Faces familiar from movies and television can be seen live at local theaters (the Old Globe Theatre and the La Jolla Playhouse are often a first step on the way to Broadway for new plays and musicals).  Picture yourself at “Bertrand at Mr. A’s” having something bubby on the balcony, overlooking the harbor and the city while you wink and wave, eye level with the pilots as they dip down for landing at Lindberg Field. 

Wherever you go, the streets are clean, palms sway, and eucalyptus scents the air.  Fish is ocean fresh, fruit is stacked in Technicolor abundance, and ice cream comes in tropical flavors.  In San Diego the old feel young, the young are golden and the fleet, it seems, is always in.

There are so many activities to choose from in one place you’ll run out of time before you run out of things to do.  San Diego is synonymous with such world-class attractions as the San Diego Zoo, Safari Park,SeaWorld, LEGOLAND and the USS Midway Museum--and that’s the short list.  More than 30 museums grace the cityscape and 16 are conveniently located in Balboa Park, San Diego’s cultural heart.  Considered “The Smithsonian of the West” this magical park, the largest urban green space in America, houses its treasures among 1,200 acres of cultivated gardens and Spanish Colonial Revival architecture. 

But let’s skip to our hotel, the Marriott Hotel Mission Valley.  Located just 10 minutes from the airport.   Each room has a balcony with views.  There are lounge beds by the waterfall that bubbles down into the pool and a cabana you can kick back in with your feet up and partake of umbrella drinks, poolside.  All this for $99 per night including free internet service and free parking.  But a car isn’t necessarily necessary. 

The San Diego Trolley stops next to our hotel and will take you to Old Town, where civilization began in California and still maintains that rich, old world culture today.  You can zip down to “Little Italy” then to the Embarcadero where the U.S.S. Midway is moored (lots more on that to come) then on to downtown San Diego, PetCo Park –the gold standard for new baseball fields, and the “Gaslamp Quarter” for fabulous food and jazz entertainment, not to mention world class shopping.  If you want to live dangerously, you can continue right to the border of the USA and Mexico and hop off there to venture into the land of the Mariachis.  Trust me though, everything you want is in San Diego…….stay tuned, there’s lots more to come.