you’d better believe the marathon will tie up certain roads and freeways on Sunday, so expect detours if you’re traveling in the area.  (Or just bring your running shoes; what the heck?)  Check the official website for a complete list of road closures, alternate routes and anything else you want to know.

Tags: marathon, outdoors, San Diego Events, sports, summer

(1 votes, average: 5.00 out of 5)

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Dolphin Encounter gives you the personal quality time you've always wanted.

Watching the animals at Sea World perform is always fun, but there is nothing like getting close enough to shake hands with some of these creatures and getting a personal introduction to them by their handlers.  We met and fed walruses and porpoises, had a nice sit down with a Macaroni penguin, and – my favorite - played with dolphins during a quick version of the Dolphin Encounter program. 

Normally, those dolphins don’t give us the time of day unless we stand ready with fish in hand, but their trainers made sure we got the VIP treatment.  After getting acquainted with our dolphins and learning some basic hand signals, we were able to make them jump, “walk,” whistle and sing.  It was like conducting an orchestra of sea mammals.  They were so eager to play, I swear the dolphins were having more fun than we were.  I would strongly recommend this man and beast encounter to any son of mine. 

Some programs even allow you to jump in and interact with some of these creatures in their environment, though you don’t get fed for doing tricks like they do.  You have to buy your own raw fish.

Sea World’s variety of behind-the-scenes programs each have a cost above and beyond the price of admission, but talk about making memories for the family!  Set your significant other or your kids up on one of these Sea World extras and become an instant hero! 

A menu of Sea World’s animal interaction programs can be found here.

Tags: behind-the-scenes, fun, outdoors, seaworld, what to do

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