Page 79 - 2023-2024 Travel Guide to California

“California’s Grand Canyon” at Fonts Point,
provides hiking trails through palm
canyons, fields of cacti and dazzling wild-
flower displays.
Heritage & Culture
Explorer Juan Rodríguez Cabrillo spotted San
Diego Bay in 1542 but quickly sailed on
north, leaving the Kumeyaay Indians to their
warm, bountiful home. San Diego County’s
13 tribes represent the largest concentration
in the country, and more than half benefit
from casinos in east and north counties.
Cabrillo’s brief stay is commemorated
at Cabrillo National Monument at the tip
of Point Loma overlooking the bay. Euro-
pean settlers who returned in 1769 built a
fort and mission church at Presidio Hill
(now Presidio Park), a gorgeous swath of
lawns above Old Town State Historic Park,
which contains many of San Diego’s oldest
buildings.
Family Fun
Adults and children alike relish the San
Diego Zoo and its separate Safari Park,
LEGOLAND California and SeaWorld San
Diego. Downtown’s New Children’s
Museum is an eco-friendly playground for
all ages, that makes learning fun. Its adja-
cent one-acre park allows kids to burn
energy. Teens flock to fighter planes and
flight simulators at the USS Midway
Museum. Top choices for inexpensive
entertainment: bicycling at Mission Bay
and Coronado, fishing off piers in Imperial
Beach and Ocean Beach and stargazing from
Mount Palomar.
DRIVE TOUR
OCEANSIDE
CARLSBAD
Historic Highway 101, also called the PACIFIC COAST HIGHWAY, runs
through San Diego’s idyllic NORTH COUNTY coastal communities, passing
by gorgeous long beaches and wild lagoons. You can do the trip in a
couple of hours, but why hurry? Begin at the north end of La Jolla at
TORREY PINES STATE PARK and descend a steep hill to Torrey Pines beach,
then uphill again to DEL MAR. Stop signs at each block force you to slow
down and appreciate the Tudor-style buildings and quaint shops and
cafés in town before you descend again and cruise through SOLANA
BEACH, CARDIFF-BY-THE-SEA, ENCINITAS, LEUCADIA, CARLSBAD and
OCEANSIDE. Each town’s main street presents an array of dining and
browsing options, from funky Mexican take-out stands to fancy restau-
rants on the sand. Of the many beaches along the way, MOONLIGHT
BEACH in Encinitas presents the most playtime possibilities including a
playground, snack bar, picnic tables and a year-round lifeguard station.
Take your time and stop often. The distance between Torrey Pines and
Oceanside is only 25 miles, but you can easily spend a full day exploring.
When you’re ready to return to central San Diego, just hop on I-5 South at
one of the many entrances along 101.
LEUCADIA
MOONLIGHT BEACH
ENCINITAS
CARDIFF-BY-THE-SEA
SOLANA BEACH
DEL MAR
TORREY PINES
STATE PARK
2023-24 TRAVEL GUIDE TO CALIFORNIA 77