Rancho Santa Fe

Esc-RSF Adobe Home Tour; holocaust exhibit

An historic landmark home built in 1831 and three residences built between 1926 and 1982 represent the spectrum of San Diego County’s romance with its adobe heritage. The Ninth Annual San Diego Adobe Home Tour, Sunday will allow visitors to experience California’s multi-cultural roots in the rancho hacienda and California ranch house styles, where immigrant pioneer, Spanish and Mexican influences coalesce. This year’s tour showcases…


World-Famous Chino Farm is just over there

Last week I made the easy trek to Chino Farm at Rancho Santa Fe. If the traffic gods are smiling, it’s just a short drive to the unprepossessing north San Diego County farm stand, where, upon arriving, if you didn’t know in advance you would never guess that anyone outside the immediate neighborhood has any idea the place exists. But, oh, do they ever. Thanks to patrons like…


Emergency responders deal with tragedy, sometimes joy around Rancho Santa Fe

 The ambulance at Rancho Santa Fe Fire Station 1 sat idle, if only for a moment, as paramedic John Salinsky contemplated the upscale North County beat he works for San Diego Medical Services Enterprise, the area’s 911 paramedic provider. “This is a lot different than working downtown,” Salinsky said. “It’s just better quality here. It’s like the difference between Thunderbird and fine wine.” Upscale, yes, but…


Fire up: Windy, getting windier through Friday

Look around and feel the wind. It’s a blowing, and along with it, raising local fire risk to what are called “extreme” levels — a first — by state fire officials. Strong Santa Ana winds are expected again in San Diego County beginning late Tuesday night, raising the threat of wildfires through Thursday evening. The National Weather Service issued a red flag warning that will be…


Many people can’t afford wildfire insurance

California’s relatively quiet 2019 fire season ended in October, with serious wildfires in both Northern and Southern California. There are many things Californians can do to prepare for these blazes, but one option – taking out wildfire insurance – is out of reach for many of them. For example, after massive fires in 2018, an estimated 350,000 Californians could no longer get property and casualty…


Madeleine Pickens, you are what you eat

Or what’s eating Madeleine Pickens? Rancho Santa Fe resident and ardent Donald Trump supporter Madeleine Pickens wanted the African-American chef she recruited from the Del Mar Country Club she owns in Southern California to cook “black people food” — not “white people food” — at her rural Nevada dude ranch and wild horse sanctuary, according to a federal lawsuit accusing her of racial discrimination. Armand…



No more Thyme in the Ranch for you, or is it?

Everybody loves the iconic Thyme in the Ranch breakfast and lunch deli that has been humming along with th finest delicacies for nearly a quarter of a century at Rancho Santa Fe. The question now, however, is will the tradition continue now that owners Shane and Dawn Pursell have announced their retirement from the business of making the best lunches and baked good anywhere in…



California Pacific Airlines going nowhere fast

After 10 years of effort, Carlsbad’s McClellan-Palomar Airport-based California Pacific Airlines finally took flight on November, 2018. It flew high for a whole month before being grounded, kicked out of the state of South Dakota and sued. A long-time pursuit of Ted Vallas, a 97-year-old Rancho Santa Fe businessman with an ambitious plan to pick up the traditionally failing Carlsbad passenger traffic market, the airlines may never…