Get to Know San Diego

San Diego is a beautiful place to live. It’s also quite a bit more expensive than many other places in the nation. However, with beautiful weather, access to beaches, and even skiing a couple hours away, it’s easy to see why San Diego is so popular.

For many people, the quality of the local schools is a prime consideration when buying a home. There are some great school districts in San Diego. The Poway Unified School district is truly excellent, as you can see in the 2005 Academic Performance Index (API) Base Report. Many other excellent schools are available.

For neighborhood safety, I love checking out ARJIS. You can’t just look at one neighborhood and understand the crime rate; you need to compare to get an accurate feel for how much of an issue crime is in a particular area. Just click on Crime Maps and start checking things out. It’s very educational and not all realtors have discovered this resource yet. (more…)

Once in a while you need to indulge yourself. If you’re in San Diego, Extraordinary Desserts is the perfect place for that.

Karen Krasne, the owner of Extraordinary Desserts, is a spectacular dessert chef. You aren’t going to find desserts of this quality just anywhere. She trained in Paris, and her desserts are beautiful as well as delicious.

If you stop by, make sure that you’re hungry. These desserts are a delight to the senses. You’ll feel like you’re gaining weight just walking in, but it’s worth it.

Even beyond desserts, Extraordinary Desserts offers an exclusive gourmet selection of coffees, teas, jams and more. You can enjoy them at home and in your own recipes.

This is one of those really fun places to stop when you need to indulge yourself. Sometimes you have to do something you wouldn’t often do but feels and tastes soooo good.

Extraordinary Desserts is located at 1430 Union Street as well as 2929 Fifth Avenue in San Diego.

San Diego has a rich maritime history. This is what the Maritime Museum, obviously, works to preserve.

Perhaps the most famous ship in the Maritime Museum’s collection is the Star of India. The Star of India is a beautiful vessel, as well as being the world’s oldest active ship. She was built in 1863. But she is not the only ship in the collection. There’s even an old B-39 Soviet Attack Submarine.

The guides at the museum are very helpful. Exhibitions are set up in five permanent galleries, as well as traveling exhibits. The five permanent galleries are categorized as the Age of Sail, Age of Steam, Charting the Sea, Harvesting the Ocean and the Navy. (more…)

Every year since 1994, Little Italy in San Diego has held a celebration called Precious Festa. It has grown from a small celebration to a major event with more than 100,000 attendees every year.

The 2006 Precious Festa is on Sunday, October 8. There are some events on Saturday, October 7, but no vendors and just a little entertainment. Sunday offers more than 150 vendors with a variety of offerings, 3 stages of entertainment, two beer and wine gardens and much more.

Enthusiasts will be displaying their Italian-made vehicles. You’re sure to see some real beauties there.

The entertainment available ranges from big band music to Frank Sinatra impersonators to a variety of Italian favorites and much more.

If you’re in the area, this festival is quite worth attending.

Windansea Beach is not your typical sandy beach. It’s also not one of those uncomfortable beaches with nothing but small rocks to walk on. The rocks here are big. Really big.

Don’t get me wrong. There’s sand on this beach. Plenty of it. But the sandstone rocks give it a truly unique appearance, unlike what you probably think of when you think of a sandy beach. And it’s beautiful.

Be prepared when you go to Windansea. There’s a distinct lack of restrooms. There are lifeguards in summer and sometimes on spring and fall weekends, as well as separate swimming and surfing areas. (more…)