bob_eva

Okay, you must have guessed it we're retired. A couple of years ago Eva said to me, I'm going south for the winter, you can come along or stay here. And as the temperature tomorrow is going to be six below, there was no choice.

We fly from Toronto to San Diego on the 5 of January, we booked a hotel from the fifth until the 11th, after that were totally open to any suggestions that you can make.

Myself, I like museums, out-of-the-way places, and am a really, really, amateur photographer. Eva on the other hand, puts up with me, but is an avid sewer so no quilt shops are left unturned.

On previous trips we would pick a town then using that as home base tour the surrounding area

looking forward to any travel tips

Bob and Eva

tcotta

I would go to Palm Springs for a week or so. It will be much warmer than San Diego as we are the sunniest city in the US. We have a great WWII air museum and Art museum. It you like outdoors for photos, Joshua Tree national park is only 1 hour away. The Indian Canyons are only 10 minutes out of town. It is the only native oasis in the US. And you can take the tram up to the top of Mt San Jacinto. More great sites for shooting.

Go to the city site http://palmsprings.com for more information about things to do. And go to http://palmsprings.com/hotels/index.html to learn where to stay.

Have fun in Palm Springs. I am a past president of the Palm Springs chamber of commerce. Tom

cferrb

Are you willing to travel to Arizona? Tucson is interesting, and Tombstone and Bisbee are also great. This is southern Arizona and it's pretty low-lying so it should be pretty warm.

Come on up to LA. There's plenty of museums, Getty Center and Getty Villa, Huntington Gardens and Museum, Los Angeles County Museum of Art, Hammer, MOCA and Norton Simon to name a few. I'm sure your wife can find some quilt shops here as well.

If you are into wineries, there are two areas that are within easy reach. The first is Temecula, which you can get to as a day trip from SD. The second is northern Santa Barbara county. Santa Barbara itself is fun, and then as you drive north of the city, there is a whole area of wineries around Santa Inez (this is the area where Sideways was made).

If you're interested in heavy duty desert, Death Valley is really worth a trip. I'm not sure what the weather is like there in the winter. You can also get to to Anza Borrego easily from San Diego. There are some nice hikes there. It may be chilly in the winter, but it won't be six degrees! These are both places where you would get lots of great photography in.

daydreamin

We just returned from a month in Palm Desert, just south of Palm Springs. Great getaway and wonderful weather!

1JAR

Welcome to San Deigo!.
Google San Diego Museums, there are lots and I would suggest getting a "Go San Diego Card" or using Senior Citizen discounts.
Many Mueseums are located in Balboa park...on rotating Tuesday's many permanant exhibits are free.
http://sandiego.about.com/od/artscul...e_tuesdays.htm
Of course one of the best museums is the USS Midway.
Many people do a Mission Tour and start in San Diego/it's lovely Missions and drive up the coast.
If you are retired Military (Canadians are often welcome) we have several Military Lodging options..Coronado is right on the Silver Strand beach..
www.sandiego.org is San Diego Convention and Visitors Bureau w/lots of info, coupons.
San Diego Magezine has 2009 Best Restaurants and Cheap Eats
San Diego restaurant weel is January 17-22
http://www.sandiegorestaurantweek.com/
These are jsut some of the suggestions..of course
Day trips to Laguna,LA for their museums would be great.

bob_eva

Well let me thank all of you for going to the trouble to answer my post, thanks guys.

Tom and daydreaming, your comments on the Palm Springs area are helpful, we will certainly make Palm Springs and Palm Desert. The websites were very advantageous. Warm is good!

Cferb we traveled to Arizona two years ago and spent most of the time in the desert areas, I fell in love with it. We went to places you suggested and interestingly enough, Ive been involved in mining for the majority of my life, I thought Bisbee was awesome(its an old mining town). Death Valley sounds interesting.

1jar thanks for your update on San Diego, I noticed the Go San Diego Card on the Internet and will take a look at it. There certainly seems enough to keep us busy. It's interesting that the San Diego restaurant week is January 7 - 22nd.

This brings me to another point, each of you probably has a favorite, or number of favorite restaurants. Care to share?

Thanks again

Bob and Eva

Jean

If you make it to L.A., here's a quilt shop in the area south of the airport.

http://www.luellas.com/

RBCal

Moderate Restaurants in San Diego (beach and balboa)

Breakfast/Lunch

Hash House A Go Go
3628 5th Ave
(between Brookes Ave & Anderson Pl)
San Diego, CA 92103
(619) 298-4646
www.hashhouseagogo.com

The Tractor Room
3687 5th Ave
San Diego, CA 92184
(619) 543-1007
www.thetractorroom.com

Dinner
Costa Brava
1653 Garnet Ave
(between Ingraham St & Jewell St)
San Diego, CA 92109
(858) 273-1218
www.costabravasd.com

Tao
3332 Adams Ave.
(between 33rd St & Felton St)
San Diego, CA 92116
(619) 281-6888



Moderate Restaurants in Palm Springs

Breakfast and Lunch
Sherman's Deli & Bakery
401 E Tahquitz Canyon Way
Palm Springs, CA 92262
(760) 325-1199

Dinner
Davey's Hideaway Restaurant
292 E Palm Canyon Dr
Palm Springs, CA 92264
(760) 320-4480

If you want high end recommendations, Le Vallauris and Copley's, Zin American Bistro.

ncounty

I like the Prado in Balboa Park for a distinctive San diego experience. It is a splurge but a lovely setting either dining outside overlooking the park or in the colorful bar.

easytraveler

I'd suggest that if you were going to try wine country, that you go a bit further north of Santa Barbara county and start in San Luis Obispo County, starting from Paso Robles area. The Central Coast of California has some wonderful wines now and, IMHO, SLO County wine country drives are sometimes more scenic than the Santa Barbara ones. Great wines in both counties.

1JAR

Re San Diego restaurants:
since we are in Pt Loma we like our neighbohood rst. near or on Shelter IS;
Old Venice - Cafe Italian
Pt Loma Seafoods- lunchtime & early dinner, take out freshest seafood, fish & chips etc awesome fresh tuna sanwich
Brigintine- nice happy hour many local sites
Humphreys-- best seafood Brunch
Miquels-ok local mexican
For a real spl;urge Highly recommend high tide dining at Marine Room in LA jolla..water goes up over teh dining room glass...easily best French Cheff..usually good MOnday night specials.

Kailani

For day trips or overnight, perhaps Laguna Beach or Catalina.

Corornado, especially Hotel del Coronado, is fun to explore and poke around the shops and beach area.

There's a place with famous Apple Pies, Julian, which is also an old gold rush town. http://www.julianca.com/ I think they suffered from a fire a few years ago, but it's a charming diversion from San Diego.

Agree that Balboa Park is fantastic. I could go there every day, and of course, there's always something happening at the zoo.

sunbum1944

I love the beach towns north of San Diego- so check some out if you have a chance. An easy drive if you have a car or you can take the train to several of them - my favorite is Carlsbad. Train stops in the middle of town so short walk to shops, restaurants, the beach.
There is also a great outlet mall in Carlsbad -
Enjoy - ( I am Canadian too- from Sask- but live in Oregon)

ncounty

good to know about the Monday night specials at the Marine Room, 1jar. another good view spot for dining is Island Prime. It is near the airport and has a stunning waterfront view of the San Diego skyline.

bob_eva

Your response has been overwhelming both in where to eat and things to do. So our thanks to ncountry, sunbum1944, Kailani, 1jar & easytraviller,RBCal,Jean,daydreamin,cfeerb,tom.
Thanks guys
bob_eva

cferrb

Just remember, although by your standards it may be warm, it may not be summery here. It's about 45 degrees outside right now, and won't get above about 55 today. It's also supposed to rain later this week.

bob_eva

Okay, I just spent two hours on my ATV pushing snow out of the driveway, the temperature is about 32° F, forecast for this afternoon is rain followed by snow this evening, turning colder more Lake effect snow.

Amazingly so we've had a really good winter up to now and this is the first snow weve have. In preparation I pushed the snow about 20 feet back from the driveway, over the winter the snow builds up encroaching on the driveway and finally there's just no place to push it.

When I was younger, this used to be a challenge which I enjoyed, no longer. As Eva says, you don't have to shovel rain.

Keep the faith

bob

easytraveler

you're so funny, Bob!

To think, I have some friends who are moving from Louisiana to Toronto. Should they be told that they don't have to "shovel rain" in Louisiana and maybe should stay there?

mlgb

At least in Palm Springs, although it will be cold enough to snow, it is usually too dry. BTW it gets colder at night (below freezing) in Palm Springs than in San Diego. There was a hard freeze in January '07 that devastated the local citrus crop. They were worried last night but luckily there was enough of a cloud cover to keep things above the danger line.

ncounty

while it can be cool, it is still quite nice in san diego in January compared to the rest of the country. Highs can reach into the 60s. I think of December as our coldest and wettest month. November was just glorious this year. We'll hope for the best for your trip.