Peaceful?! I think NOT!

This is part of a billboard located off the 8 freeway near the Fairmount/Mission Gorge exit, going east (although I've seen it a couple of other places around town too). The ad line is, "Experience the peace of drive." Am I missing something? How on earth could sticking needles in your skin be anything akin to peace?

They must not be marketing to me. **shakes head**

Pig points west

The house that I showed the other day has a one story addition on the back with this cupola and pig weather vane. Look out for pigs headed toward the beach. :)

2 blocks to the beach

You would think this house would be in the Midwest, right? Nope, it is a "beach" house, just 2 blocks from Pacific Beach.

Comicon really makes you notice it

Comic-Con ended yesterday, but we all felt its presence. Here's a pic and story from Expat. We live quite far enough from the Convention Center not to expect gangs of people looking like Dr. Frank-n-Furter and Cruella DeVille strutting around, but it seems not far enough to escape the sky-writing airplanes. This clever fellow was overhead on Friday as we were sipping wine, writing SEEK THE SIX. We don't know what it means and we don't advise poking around the web to find out. There's a computer virus involved.

Rose Creek

Here's the view of lower Rose Creek behind Rose Creek Cottage. A little bit past the bridge, the water makes it way out to Mission Bay. Click here to see what locals are doing to preserve the area and make it more accessible.

Rose Creek Cottage

The Catamaran Hotel mentioned in yesterday's post actually has ties to this little cottage on Garnet Avenue. Rose Creek Cottage was originally built in the 1920s as a dining room attached to a mansion called Braemar. In 1959 Braemar was torn down to make way for the Catamaran Hotel, but the dining room was saved and used as a chapel at the hotel. In 1986 the Pacific Beach Town Council and local citizens worked hard to have it moved and preserved to its current location next to Rose Creek.

This is what I should have ordered

Big menus drive me crazy! I could study a menu for 15 minutes and still be undecided. This photo shows why I agonize over the menu. I went to Atoll Restaurant at the Catamaran Hotel and I got a deliciously described tuna sandwich that ended up tasting average. Whereas someone else ordered this scrumptuious rice paper wrapped crab cake with warm shiitake-corn frisee salad and orange-Thai basil sauce. I got a bite and felt my menu choice regret instantly.

DMV...Sigh.

There are times when you just have to go to the DMV and wait in line...Times when you can't plan ahead and make an appointment online, thereby speeding the process up. Those times, when you have to go and take your chances, are the times when you spend some times staring at the backs of your citizens like above, or sitting in their hard, plastic chairs trying to figure out the system that they use for taking a number - how is it that the following numeric sequences used by the DMV are "in order" according to the computer at the DMV?

G024, G025, G026, F001, A009, C010, G027, G028, J003, F002...

How does that makes sense? Is there any way at all that one could predict future numbers? Yes, I spent too much time at the DMV today!

Front, back, & side to side

I had to post all three of these photos to show you these clever painted electrical boxes that are near Shelter Island. The artist really covered all the angles and more. Click on a number to see more: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13.

Surf storage

You can't miss these 3-D surfers on the side of Price Self Storage off Interstate 5 in Pacific Beach. Surfing and storage units seem to be a theme in this town - click here to see another storage place with surfing on their walls. And thanks to Jonathan for suggesting this idea.

Deflated flamingos

Urban Mo's (formerly Hamburger Mary's) in Hillcrest knows how to create a fun atmosphere. For Gary Pride weekend, these festive flamingos hung from pink ribboned palm trees that surround the restaurant and bar. The flamingos were up a week ahead of time and lots got snagged by passersby while others eventually just lost their steam.

The Flame

It is Gay Pride weekend here, and yesterday I showed the oldest gay bar in San Diego. The Flame is also one of the older clubs. It has been around since 1984 and used to be the #1 lesbian hang out. It has changed ownership in the last few years and now it's boys night on Fridays, girls night on Saturdays, and a goth night every second Saturday.

The Brass Rail

It's San Diego's LGBT Pride weekend, so I thought I'd show the oldest gay bar in town. This is The Brass Rail and their recent interior remodel along with inexpensive cover prices and drinks has made the place a new old hot spot for dancing, entertainment, and hanging out with friends.

Perfect patio

I think one of the most satisfying and luxurious things is to eat a good meal outside (that is, when the weather is nice). I enjoy eating outside on my little patio at home, but it is even better when someone else makes the food and cleans up. I recently had a very pleasant meal at C-Level restaurant on Harbor Island where the patio has views of the bay and downtown. Sorry, the camera ran out of batteries before I could get a photo of my food! I had the Deborah's skirts on fire salad which is spicy skirt steak with grilled red onions and balsamic gorgonzola vinaigrette on greens. Mouth watering.

A Place to Rest

Lake Cuyamaca offers a lot of scenic beauty. And isn't it nice that they also have a place to sit down and absorb it all? This bench is located behind the store and beside the dock where you can rent a boat to go out on the water. For more information on Cuyamaca, go here.

Fun in the sun

I used to think that people only wore sunglasses to look cool, but they are an essential accessory in a city with year round sun. When I first moved back to San Diego five years ago, the first thing I did was buy 3 pairs sunglasses - one for everyday wear, one pair for leaving in the car, and another pair as emergency back up. All 3 pairs have since been broken or lost and replaced. How many pairs of sunglasses do you have?

Whaling Wall #94

We are pretty lucky to have more than just one Whaling Wall by Wyland in San Diego. This one called "Ride the Tide" is on the Del Mar Fairgrounds and is #94 of 100. The artist only has a few more to finish to complete his goal of 100 murals. Click here to see #64 which is also located in San Diego.

Yep, it's yellow

I like what they've done here with this house and wall in Hillcrest - very Southwest. The wall actually extends further and has a nice wooden gate.

Yep, it's purple

A very striking house in North Park. My aunt thought that the green ball was a compost bin, but I'm really not sure what it is. Maybe it is only garden decoration, anyone know?

Venus in San Diego

Here is another art piece that is part of the Little Italy Association public art. It's called Eredita Italiana by Yakov Kandinov and was installed in 2004. Click here or here to see a few other murals from Little Italy.

Costa Brava without the fish 'n' chips

A very fine looking meal shared by Expat:

The Costa Brava is a part of Spain (Catalonia, technically) much frequented by British holidaymakers and famous for the aroma of fish 'n' chips and warm beer. Our own Costa Brava, however, is a tapas restaurant on Garnet Ave, opened in 2001 on the site of the old Palenque Mexican restaurant, and still trendy. Nothing so plebian as fish 'n' chips here. On a recent visit we ordered white asparagus with aïoli, empañadas de bacalao, and the famous jamon ibérico on pan tomate. For "afters," as they say in Britain, slices of manchego cheese topped with quince compote. We had to send one bottle of wine back but the second albarinho was delicious. All extremely nice for about $25 a head.

Cuyamaca Lake

A drive up the 79 eventually brings you to Cuyamaca Lake, a little community in the hills to the east of San Diego city. The lake is a popular destination for boating, fishing, and other relaxing activities. It's also a popular day trip for local campers (there's tons of camping around the area).

The dam that creates the lake was built in 1888 and is touted as the second oldest in California. This lake is popular with fishermen, as it's stocked with many different types of fish. It is situated at an elevation of 4600 feet in an Oak and Pine forest and surrounded on 3 sides by the 26,000 acre Cuyamaca Rancho State Park of which 52% is classified as wilderness.

For more information: Lake Cuyamaca Info.

Strike a pose

This is the sand box at the little park in Mission Bay that I showed on theme day last week. These sea lions make comfy resting spots for kids and adults too. I saw a 20-something kicking back here talking on her cell phone - missed that shot!

Slow for the cone zone

Roscoe "Pappy" Hazard was the founder of the Hazard Construction Company and a San Diego pioneer. The construction company built many parts of San Diego's freeways and roads - the interchanges at 8 & 805, 8 & 15, 8 & 125, and 5 at Ardath Road to name a few. This statue of him is located in a shopping center named in his honor - Hazard Center. The base of the statue quotes his motto: "Be just and fear not".

The other side

Yesterday's photo was the view of the San Diego County Fair from the ferris wheel, and if you look to the west you get this view of the ocean.

Last day

Today is the last day of the San Diego County Fair, so if you haven't gone yet, this is it! I took this photo from the ferris wheel. It goes higher than I thought and was about $4.50 for a few turns of the wheel, but oh, the views.

Jack and the one that got away

This is Jack above, one of the market goats that was getting ready to be shown at the San Diego County Fair. One of the owners told us that once the goat gets brushed down they use these fancy jackets to keep them clean. This is not Jack, but a rambunctious little goat that escaped a few times when it was being shown in the ring.

Corn

On Fridays I try to feature food and since I went to the San Diego County Fair (I still call it the Del Mar Fair) this week, I thought I'd show you the best thing we ate. Of course there was lots of great food, including deep fried cheesecake on a stick and deep fried this and that. But the grilled corn on the cob wins. Salt, pepper, several kinds of seasonings, and of course butter to top it off. Have a safe and happy 4th of July!

Green Valley Falls

This photo is for all those people who are going camping this weekend for the 4th of July. This photo was taken this past weekend at a campsite called Green Valley Falls in the Cuyamaca area. The campsite is closed to overnighters due to the fires we had back in October, but it is open for day use. At about 40 mins. outside of central San Diego (but still in the County), it's a bit of a drive, but well worth it.

It was a hot day and the chilly water was *really* nice. There were some fantastic pools for swimming, shallower wading pools, little beaches, and even some shade for when you just needed out of the sun.

If your weekend includes camping, I hope for your sake that you're close to water to cool down in on this hot, hot weekend.

The Plunge

Monday's photo is a mural on the side of a 60 x 175 indoor pool once known as The Natatorium, later called The Plunge, and now called The Wavehouse. These arches are part of the original entrance of the pool which opened in 1925 as part of Belmont Park. The pool and the Giant Dipper roller coaster are the only remnants of the original park. Click here to read more about the pool's history.

Theme Day - "No" sign

Today's theme day for the Daily Photo group is to show a photo of a sign with the text "no" in it. Here's a nice little park on Mission Bay where it seems that drinking and golfing are prohibited. For more no, no's: click here to view thumbnails for all participants or on a city below.
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