The San Diego Traveler

Calling All San Diego Bloggers

Carole A. Lane — Tue, 07 Oct 2008 17:15:24 +0000

Calling all San Diego Bloggers - This is the official October call for submissions to:

The San Diego Special Edition

San Diego County bloggers, as well as bloggers writing articles about their travels here, gather together here once a month to share our favorite articles. If you write about San Diego, you’re invited!

Our distinguished, and ever growing, list of past participating blogs include:

To join us, you only need to submit a link to your favorite article that you’ve written about anything in San Diego County during the last month. You can use this handy Blog Carnival Submission Form, where you can also find links to past and future editions. Send a link today, or any day up until the deadline (the 15th of each month). The links will be compiled into a celebration of the many voices and views of San Diego, and listed here a couple of days later.

It’s that easy. Readers love it, because it’s a wonderful way to discover new blogs. Writers love it, because it’s a great way to find new readers. Besides, a blog carnival is a fun read for everyone!

Please send in an article and mark your calendar to join us every month for The San Diego Special Edition.

Photo credit: Flickr http://www.flickr.com/photos/xtina_badgirl/2916634683/

Tags: blog, bloggers, carnival, writers

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Come See the Animals - For Free!

Carole A. Lane — Mon, 06 Oct 2008 11:03:37 +0000

During the whole month of October, children 3-11 can come to the San Diego Zoo and Wild Animal Park and receive free general admission! Of course, they must be accompanied by an adult (who will have to pay for their own ticket), but this is a great deal, especially for families who couldn’t otherwise afford to spend the day at one of these world-famous attractions.

To see what’s new at the Zoo or at the Park, see the What’s New pages where you can view the new babies and upcoming events.

If you’d like to combine your free visit with some family-friendly Halloween fun, come to the Wild Animal Park on October 25 or 26 for Pumpkins in the Park. There you’ll find a Trick-or-Treating Scavenger Hunt, learn about animals of the past at the Extinct Animal Graveyard, enjoy some Eerie Entertainment, do creepy crafts, watch Pumpkin Decorating and Scarecrow Stuffing demonstrations, take part in the Conservation Cupcake Walk and the Costume Contest, all while keeping a look out for some Spooky Animal Encounters.

Photo credit: Flickr http://www.flickr.com/photos/citnaj/1704178359/

Tags: pumpkins in the park, san diego, wild animal park, zoo

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Head to the Haunted Trail This Halloween

Carole A. Lane — Mon, 06 Oct 2008 06:05:09 +0000

Here’s another San Diego Halloween tradition that you won’t want to miss if you really like a good scare. The Haunted Trail of Balboa Park features frightening characters from stories and films, graveyards and ghosts, menacing trees, and dark, scary trails at San Diego’s favorite outdoor haunted attraction.

The Haunted Trail runs through November 1. It’s not recommended for children under ten years of age, pregnant women, or people with heart conditions, and yes, it’s really that scary!

Tags: balboa park, halloween, haunted trail, san diego

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This Week’s Featured Photos

Carole A. Lane — Sun, 05 Oct 2008 04:42:25 +0000

Wandering around Flickr this week, I came across these wonderful images of San Diego that I thought you should see:

Any one of these would make a great postcard, don’t you think? Thanks to these fine photographers:

Photo #1 credit: Flickr http://www.flickr.com/photos/purpletwinkie/2912852590/
Photo #2 credit: Flickr http://www.flickr.com/photos/dirkhansen/2904285928/
Photo #3 credit: Flickr http://www.flickr.com/photos/nathaninsandiego/2914990327/
Photo #4 credit: Flickr http://www.flickr.com/photos/salondemaria/2908015595/

Tags: artwalk, bay, coronado bridge, marines, miramar air show, padres, petco park

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Breast Cancer Awareness in San Diego

Carole A. Lane — Sat, 04 Oct 2008 06:01:03 +0000

October is Breast Cancer Awareness Month. If you, like many other San Diegans, would like to get involved with the fight against breast cancer, the 2008 Komen San Diego Race for the Cure is coming up, and it’s time to register. You can also make a pledge through their site.

If you can’t make it to the race, there are many other upcoming breast cancer events in the San Diego area:

October 4: Eat pizza for the cure at Mt. Mike’s Pizza
October 7: Benefit Gala at Bob Burton Center for the Performing Arts
October 9: Golf Revival Event with LPGA Golf Coach Dori O’Rourke
October 12: Car Show for the Cure at the Escondido Elks Lodge
October 18-19: Survivor Crop (Scrapbooking) 2008 at the Quantum Learning Network Camps
October 24-25: Fashion for a Cure in Fashion Valley
November 2: Race for the Cure
November 21-23: The 3 Day Breast Cancer Walk

Click here for additional information about these events, and get involved, or go to Susan G. Komen for the Cure for local events in other communities.

Photo credit: Flickr http://www.flickr.com/photos/sewpixie/1460956016/

Tags: 3 day, benefit, breast cancer, car show, eat pizza, fashion, for the cure, golf, race, survivor crop, susan g. komen, walk

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The Aquarium is Haunted!

Carole A. Lane — Fri, 03 Oct 2008 05:20:17 +0000

Are you looking for family-friendly Halloween fun? Would you like to try something a little different? Then you won’t want to miss the 8th annual Haunted Birch Aquarium – where science goes mad!

On October 24, 25, 26, 2008 (6-9 p.m.), you can begin your spook-tacular adventure with a journey down the spirited pumpkin patch where extraordinary characters will have you spellbound.

Then, if you dare, enter the haunted Hall of Fishes, home to wolf eels, moon jellies and other marine animals that slither and float. In the dark, catch a glimpse of bioluminescence from the sea. Are you brave enough to peer into jars of amazing deep-sea creatures?

Later, brew up some fun with water games that will hone your conservation skills and help world-renowned Scripps Oceanography researchers with their scientific experiments. No visit to the aquarium would be complete without close encounters with live animals…so get ready for globs of hagfish slime or a meet-and-greet with skeleton shrimp.

Boogie down to monstrous live music, munch on fa-boo-lous cookies and sip hot apple cider. Each child 13 and under can collect tricky-treats with a free, recyclable grocery bag donated by VONS. Whatever your age, you’ll be howlin’ with delight this Halloween at Birch Aquarium at Scripps.

Photo courtesy Scripps Institution of Oceanography, Birch Aquarium: http://www.aquarium.ucsd.edu/Press_Room/Multimedia/Image_Gallery/index.php?album=special-events&image=ba_A_halloween07_035.jpg

Tags: birch aquarium, halloween, haunted

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Get Ready to Scream!

Carole A. Lane — Thu, 02 Oct 2008 05:21:07 +0000

For a scream of a good time, head over to the Del Mar “Scaregrounds” this month and enter the Scream Zone!

Along with the ghosts, ghouls and zombies who have been taking over more than five acres of the Del Mar Fairgrounds every October for the last ten years, new features for 2008 include:

NEW blood-curdling scenes in the House of Horror. Test your bravery in the Doll House & Factory, the Funeral Home Room, the Electrocution Room, Chaos Hallway and Freaky Farm & Barn, plus the new surprises in the Moving Floor Room, the Killer Clowns Room, and the Butcher Shop. This attraction is not recommended for children younger than 10.

Haunted Hayride! Board the open-sided haywagon for a creepy trip through the haunted barns on the back side of the Del Mar Race Track. Terrifying fun for the family or anyone brave enough to come along for the ride! (May not be appropriate for small children.)

The Chamber The Chamber is a twisting maze with frights around every corner. As you find your way through, you must navigate San Diego’s longest Spinning Tunnel of Terror, and the abode of La Llorona, a visiting ghost from Mexico who has lost her children.

Schedule

Friday & Saturday, Sept. 26-27
Friday-Sunday, Oct. 3-5
Thursday-Sunday, Oct. 9-12 & Oct. 16-19
Nightly, Thursday, Oct. 23 through Saturday, Nov. 1

Hours

7:00 p.m.-midnight, Fridays & Saturdays
7:00-11:00 p.m., other days (when open)

This attraction is intended for teens and older, so don’t plan on bringing little ones. It will give them nightmares for weeks!

Photo credit: Flickr http://www.flickr.com/photos/itsallaboutmich/771195288/

Tags: del mar, fairgrounds, halloween, scaregrounds, scream zone

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Cooking, San Diego Style

Carole A. Lane — Wed, 01 Oct 2008 05:07:02 +0000

Boston Baked Beans, Key Lime Pie, New England Clam Chowder, Mint Juleps, Gumbo…There are certain foods and beverages that we can’t help but associate with a particular place.

What about San Diego? Are there any foods or drinks that are quintessentially San Diego? I’d expect a San Diego food to remind me of sunshine - maybe a salad with some citrus fruit, and perhaps a Mexican twist. There really aren’t any foods or drinks that are universally reminiscent of San Diego, are there?

I checked Cook.com, searching for San Diego, and came up with some interesting recipes:

San Diego Sunshine Bread
San Diego Beach-Baked Potatoes
San Diego Beef Salad
San Diego Chicken
San Diego Cornbread Casserole
San Diego Fruit Bowl
San Diego Marinated Mushrooms
San Diego Salad
Sam Diego Tamale Pie
San Diego’s Hotel del Coronado Borscht
Sunny San Diego Applesauce-Carrot Muffins
San Diego Casserole
San Diego Salad

I have to admit some of these took me by surprise. I’ve seen a similar recipe for San Diego Sunshine Bread which also included oranges, but most of these recipes are new to this San Diegan.

I’m going to give some of these a try. The San Diego Cornbread Casserole looks enticing, although I’m not sure why it qualifies as a San Diego recipe. Perhaps it originated at a San Diego restaurant? Sunny San Diego Applesauce-Carrot Muffins sound like a must try too. Yum!

If you’d like to try any of these recipes, you can find them all at Cooks.com. Let us know which ones you like. If you have another favorite San Diego recipe, let us know that too. Bon Appetit, San Diego!

Photo credit: Flickr http://www.flickr.com/photos/tomarthur/2356882708/

Tags: applesauce-carrot muffins, beach-baked potatoes, beef salad, borscht, casserole, chicken, cornbread casserole, fruit bowl, hotel del coronado, marinated mushrooms, salad, san diego, sunny, sunshine bread, tamale pie

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Stay in San Diego - For Free!

Carole A. Lane — Tue, 30 Sep 2008 00:20:46 +0000

Are San Diego’s high hotel rates keeping you from traveling to America’s finest city? Have you ever considered home swapping?

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Scene from "The Holiday"

The Union-Tribune just ran an article about home swapping for travelers. They noted that there are about twice as many homes available for free stays as there were last year, if you have a home to swap. The article mentions Craigslist as one of the sites where they’re seeing this growing trend, as well as on membership-based home exchange clubs like HomeExchange.com.

10News.com ran a similar story about house-swapping in July. In it they mentioned the services HomeLink International and INTERVAC Home Exchange International.

Budget Travel will feature another article on house swapping in their upcoming October issue.

If you live in a location that’s likely to attract tourists, and you’d like to visit San Diego, you could be a good candidate for home swapping. Click on the links above to learn more about this growing phenomenon, and find out how you can stay in San Diego - for free!

Tags: free, home exchange, home swapping, hotels, house swapping

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Dinah, Won’t You Blow?

Carole A. Lane — Mon, 29 Sep 2008 05:07:34 +0000

My father loved trains, loved everything about them, especially diesel trains. It was easy to buy gifts for him, train books, ties with trains on them, train paraphernalia, movies about trains. I never thought about buying him a train song book!

If you have a train enthusiast in your life, take them and the rest of your family to Old Poway Park this Saturday, (October 4) for the Train Song Festival. This event features:

• Live, traditional railroad music
• Storytelling
• Train related vendors
• Model railroad display
• Arts and crafts market and demonstrations
• Train rides for a nominal fee
• Blacksmithing demonstrations
• Mock train robberies and gun fighting reenactments
• Children’s arts and crafts and face painting
• Children’s railroad costume contest
• Lunch and sweet treats available for a nominal fee

Visitors are welcomed to come dressed in your best railroad attire and be a part of the fascination of Old Poway Park. The Heritage Museum and Nelson House will also be open for tours.

Photo credit: Flickr http://www.flickr.com/photos/laughingrhino/48824238/

Tags: heritage museum, nelson house, old poway park, poway, train song festival

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