Tourism

Out & About—She sneered at me…. TWICE!

She informed me that the Academy was private property and that I couldn’t take pictures. I apologized and told her I would leave. Then I asked her what the Academy was. She said, “It’s an Academy.” — Russel Ray When I was up in North San Diego County a couple of weeks ago visiting the San Pasqual Battlefield State Park for my San Diego Historical…


Meet Safari Park’s Southern White Rhino calf

Edward, a 13-day-old southern white rhino calf at the San Diego Zoo Safari Park, got his first chance to experience a true mud wallow this morning today, under the watchful eye of his mom, Victoria. Rhino keepers decided to create a wallow for the youngster to provide him the opportunity to experience an instinctive behavior for rhinos. Keepers scooped up mud from the area around…


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…


Firefighters learn from Battle of San Pasqual

The Battle of San Pasqual: Decision Making Lessons Learned from the “Bloodiest Battle in California’s History” By Fire Apparatus Engineer Heather Thurston, CAL FIRE – Monte Vista Unit During the Mexican-American War President James Polk sent the U.S. 1st Dragoons, under the command of General Stephan Watts Kearny, 2000 miles from Fort Leavenworth, Kansas to California. On December 6, 1846 these troops engaged a group…


Turn out the lights at Stone Brewing Berlin

Today, Tuesday April 30, 2019, marks the end of the much ballyhooed Stone Brewing Berlin campaign. After six years of planning and three years of operation, Stone Brewing yields its grounds at Stone Brewing World Bistro & Gardens Berlin to Brewdog, a Scottish craft beer company. In 2010, according to Reid Ramsey, founder of Beer Street Journal, Stone’s co-founder walked thorough the gasworks property and…


Bringing the Mexico border closer to home

Many if not most Americans have never crossed the U.S. border with Mexico by land or spent any time in that region. This unfamiliarity can make it easy for politicians to distort what’s going on there and hard for immigration advocates and social movements to muster support for their primary goal: making U.S. policies toward undocumented people and asylum-seekers more humane. What can advocates for…


Flower Fields blooming big-time through May

El Nino rain in February should mean magnificent Flower Fields at Carlsbad Ranch blooms beginning March 1 through May 12. Mellano & Company of San Luis Rey is the production arm and onsite grower. The Ecke family owns the land. Over 50 acres are devoted to raising the ranunculus bulb crop; approximately five acres are used for other specialty flowers. Rains that have pummeled San Diego…


Buying insulin dirt cheap at Tijuana is a thing

Americans Cross Border Into Mexico To Buy Insulin At A Fraction Of U.S. Cost For one patient, a three-month supply of insulin is $3,700 in the U.S. versus $600 in Mexico. But is it legal? Data from a U.S. government survey suggest that 150,000 to 320,000 U.S. travelers list health care as a reason for traveling abroad each year. An estimated 952,000 Californians enter Mexico…


Flower Fields blooming business through May

The Flower Fields at Carlsbad Ranch opened Friday The final day? It’s always Mother’s Day, which is May 12 in 2019. El Nino rain in February should mean magnificent Flower Fields at Carlsbad Ranch blooms now in session through May 12. Mellano & Company of San Luis Rey is the production arm and onsite grower. The Ecke family owns the land. Over 50 acres are devoted to…


California Pacific Airlines says it will rise again

Like the Black Knight in “Monty Python and the Holy Grail,” who kept on fighting despite being torn apart limb by limb, California Pacific Airlines chief Ted Vallas said Tuesday his troubled 10-year airline project would fly again “within three months.” California Pacific Airlines flew for one month last year, incurred large debts, grounded its airplane, left employees without payments, got kicked out of the…