Page 120 - 2015 Travel Guide to California

BOTANICAL BUILDING with the lily pond
and lagoon at Balboa Park in San Diego,
right; La Jolla Cove at sunset, below.
INSIDER’S
»
TIP
San Diego has become one of
the nation’s TOP CRAFT BEER
CITIES with more than 90
breweries. The kudos keep
piling up for truly stellar beers,
awarded 11 medals at the 2014
WORLD BEER CUP. Naturally,
locals take full advantage of this
bounty. Beer bars are
omnipresent, and restaurants
brag about the number of brews
they feature on tap. Restaurants
create tasting menus matching
suds with gourmet dishes, and
publications regularly feature
the beer of the week or month.
Every November, the SAN
DIEGO BREWERS GUILD presents
SAN DIEGO BEER WEEK, a 10-day
celebration. Festivities include
a BREWERS GUILD FESTIVAL
featuring 50 local brew houses,
beer gardens (of course), a beer
university and enough tastings
to keep suds lovers buzzing
along. Several companies offer
brewery tours year round, and
restaurants, bars, and breweries
present a calendar full of special
events. sandiegobrewersguild.org
Balboa Park
Balboa Park, the city’s cultural heart, covers
1,200 acres on hills and canyons just east
of downtown and is home to the justifiably
renowned San Diego Zoo, more than a
dozen museums and The Old Globe,
winner of multiple Tony awards. The park
turns 100 in 2015, and celebration of its
centennial will last all year long with
countless cultural events. Gourmet restau-
rants and gorgeous Victorian mansions
line quiet streets in nearby neighborhoods
including Bankers Hill, Hillcrest and Mis-
sion Hills.
by surfers and escapists (who can afford
staggering housing prices), a series of
small communities line the coast north of
La Jolla’s Torrey Pines State Park.
Dozens of cities and communities dot
the canyons and mesas between the coast
and a series of mountain ridges to the east.
Amid the residential neighborhoods,
including some of the nation’s wealthiest
enclaves, are championship golf courses,
polo fields, wineries, breweries, casinos
and the San Diego Zoo’s Safari Park. The
Laguna and Cuyamaca mountains and
Cleveland National Forest rise above these
inland attractions, and beyond the peaks,
highways descend to the Anza-Borrego
Desert State Park, still within San Diego
County’s boundaries.
Beach Towns, Golf & a Safari Park
Beach towns line the coastline from the
border with Mexico (18 miles south of
downtown) to Oceanside. Each town has
its unique character, from Ocean Beach’s
hippie holdover vibe to classy La Jolla’s
Mediterranean village sensibility. Beloved
City & Town
Thanks to prescient developers and deter-
mined preservationists, downtown San
118 2015 T R AV E L G U I D E TO C A L I F O R N I A
DANCESTROKES/SHUTTERSTOCK; LEONARD ZHUKOVSKY/SHUTTERSTOCK