What to do in San Diego in October?

Kids enjoy the hands-on marine life exhibit at Birch Aquarium in La Jolla.

This is a great month to travel in Southern California. The weather is cooler, but the “rainy season” hasn’t started, and daylight savings time doesn’t end until November 6.

In La Jolla, San Diego’s favorite coastal community, visitors can expect daytime temperatures of about 75°F (22°C) and overnight lows of around 58°F (14°C).

Kids are free

During the month of October, kids 12 and under are free at 24 San Diego County museums when accompanied by a paying adult. The program is limited to two children per adult and requires a coupon that can be downloaded at http://www.sandiegomuseumcouncil.org/

In La Jolla, the museums include Birch Aquarium at Scripps, the La Jolla Historical Society, and the San Diego Museum of Contemporary Art La Jolla.

Kids will find lots of things to do at Birch Aquarium, including hands-on exhibits with marine life, viewing underwater wonders in the Hall of Fishes, and watching the Shark Reef feeding.

Elsewhere in San Diego, young visitors will enjoy free admission at the museums in Balboa Park, at the San Diego Zoo, and at the San Diego Safari Park

La Jolla Art & Wine Festival

Held on October 1 and 2, the La Jolla Art & Wine Festival draws more than 100 artists from Southern California and northern Mexico. Their work attracts about 20,000 local residents and San Diego visitors. The Festival also features children's activities and tastings by regional wineries and local breweries.

The popular event takes place from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. on Girard Avenue between Pearl and Genter streets. Admission is $10 for adults, $5 for seniors 65 and above, military, and children 12 and under. Children 2 and under are free. Proceeds benefit La Jolla schools.

Have fun!

Photo credit: ADAMS / HANSEN STOCK PHOTOS.
Click here if you need help planning your trup to La Jolla.

La Jolla’s Newest Ocean View Café

The terrace at Caroline's Seaside Cafe on the SIO/UCSD
campus is a breezy, ocean view spot for breakfast and lunch.

Caroline’s is perched on a sandstone bluff and serves up a 180° blue-water panorama, as well as healthy, California-style meals.

Some time ago, I wrote about “San Diego’s Best Beach Breakfast,” which described Snackropolis on the SIO (Scripps Institution of Oceanography) campus. However, that landmark closed in early August when Caroline’s Seaside Café opened in the nearby Scripps Seaside Forum.

Caroline’s is named for the wife of Nico Nierenberg, whose father William A. Nierenberg served as director of SIO from 1965 to 1986. Dr. Nierenberg helped build Scripps into one of the world’s leading environmental research institutions.

I’m so nuts about this place, that I’ve already enjoyed lunch and the amazing view at least a half dozen times. So far my favorite midday meal is the chicken Caesar salad, but I also really enjoy the poached pear and goat cheese salad, and the turkey wrap. I’ve been told that Caroline Nierenberg’s favorite is the tuna melt.

Breakfast items include oatmeal, housemade buttermilk pancakes, and freshly-baked bagels.


Caroline's offers a sweeping panorama from Scripps Pier to the village.

This is Chef Giuseppe Ciuffa’s third café in San Diego. The others are the popular Museum Café at the San Diego Museum of Contemporary Art La Jolla and The Sculpture Garden Café in Balboa Park.

Born in Ferrara, the food capital of Northern Italy, Giuseppe relies on fresh ingredients from regional California farms and olive oil from his family’s farm in Italy. He arrived in San Diego in 1994 and shortly thereafter opened La Taverna in La Jolla.

Caroline’s is open 7am to 4pm Monday – Friday and 8am to 3pm weekends, except during UCSD holidays and campus closures. Diners have the choice of indoor or terrace seating – both provide a view of La Jolla Shores Beach and the ocean from Scripps Pier all the way south to the village area of La Jolla.

No need to worry about the dress code here, but a few tips about parking are in order. Please note that there is no public parking Monday - Friday in the lot near the café (8610 Kennel Way). On weekends, diners may park here, but must purchase a permit at the pay station in the parking lot and display it on their dashboard. During the week, I suggest you park on one of the streets in the adjacent neighborhood (such as El Paseo Grande or Paseo del Ocaso) or find a spot in the lot at Kellogg Park and walk up the beach to the café.

Trust me. You’re going to love this place.

Photo credit: ADAMS / HANSEN STOCK PHOTOS.

Click here if you need help planning your trip to San Diego.

San Diego Restaurant Deals

The Marine Room Restaurant overlooks La Jolla Shores Beach.

Author's note: San Diego Restaurant Week is such a hit that it's been extended through Friday, September 30. That includes 2-course lunches for $10, $15 or $20 and 3-course dinners for $20, $30 or $40 at participating restaurants.

California is known for its great restaurants and many of the best ones are in San Diego.

If you’re lucky (or were clever enough to plan ahead) your vacation will coincide with San Diego Restaurant Week, September 18-23.

As you’ll see from the map on the website, quite of few of the participating restaurants are in La Jolla, San Diego’s favorite coastal community.

Travelers who want an ocean view while they dine will head to The Steakhouse at Azul on Prospect Street (3 course prix fixe dinner, $40) where you’ll have a choice of sitting indoors or on the patio.

Prefer seafood to steak? The Crab Catcher – also on Prospect Street and also with an ocean view – is offering 2-course lunches for $15 and dinners for $30.

La Valencia Hotel’s Sky Room (3-course prix fixe dinner, $40) has a bird’s eye view of the coast, and the hotel’s Mediterranean Room is also participating (2-course lunches for $20 and 3-course dinners for $30).

Chedi Thai Bistro on Pearl Street doesn’t have a view, but during Restaurant Week their 3-course dinners cost only $20 (and fried banana ice cream is one of the dessert choices). That’s a great deal, but probably not as good as the $15 lunches at Roppongi Restaurant & Sushi Bar.

Having said all that, I’m a beach person, so my personal preferences are the Shores Restaurant in the La Jolla Shores Hotel (dinner, $30) and the Marine Room at the La Jolla Beach & Tennis Club (dinner, $40). Both face La Jolla Shores Beach, which is beautiful night and day.

Regardless of which restaurant you choose, be sure to make reservations as far ahead as possible. San Diego visitors will be competing for tables with more than 100,000 locals who also want to take advantage of these great deals.

Enjoy.

San Diego Alert: Barack Obama and The Real World

Aerial view of Mt. Soledad and La Jolla's north coast.

Traffic Alert: President Obama will visit San Diego as part of his swing through Southern California. In fact, he'll  be having lunch in La Jolla on September 26. That's bound to cause a few delays - maybe even a road closure or two. If you'll be in town that day, you might want to avoid Mt. Soledad.

This peak provides a great panorama, but on that day, the cars carrying those guys who wear dark glasses and talk into their lapels might clog up the access.

The event - no, I wasn't invited either - is at the home of Elizabeth and Mason Phelps in the Muirlands area of La Jolla. The President will be the guest of honor at a noon lunch limited to 160.

What else is happening that week? September 28 is the start of Season 26 of MTV's The Real World. If you've been paying attention, you know that Season 26 was filmed in San Diego, and the cast lived in a house in the Bird Rock area of La Jolla.

I bet that all those folks who belly-ached about having the show taped in their family neighborhood will be glued to their TVs. 

Photo credit: ADAMS / HANSEN STOCK PHOTOS.

Click here to see more photos of La Jolla.

Click here to search for La Jolla hotels.

Click here if you need help planning your trip to La Jolla.

Famous La Jollans



Mitt Romney's Jolla, California, home.

 Mitt Romney – yes the GOP candidate – is La Jolla’s newest celebrity resident. In fact, he and his wife Ann bought their beachfront home here in 2008, but no one paid much attention until he filed an application to bulldoze the $12 million house and build a much larger mansion on the site.

If you’re in town and would like to see the “before,” the house is located at 311 Dunemere Drive. The best view is from the beach, which can be accessed from the end of Sea Lane. Island Architects is working on a plan for a new two-story, 11,000-square-foot structure.

The Romney house is in an area of La Jolla known as the Barber Tract, adjacent to the home formerly owned by Cliff Robertson. The actor grew up in La Jolla and graduated from La Jolla High in 1941.

Another actor, Gregory Peck was born in La Jolla and his pharmacist father worked at Putnam’s Pharmacy (where Nine-Ten Restaurant is now) in The Grande Colonial Hotel on Prospect Street. In 1947, Peck co-founded La Jolla Playhouse with his friends Dorothy McGuire and Mel Ferrer. The Playhouse has sent many shows to Broadway and won a Tony Award for Best Regional Theatre.

Raquel Welch, Robin Wright (Penn), director Gore Verbinski, and film maker Yoav Potash also went to La Jolla High. Dustin Hoffmann doesn’t live in La Jolla, but seems to enjoy the Whaling Bar at La Valencia.

It’s possible that actors, politicians, and world-renown scientists choose to live in La Jolla, not only because it’s beautiful, but because they know they won’t be pestered by local residents.



Salk Institute for Biological Studies.

I passed Jonas Salk on La Jolla Shores Beach one day and never broke my stride – in spite of the fact that I know he invented the polio vaccine that saved millions of lives.

Salk and his wife Francoise Gilot moved to La Jolla in 1960, where he established the Salk Institute for Biological Studies. If you haven’t seen this stunning complex designed by Louis Kahn on North Torrey Pines Road, add it to your sightseeing list. Completed in 1967, the original Institute buildings were declared an historic landmark in 1991. (BTW, Salk, who died in 1995, never patented the vaccine or earned any money from it.)

Speaking of La Jolla Shores Beach, Senator and Cindy McCain own a condo in the area.

Geisel Library at UCSD, La Jolla, California.

The late Ted Geisel, also known as Dr. Seuss, arrived in La Jolla in 1948 and built a home at the top of Mt. Soledad. It was here that he wrote the popular books that became children’s classics. He died in 1991 and the library at UCSD is named in his honor. His widow is one of several La Jollans that have been on the Forbes 400 list.

Other "richest" include Irwin Jacobs (Qualcomm), Ted Waitt (Gateway Computers), the Spanos Family (San Diego Chargers), and Ron Burkle (supermarkets and more).

The concrete and glass UCSD library, in the shape of a lantern, is the perfect tribute to "Dr. Seuss," a man who continues to delight children with his fanciful characters.

Photo credit: ADAMS /HANSEN STOCK PHOTOS.

Click here to see more images of La Jolla.

Click here if you need help planning your trip to La Jolla.
Click here to compare the prices of La Jolla hotels.

Kind Words About "La Jolla Travel Information"

Elizabeth Hansen

I write this blog because I really like La Jolla and I want visitors to have a good experience when they are here. For the most part, it's a labor of love...so when someone notices and acknowledges my efforts, it really makes my day.

"Need La Jolla Travel Information? Check out this 'insider’s guide' to San Diego’s favorite coastal community."

September 2, 2011 · My Point of View, 

by Michelle Silverman.

"Have you met Elizabeth Hansen? She’s a long-time La Jollan who started a blog about our community because, as she explained, "it drove me nutty to see visitors walking up and down Prospect Street with an over-priced ice cream cone thinking they were seeing La Jolla.”

"Over 100 posts later, La Jolla Travel Information has covered places to walk, vacation rentals, hotels, places to eat, destination weddings, cooking classes, controversies (seals, The Real World), the gliderport, the Open Aire Market, and other only-in-La Jolla activities. About four times a year she includes a comprehensive calendar of upcoming events that is a great resource.

"Unlike commercial blogs, Elizabeth writes her “insider’s guide to San Diego’s favorite coastal community” from a local point of view and includes places and activities that out-of-towners might overlook

Click here to read the rest of Michelle's blog post...

La Jolla’s Secret Sandwich Spot

The Sandwich Club is tucked away in the
sunlit courtyard of the Merrill Lynch Building.

A little lunch place in the courtyard of the Merrill Lynch Building (Fay at Silverado) is a perfect example of why I started this blog. I want visitors to San Diego’s favorite coastal community to wander off the beaten path and discover places that aren’t touristy.

The Sandwich Club of La Jolla is just such a place. I first heard about it from my friend Christie Dangler (who recommended the BLT), but I got discouraged when I couldn’t find it.

Fast forward about a year and I joined the La Jolla Sports Club – also in the Merrill Lynch Building – and one day in the middle of a Pilates class, I had this great ah-ha moment. The secret spot I’d heard about was right outside the window.

I watched La Jollans pick up their meals and sit at tables in the sunlit patio right outside the studio where I was working my core – and suddenly getting really hungry.

I‘ve since learned from a friend who taught at La Jolla High that The Sandwich Club is a faculty favorite. In fact, it seems to be a favorite of a lot of people. The “in” crowd knows to order ahead of time (858-456-7548 or 456-7549) to avoid standing in line.

Sandwiches include Gina Lolllobrigida (hot pastrami), Shamoo (tuna), and The Godfather (Genoa salami, mortadella, ham and provolone cheese with Italian dressing on a French roll). They also serve wraps, salads, and a soup of the day.

The Club opens at 7am Monday to Friday and closes at 2:45. On Saturday, they are open Saturday from 10:30 to 2.

Tourists flock to the restaurants on Prospect Street and enjoy a pricey lunch with an ocean vista.

The Sandwich Club is for travelers who want good value, flavorful food, and a view of authentic La Jolla.

Click here if you'd like my help planning your trip to La Jolla.

Photo credit: ADAMS / HANSEN STOCK PHOTOS.

Click here to see more images of La Jolla.