I'm back home in the heat!

I just spent the last several days in San Diego and realized how much I enjoy being outside. There are just so many things to do there for families and kids. After driving seven hours (my kids like to stop a lot), we were welcomed back home in Phoenix to 111 degree heat and a malfunctioning air conditioner. Luckily we are members of the Chas Roberts maintenance agreement plan and receive faster service. We'll have our new A/C unit in just 3-5 days. The best business idea I can think of is to own an air conditioning company in Phoenix. However, over the next several days I plan to highlight some unique San Diego businesses.

Here’s my top list of things we did. Oddly enough, most of the activities were FREE.

1. Glider port between Torrey Pines state park and Black’s beach. If I lived in San Diego, I would go there every single night to watch the sunset. I’m amazed every day how few people seize the opportunity or even know about this place. Depending on the wind, there are usually several people handgliding on any given evening. How incredibly beautiful this is. Oh, and free to watch and park your car with lots of open spaces.
2. City parks - I was amazed at how many people actually use the parks in SD. And it was parents with their kids too. Not just nannies. We frequented several parks and met lots of great people during our stay.
3. Balboa Park – beautiful setting, lots of museums and gardens and concerts, many are free. In fact, we didn’t spend a penny while in Balboa Park for the afternoon.
4. Dog beach – tons of parking there everyday we went and my daughter could spend days watching all the dogs play on the beach. No dog required to go to dog beach, and it was fun meeting all the dog lovers there.
5. Chino farms- this vegetable stand in Rancho Santa Fe doesn’t post prices on their produce and the stuff’s not cheap. However, it’s a fantastic experience and great local find. Additionally, they have the best strawberries ever. They are some French varietal that I’ve never heard of before. Best strawberries ever. Ever. Ever. Ever. Not kidding.
6. Old Town – great way to spend an afternoon with the kids and brush up on your history of San Diego in a fun way. There’s an excellent Mexican restaurant there too called Old Town Mexican restaurant. Tortillas to die for! We made the mistake of checking out a family owned wine tasting shop without buying anything. My husband told the owner we’d been to Napa and enjoyed wine tasting there but we’d be back later if we’re interested. The owner told us Napa is for auto parts, not wine tasting and wine got it’s start in California in the San Diego area. Guess he told us!