We admit we are among the legions of Phil’s BBQ fans. Overall this, now mini-chain, is probably San Diego’s most popular restaurant. The main location has over 11,000 Yelp reviews. Yelp consistently adds Phil’s to its top restaurants in the nation list. It was number 68 in 2016. So, of course, we need to add…
Catalina is a 75 square mile island off the coast off southern California. This makes it about the size of New Providence island in the Bahamas, home of capital city Nassau. While Nassau is a crowded busy place, Catalina is the opposite. There is only one town of note on Catalina, Avalon with a population…
The famous prison located on Alcatraz Island is right off the city of San Francisco. As such it makes an easy trip for visitors to the city. However, this is not a spur of the moment activity. In 2015 a number of features came out suggesting that Alcatraz was one of America’s best tourist attractions. …
The closest beach to our house also happens to be a great place to hike. Torrey Pines State Beach is right next to the Torrey Pines State Reserve and we hike this area several times a year and have posted some family friendly hiking guides. Twice a year or so I like to do a…
For many years, good BBQ restaurants in San Diego were non-existent. That is slowly changing as some legit places are now opening up. Leading the way is a small location off the beaten track in Lemon Grove. To kick off our series on San Diego’s Best BBQ we thought we would start off with a Coops…
Board and Brew is one of those long running places that in recent years has exploded into a growing mini-chain. We have been going to the original location in the heart of Del Mar since the 1990s. In the past few years this sandwich spot has grown to over a dozen locations, not just in…
The Torrey Pines golf course is one of the most scenic public golf courses in the world. It sits on a bluff 300 feet above the Pacific and has spectacular cliffside views. The Lodge at Torrey Pines sits right at the entrance to the golf course at the 1st and 18th holes of both the…
We were lucky to get to see the awesome Lego Art of the Brick exhibit when it came to San Diego in four months in late 2016/early 2017. This traveling exhibit features over 100 Lego art pieces built by artist Nathan Sawaya. We were skeptical of going because 1) it was expensive ($25 kids 12 and under,…
When our daughter turned 10 she decided she wanted a custom loft bed. The idea is she would be like a college student with her desk and “work area” underneath the bed. She searched the Internet for pictures of what she wanted and I realized this was something we could build ourselves. I wasn’t prepared…
Over the years we have had great success getting significant travel discounts on hotels using Hotwire and Priceline. These sites have regular listings for hotels, but the discounts usually come from paying for an unknown hotel. Because you don’t know the name of the hotel until after you book, you can get a bargain price…