The Olivenhain Meeting Hall is a small treasure. Built in 1895 by Colony Olivenhain, the Hall was…read morethe social and community center of Olivenhain. It's one of those rare historic buildings in San Diego County that have been preserved and/or restored. It provides a glimpse into 19th century life in this area.

I love this place. I just think it's so cool and really gives Olivenhain a sweet, old-timey vibe…read more I took some pictures and posted up here on Yelp. These were taken on an overcast day, so the details don't come out as nicely as I hoped. Anyway, if you're along this stretch of Rancho Santa Fe Road in Olivenhain, just pull over and find some street parking nearby. You can walk through the grounds and check it all out. We're really lucky to have this little jewel preserved in North County. Pretty neat to think of what settler life was like back in day.

It's been decades since I've been back to Coronado Island. When I drive over the beautiful bridge…read moreand enter the Island, the first thing I tend to notice is how clean, crisp and well kept everything is. The heritage, the history and that 1888 old town feels is super captivating. The restaurants and shops are always fun to explore. Tons to offer from boutiques to bargains and local eats to treats, there is something for everyone! Additionally, the walkability to "ALL the things" is convenient, beneficial and easy. Indulged in lobster roll from Lobster West which was so delicious & had a feature favorite (coconut/chocolate) ice cream from MooTime Creamery! On most of my San Diego visits, I always make a trip to the beach. This one makes a memorial impression. It's so sophisticated, peaceful and pleasant! Plus, it's unique fun finds of some stunning special sea shells is a reminder of its iconic charm. It's just truly a pleasure to come here even if it's just to simply watch the waves of the bay at ALL times of the day! Don't miss out on visiting the stunning Hotel del Coronado. If you are a non guest, you still have options. You can choose to walk thru the property OR you have the option to purchase a "Day Pass" via ResortPass (check their website site) for access to the pool, beach daybeds, and cabanas. There's also options for dinning & drinking as well without having any hotel reservations. Enjoy!

When I was a teenager, I read a long book series that was set in Coronado Island, so it was really…read morecool to see the place in real life 20 years later. The beach was gorgeous with palm trees lining the path to it. The Hotel Del was really neat to see. We also drove past a couple of famous folk's houses. The main area looked pretty as well. I wish I could've spent more time on the island, but it was a lovely first glimpse.

I've known the Old City Hall building as my place of work for over a year now, but these walls have…read moreseen a lot of action since first being built in 1874. The popo, the mayor and even the library have all called this building home at one time or another. Now, Jimmy Love's pimps out street level while a mixture of cool-ass techies and other tricksters occupy the live/work lofts on the second through fourth floors. The building owner, Jason, is super friendly and does a fantastic job of keeping the building nice and purdy. The original, exposed brick walls make you feel like a real boss. Bossin' in the Gaslamp at the Old City Hall Building. Yeah. 5th and G is hard to beat. Good people watching day and night makes it really easy to forget about work, which is probably exactly what the mayors did back in the day. "Fred, I need to get some work done at Tivoli's. Gonna step out for a bit. Text me if you need anything. -Mayor Capp." Nothing's really changed in the last 135 years or so. More historical, and reliable, info here: http://www.sandiego.gov/development-services/industry/urmoldcityhall.shtml

Great spot great food (roast beef sand which was phenomenal) good drinks broncos fans get the first…read moredrink free

There is paid parking, but there's also plenty of free street parking around if you search for it…read moreand keep in mind for the signs that are posted around. It's a must stop if you're in San Diego and it's worth a visit too, even if you're not planning on paying for any of the tours or the tourist spots. Lots of historical architecture, including authentic adobe buildings, statues, signs, and themed shops and such. Each time I've gone here it's been lively, especially so during the holiday season with the decor and the live music playing in the main central square. Lots of photo opportunities and shops and such to peruse and look around. Easy to grab souvenirs here as well and depending on what you're looking for, there may be more than one shop offering it (cultural souvenirs and pieces). Great to shop for outdoor garden decor (little statues and wind chimes) too. There's also toy stores, a hot sauce store, a "Chinese" themed store which is quite funny to visit, and lots of spots to grab food too, sit down and dine in or casual take out. I personally like the churro and champurrado place when it's open. There's a couple restrooms here too, but can get crowded and a bit gross with the large volume of people visiting. Free house museums for self tours where you just walk through and read the little signs that they have, and sometimes there's historical actors as well, which is always a treat.

I visited Old Town San Diego for the first time since I was a child...it's very different from what…read moreI remembered, but that was about 15-20 years ago. It's still cool to see. Plenty of shops, museums, and historic sites to check out. Handful of restaurants had live music. Honestly, the highlight for me was probably the church and the free tortilla I got from the window near Casa de Reyes. Those lived up to the childhood memories I had there. Free parking is good. Walking around is nice. Just do it once to cross it off your bucket list. It's fun, just go with low/no expectations!

The Idyllwild Community Center and Town Hall provides variety of recreational, cultural, and social…read moreopportunities for residents and visitors. The ICC currently runs programs and events such as youth and adult sports, senior fitness, holiday and summer camps, feeding America distribution, a Sunday farmers' market and monthly mountain luncheon, and the annual Tree Lighting Ceremony. The ICC also operates the Town Hall, Butterfield Amphitheater, Idyllwild Community Playground, Dog Park, Skate Park, and Pickleball Court. How I found out about all of this was by attending the tail end of their Sunday Farmers Market which was located right next to this building.

CANCELLED Mother Goose Parade AGAIN!! Absolute shame . Get it together people. This has been a…read morelong time tradition for so long. Our children are being robbed of a beautiful event.

I lived here once, and near here the rest of the time…read more "The Drawer"(or box, or most colorfully of all, coffin; in this last meaning it shares a name with a villain on the A-Team) is tightly constrained by its smallish valley topography from where it derives its name. As the city is hemmed in past every hillside by other communities, it can't begin a sprawl -- El Cajon's growing up, not out. Next among its disadvantages is its climate. While a half-hour away from the coast or the mountains, EC gets the worst of both worlds. It's dry and a permanent, smoggy santa ana in the summer while bitter cold in the winter. Also, it's hard to argue with the conventional wisdom that EC is less interesting than most of its neighbors. Cultural trends reach it slowly, only after taking root in its more fertile surroundings. The city has filled the role of the long-term butt of jokes in the local media ("El Cajon's latest scoop: Vanilla."), who see the town as comfortingly (if not accurately) stuck in an earlier decade, its stereotypes celebrated even today. As an illustration... Things easily found in the EC: authentic dive bars metal tees middle-eastern restaurants & grocers unarius used media shops yogurt mill Things not easily found in the EC: bookstores fine dining hipsters indie coffee shops (perhaps these two are correlated) most ethnic cuisines Still, for all the staid small-townness, El Cajon regularly attempts renewal of its downtown. The construction of the new city hall (and its much larger sister, the locally-infamous pasteboard-wall jail) in the 70s kicked off the first big wave. This started a cycle of renewal at the Main and Magnolia center of town, expanding out a block or so every decade. By the 80s they rebuilt the aging shopping center a block north on Magnolia (leading to the ill-fated Krikorian multiplex and now best known for its Rubios), and then returned to slowly crawling west along Main in the 90s. The 21st century has so far seen the EC attempt shedding some more of its small-townity, with mixed results as it begins an ambitious 30-year proposal to rebuilt the Main Street corridor by adding row homes and encourages a theater dining for ECPAC in the city center. If completed, a planned, modern, pedestrian-friendly downtown could lead to a comparatively cosmopolitan EC Valley. I hope it is successful.