I've lived in San Diego for fifteen years, and although I do love this city, there another city that's at the top of the list of favorite cities in California...
San Francisco...
Call me weird if you want, but I love San Francisco's cool, overcast weather! I love walking through China Town and finding bargains...and I love hanging out in Union Square - especially the multi-level Borders bookstore.
Here is a mosaic of pictures I took during a recent trip to the city...
I finally took a vacation! Well, actually it was a mini-vacation (4 days) in Las Vegas. I've come back refreshed and ready to go on another blogging marathon ;)Continue reading "How To Have a Relaxing Vacation in Las Vegas" »
Antique Row Cafe has been dubbed the #1 American Restaurant in all of San Diego. Interestingly, I've passed the one in Lemon Grove dozens of times and never noticed it.
As part of my quest to do something different everyday in 2009, I thought I'd check out this cafe. It's located on the busy street of Lemon Grove Avenue right across from the Lemon Grove Trolley Station. I was going to do some work at the Starbucks on that street today, but Starbucks was out of sandwiches, so I ventured out to see if I could find some good food nearby.
Continue reading "Restaurant Review: Antique Row Cafe in Lemon Grove, California" »
The Southern California Coast is a very beautiful place and as many times as I've wanted to leave San Diego, the gorgeous weather and the beaches keep me here. Sure, San Diego real estate isn't the most affordable in the world, but it's so worth it.
During the 80's I lived in a small town in Central California called Lemoore. My dad and stepmom live there right now and just about every month I go to visit them. Because of my aversion to L.A. traffic, I prefer to take the Amtrak train when I go to visit Lemoore. It's just so much more relaxing to take the train. I can read a book and do my writing...take a nap...or just enjoy the scenery.
During a recent trip on the train, I decided to film little clips of the scenery to share with those of you who have never been here and want to see what the Southern California Coast looks like. Most of these clips are in the Del Mar and Oceanside areas. I put all the clips together and created this short video...
If you ever visit San Diego and want to visit Orange County or L.A., but you don't feel like driving, I highly recommend taking the train. The trip takes about 2 hours and 45 minutes - about the same amount of time if you would have driven a car.
By the way, I invite you to check out all the other videos I created for YouTube. If you have an account at YouTube, let's be friends! Visit: www.youtube.com/user/salondemaria
Most people think California is all about glamorous celebrities, the beach, easy breezy living, and palm trees. As a long-time resident who has lived in just about every major city in California except for Los Angeles (I vowed "never" to live there, but you never know!), I've traveled up and down this gorgeous state which is home to a wealth of agriculture.
There's a long stretch between San Francisco and Los Angeles which has been torture for me to drive in the past because it's just a straight drive with miles and miles of flat land. Fortunately this past weekend I was a passenger on a trip to Magic Mountain with my family who live in Central California...When lo and behold, I caught a shot of one of those oil drilling thing-a-ma-jiggers...
I must admit that I engage in mindless TV watching at times and one of the shows I've watched is The Girls Next Door featuring Hugh Hefner and his lovely ladies. From a psychological and moral perspective I find it interesting to watch because I wonder what the attraction is to being a Playboy Playmate. People judge these women for taking off their clothes for money, but you have to wonder if it's any different from a woman taking off her clothes to pose for a painting or drawing. In a drawing class I took in college my professor hired a nude model and we had to sketch out a drawing of her. Nobody seemed to object.
Anyways, during a recent The Girls Next Door episode, the girls visited Alaska where Hefner's girlfriend Holly Madison is from. After seeing all the beautiful Alaskan scenery, I started thinking about possibly going on an Alaska cruise tour.
Here are some beautiful photos of Alaska that I came across at Flickr...
One of my life dreams is to get a RV and travel to every state in the U.S. I imagine being one of those wandering traveling writers...especially when I hear about events such as Uptown Saturday Night in St. Augustine, Florida.
History lesson for the day: St. Augustine is the Nation's Oldest City and was actually discovered even before the pilgrims landed on Plymouth Rock!
However, what I find fascinating and one of the reasons I would visit is the unique St. Augustine shopping opportunities and being able to meet all the artists from that area. I was looking at pictures of St. Augustine and saw many antique stores and art galleries that line the streets of this charming city. It reminds me of San Diego in a way.
I get a kick out of finding treasures for the home and giving them new life. Before I got into painting and making jewelry I used to scour the thrift shops here in San Diego looking for milk glass and vases to create flower arrangements.
Well, Uptown Saturday Night in St. Augustine is a huge event that takes place on the last Saturday of October and November. We've already missed the Uptown event this past Saturday, but the next one will take place on November 24th. Many of the shops will open houses where they serve wine and refreshments.
St. Augustine has now been added to the list of cities to visit when I get that RV!
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