Will Blog for Food

Mission Hills and Old Town

Today we explore the grand old neighborhood of Mission Hills and end up in a popular tourist destination, Old Town. Mission Hills is an enclave, not gated, but off the beaten track and not easily accessible. It is a peninsula, really, bordered on the north by the drop-off to Mission Valley on the south by a steep canyon which contains Washington Street and on the west by the hill leading down to Old Town. It is accessible at grade only from the east and by no major streets. You have to take a little detour off of Washington onto Goldfinch St and then take a left onto Fort Stockton, the main thoroughfare for Mission Hills. You can take a bus to the intersection of Washington and Goldfinch and then start your walk from there. By the way you can click on any picture to make it larger.

However, before we start our walk we pause in front of El Cuervo at First and Washington, a little hole in the wall Mexican eatery with some of the best Mexican food in San Diego as attested to by the numerous patrons who flock there on a daily basis. You have to order and pick up at the counter and the ambiance is minimal, but the food is superb!

Mission Hills is notable for its older Craftsman and Spanish style homes. All real estate here is pricey and gentrified to the max. Commercial establishments and retail are minimal, but shopping is readily accessible since, although Mission Hills has the feeling of a remote enclave, it is really in the ideal location - close to everything in San Diego while maintaining its off-the-beaten-track status.

The beauty of Mission Hills is its old time neighborhood feeling with a plethora of grand old homes set within gardens of lush vegetation.

The esthetics of the neighborhood could be greatly improved by undergrounding the power and telephone lines. You wonder why in such an affluent neighborhood this hasn't happened already. It's the Christmas season and some of the homes are elaborately decorated.

Finally, you come to Arista St which is the last street before you descend down to Old Town. You have two choices. You can take Presidio St which winds down through Presidio Park or Juan St which descends in a more straightforward manner directly into Old Town. The advantage of Juan St for those of you who are biking is that it has a bike lane.

Before we descend on Juan St, we snap a picture of University of San Diego on the north side of Mission Valley as well as a couple of cool sunset photos and one of Mission Bay to the west.

Unexpectedly, we discover Heritage Park Row, a charming little area off Juan St with gift shops that my girlfriend would love and a bed and breakfast situated in old Victorian houses.

Finally, we reach Old Town and snap a few photos of the shops and restaurants before heading for the trolley station and our return trip to downtown San Diego.

Fare thee well and Merry Christmas!

The Mariscos of Chula Vista

We start off today in search of Mariscos in Chula Vista. Mariscos is the Spanish word for seafood. In the process we will walk from the H St Trolley Station in Chula Vista to the Palomar St Trolley Station. As usual we take the San Diego Trolley from downtown heading toward Tijuana. That would be the Blue Line. Don't take the Orange Line by mistake. This will be an excercise in photojournalism as much as anything else.

We get off in Chula Vista at the H St station and then head east on H St for a couple blocks. Before long we come to Broadway and on the northwest corner of H and Broadway we encounter our first Mariscos restaurant , the Agave Grill. For those who don't like Mexican food, there's a Jack in the Box next door.

On the southeast corner of H St and Broadway is  a major shopping center,the Chula Vista Shopping Center. We turn right onto Broadway and continue walking.

If you get thirsty along the way, you might consider stopping at the Lion's Den for a quick, cold one.

 

Pretty soon you come to Sofa City:

Zero $ down. You can't beat that! or if you're in the market for a wedding dress, they have some good ones for a very reasonable price at the Veterans Thrift Store. By the way click on any picture to see a larger version of it.

Pretty soon you'll cross L St. Just stay straight on Broadway and pretty soon the Mariscos willl be coming hot and heavy.

Next you'll come to La Nena Mexican Restaurant. Although they don't advertise Mariscos on the exterior, I'll bet they have them there in this very appealing building on the east side of Broadway. I like the exterior color scheme on this restaurant, But I wish that old blue van wasn't parked there!

The next restaurant is Karina's where the sub-title is Mexican Seafood Cuisine. Karina's has a very nice cabana area on the side where one can sit and lounge the affternoon away over a couple of beers. On the day I was there, there were a few Mexican men doing just that as shown in the next photo:

Now as you can see this man was clearly reaching out and waving to the camera. After I took the picture, he called me over and complained that I had taken his picture. I said I wasn't taking his picture. I was just taking pictures of the restaurant for my blog.  He didn't seem to know what a blog was so I said, "You know, the internet?" After all, if he hadn't wanted his picture taken, he could have just ducked his head. But instead he obviously is trying to assert his presence as much as he can. He insisted that what I was doing was "F**ked Up." I wondered if he was part of the Mexican Mafia or something. I took one more picture of the pretty poster on the side of the wall:

It sure would be nice to while away the afternoon here at Karina's putting away a few Coronas while rubbing elbows with the Mexican Mafia. A few days later Felix Arellano, the biggest drug kingpin in all of Mexico, was arrested in his boat while fishing in international waters off the coast of Baja California and brought back to San Diego. In his perp picture in the paper, he looked something like the guy in my picture. I fantasied that my spotting him and taking his picture had contributed to the FBI being able to track him down. It sure was about the biggest drug bust you could possibly make.

Next down the road is Baja Lobster where you can dance nightly. What more do you want? On Viernes (I think that's Thursday) they're having the group Atrevidos. It might be helpful to learn Spanish if you wanted to patronize this club.

Further down Broadway you'll pass the Bodega Market right next to Godfather Pizza where you can get all you want to eat for $6.49. No doggie bags though or they'll breaka you facea!

On the right you'll pass another major shopping center - Broadway Plaza - anchored by a Wal-Mart and a Big Lots. They even have a Starbucks. On the left you'll see a Ritmo Latin Store. I have no idea what type of merchandise they have there, but it looks like a nice store. I hope it's not affiliated with Gitmo.

Finally, we reach the corner of Palomar St where we hang a right to head back to the Palomar St Trolley Station. Before we do, we notice that on the northeast corner of the intersection, there's a Japanese fast food drive through by the name of Yoshanoya. Now that's something you don't see every day! This  may be the flagship location for Japanese fast food! On our way back to the trolley we notice on our right a Home Town Buffet within easy walking distance from the trolley. So if you're not in the mood for Mariscos, take the trolley some night to Home Town Buffet.

Finally, we reach the trolley station:

There's a Food for Less right across from the trolley station for those who want to take the trolley to do their shopping. Now that's very convenient.

We board the trolley going north bound for Old Town and get off downtown at 5th and C.

The Taco Stands of Mission Gorge

Today we take the San Diego Trolley to Grantville Station in search of a good taco! (Click on any of the pictures to make them larger.) From downtown San Diego take the Blue Line to Old Town. Disembark and continue on the Green Line bound for Santee. This will take you through Mission Valley, past the Fashion Valley and Mission Valley shopping centers, past Hazard Center, Fenton Marketplace (home to IKEA, Costco and Lowe's), past Qualcomm Stadium to Grantville Station. You can't miss Grantville Station. It looks like this:

From the north side of the tracks, you have a nice aerial view up Mission Gorge Road where all the taco stands are located. In fact there's every kind of food you can imagine along the way from Starbucks to 7-11 with all kinds of fast food in between. Here's a view of Mission Gorge Road:

Walk the block or so along the frontage road alongside I-8, and take a right on Mission Gorge Road. The first taco stand you come to is Roberto's on your left:

On your right you'll pass Iowa Meats:

Next is El Pollo Loco. You can't miss it. It's right next to Discount Tire.

Next comes Sombrero open 24 hours:

At Vandever Avenue we have Taco Fiesta, another 24 hour drive through. Or in our case a walk through:

That's it as far as we know. However, if you don't have a hankering for Mexican, you have your choice of McDonald's, Jack-in-the-Box, Carl's, Wendy's - am I leaving anyone out? - I hope not. We continue walking to the intersection with Friars Road for a little extra exercise to work off those tacos. Here there is a huge variety of full service restaurants with every kind of food you possibly could imagine. Now it's time to walk back to the Grantville Station for the trolley ride home. Sure hope you've enjoyed this excercise in walking, Mexican food and photojournalism! Bon Appetit! And Bon Voyage!

Walking San Diego: Mission San Diego De Alcala

From downtown San Diego we take the Blue line to Old Town from whence we pick up the Green Line. The Green Line takes us east through Mission Valley past Fashion Valley Shopping Center, Mission Valley Shopping Center, the Hazard Center, Fenton Marketplace (home to IKEA, Costco and Lowe's), past Qualcomm Stadium to the Mission San Diego Station. We get off here and head north on Rancho Mission Road. Pretty soon we come to a little boutique shopping center on our left called Rancho Mission Plaza. Here they have about any type of food you could want including McGregor's Grill and Ale House, Mexican, Chinese, a coffee shop and my favorite, Chiba Japanese. Here you can get a Chiba chicken dinner for $4.95 including chicken, rice, salad and very generous portions. It could be your main meal of the day. Also you can get a draft beer for $2.00. You can't beat that! If you're not completely satisfied, there's a 7-11 across the street. Or you can stop there on the way back for ice cream if you retrace your steps from the Mission. On this hike, we choose to continue on from the Mission to the next trolley stop, Grantville.

Head east on San Diego Mission Road and in a short time you'll arrive at the Mission. It's best to walk on the north side of SD Mission Road crossing at the intersection with Rancho Mission Road as there is no crosswalk from the south side once you get to the Mission. 

First some history is in order. In 1542 the Spanish explorer Juan Rodriguez Cabrillo discovered what later became San Diego. However, he named it San Miguel because it was on or about the feast day of St Michael when he discovered it. Cabrillo didn't hang around long and then the area was rediscovered by Sebastian Viscaino in 1602. Viscaino landed and explored around for awhile renaming it San Diego in honor of St Didacus' feast day which ocurred on or about the time Viscaino landed. Now you might ask why didn't he name it St Didacus. Fortunately, for all San Diegans, we're not known as St Didacans! Well, San Diego is the Spanish name for St Didacus which is the Latin name. Now that we're straight on that, we might note that Cabrillo gets all the credit for discovering San Diego while Viscaino, who gave it its name, is hardly mentioned. Life isn't fair!

Nothing much happened until 1769 (San Diego was a sleepy, sleepy little town) when the Spanish king decided that outposts should be established along the California coast to discourage encroachment from Russian fur traders. The Franciscan Padres saw this as an opportunity to spread Christianity among the natives, and the king decided to let the Padres carry his water. Thenceforth, two expeditions were dispatched with Father Junipero Serra in charge of establishing the Missions. He established the first Mission on the western end of Mission Valley close to where the Praesidio is now located. By he way the Praesidio is not an historic landmark, but was built in the 1930s sort of as an advertising gimmick.

A few years later in order to obtain a better water supply and to be closer to the Indian Villages, the Mission was moved to its present location at the eastern end of Mission Valley right on the San Diego River. Although the water supply was better, the decision to locate close to Indian Villages turned out to be fatal for Father Luis Jayme who had by now taken over from Fr. Serra who had gone on to establish other Missions further up the coast. In 1775 Indians attacked and destroyed the Mission killing Fr. Jayme.

The Mission is quite extensive and is connected to a fully functional school. The grounds are very impressive. It's a beautiful place to spend some time. It's quite historical also being the first of 21 Missions established up and down California. With all that it took me 40 years before I decided to spend some time visiting it. I think it's the kind of tourist attraction that's last on the list of most natives as well as non-native visitors. People would rather head for the zoo or Sea World or any number of other attractions, but if you're looking for a peaceful place to spend some time in a beautiful setting, you could do a lot worse.

Actually, there's quite a lot to see here. You enter the courtyard and grounds through the Gift Shop. There is a $2.00 fee (for seniors). I think it's $3.00 for adults. There's the room where Father Serra slept on the left. There's a large courtyard. The main church is on the left and there's another building on the right where the rest rooms are located. The gardens are beautiful. There is also an architectural dig on the right.

When you enter the main church on the left you can walk straight through to another garden courtyard.

Here is a picture taken inside the church.

In addition to the church there is also a chapel. Here is a picture of the chapel.

There is also an interesting Museum which explains the history of the Mission. There was the Mexican Occupation during which the Missions were secularized and the San Diego Mission was turned over to Santiago Arguello. I suppose he was a VIP back then. Then in the period shortly before and after the Mexican-American War, the Church was occupied by US Cavalry. The Mission was not given back to the Catholic Church until Abraham Lincoln did it after the Civil War.

The Mission fell into total ruins and was not reconstructed and restored until the 1930s. Only Fr. Serra's quarters were part of the original Mission. However, the restoration was faithful to the original.

Now a few final words about Didacus before we move on with our walking tour to the Grantville trolley station from which we'll embark on our trip back to downtown San Diego. I always wondered why they called it Mission San Diego de Alcala. Where did the "de Alcala" come in? Well, Didacus (or Diego) was born in 1400 in Spain. He became a Franciscan brother and converted natives to Christianity in the Canary Islands. In 1450 he went to Rome and took charge of an infirmary where he was engaged in the nursing of sick friars some of whom were said to have miraculously recovered under his care. Returning to Spain in 1460, he became an infirmarian at the University of Alcala near Madrid where he cared for students and the poor. Aha! So that's where the "de Alcala" comes in.

He died in 1463 and was buried at the University. In 1562, Carlos, the son of the King of Spain was severely injured and close to death. Diego's 100 year old body was placed in bed with Carlos while the Franciscans prayed. In the morning Carlos awoke, recovered, and attributed his recovery to the vision he'd seen of a Franciscan friar. The King and his son petitioned Rome to have Fr. Diego declared a saint. In 1588 he was declared a saint.

In back of the Mission is a large, modern church. In the back is a platform from which you can see a view of the San Diego River and views eastward to Mt. Helix and San Diego State. One can see I-8 in the picture.

We continue eastward on San Diego Mission Road heading for the Grantville Trolley Station. You can't miss it. It looks like a spaceship.

Here it is from the Home Depot parking lot.

And here it is up close.

Don't forget to click on any picture to see a larger version of it! Now it's back to downtown San Diego via the Green Line to Old Town and the Blue Line from there! Enjoy!

Walking San Diego: National City to Chula Vista

Today we are going on an excursion to some of the lesser traveled and touristy parts of San Diego, sort of a busman's holiday. We will also take our camera in order to document some of the scenic highlights as we travel first by trolley and then by foot from 22nd St in National City to H Ave in Chula Vista. When Ralph Kramden, who drove a bus, went on a holiday he'd say, "C'mon, Alice, let's take the bus to Jersey." Well, today we're going to take the trolley to our embarkation point, go on a walk which will take us about an hour and a half and then take the trolley home again. The trolley ride will cost us nothing since we have a senior pass from the Metropolitan Transit Service which allows us unlimited use of the trolleys and buses for $15.00 a month. From anywhere in downtown we get on the blue line going south - destination Tijuana. We go past the 12th and Imperial transfer station, through the trolley yard, under the Coronado bridge, past National Steel and Shipbuilding on the right, past Naval Station San Diego and disembark at 24th Street in National City. Head straight down 22nd Street toward Mt. Miguel. (Why they call it the 24th St. station, God only knows.) You will see the Auto Accessories building on the left. That's the tan building with the red sign.

As you continue walking west on 22nd St, you will pass a used car dealership on your left as shown in the photo below. The interesting thing about this sign at Prestige Auto Brokers is that Bad Credit, No Credit or Repos is OK, but then in the small print it says "On Aproved Credit." (You can click on the picture or any picture in this blog for that matter to see a larger version.) Well, aside from the misspelling of "Approved," the thing about this sign is the illogic of it. Bad credit is OK as long as they approve it. So they must approve of bad credit, right?. No credit is OK again "On Aproved Credit." Well, how can they approve your credit if you have no credit?!?  This puts them in the awkward situation of approving nothing! And then after all this, well, of course, they wouldn't have a problem with Repos. They could always repo the car they're selling you if you continue your downward bad credit spiral, and then, presumably, they would still have made something on the deal.

Continue walking on 22nd St. just a couple of blocks until you come to National City Blvd. Turn right and head south. You will now be on the Mile of Cars which I think is National City's main claim to fame. It is a very pleasant boulevard lined with a large number of very exquisite palm trees. You will walk past Ron Baker Chevrolet. Ron does his own ads on TV in which he poses the question, "Who can sell you a car?", and then proceeds to answer his own question with the punch line, "The Baker Man Can."

Continue walking past Frank Toyota and McCune Chrysler Jeep. Their slogan is "Honest" which is scripted right on the side of the building. The thing about this walk is, if you get tired of walking, you can always stop into one of the dealerships and buy yourself a spankin new vehicle or even a spankin old vehicle, but we'll get to that later. I don't know whether it's Mr. McCune or just some hapless pitch man that does the McCune ads on TV. At any rate it's a man in a very uncomfortable looking cross between a tuxedo and a dark suit that sits on the tailgate of one of his vehicles with his dog who also looks pretty uncomfortable come to think about it, and expounds on the virtues of McCune Chrysler Jeep. He promises you all kinds of stuff and then ends his speech with the exclamation "Honest!" One thinks that he can't wait to get off set in order to change into his shorts and flip-flops.

Continue past Jack Harrison and Mossy Nissan. The thing I like about Mossy Nissan is that Sandy Mossy does the commercials. I don't know what relation Sandy Mossy is to Mr. Mossy, but I assume she would be either daughter or wife, and a very attractive and petite thing she is too. She is always loading her ungrateful kids into a Mossy product. They're saying "No Way" and she says, "Well, it could happen." I never really got the point of the whole dialog, but Sandy has a really cute way of talking. She has a little lisp so that when she say "Mossy Nissan" it comes out "Mothy Nethon."  I like Thandy Mothy!

By the way the picture on the right shows the lot with those certified brand spankin used vehicles we told you about earlier.

If you do get tired of walking, there are numerous bus stops along the way so you can always hop on a bus. After walking about a mile along the Mile of Cars, you will finally come to the end of it right around 33rd St. Leaving the Mile of Cars you will cross over a bridge which separates National City from Chula Vista.

Walking over the bridge cast your eyes eastward and you will see the beautiful Sweetwater River flood channel bordered by Interstate 54. In the background again is Mt. Miguel just so you can keep your bearings. After you cross the bridge there will be a major shopping mall on your left with a Wal-Mart, a Best Buy and a Verizon wireless among other stores. If you're hungry there is also a Subway there.

I inquired as to the name of the shopping center so I could report it here, but, I'm sorry to say, without much success. First I asked a woman at the bus stop. She was at a loss, so I decided to cross the street and ask at Best Buy, the first store in. Well, I inquired of at least 3 employees and all were dumbfounded looking at me with blank expressions as if to say "We only work here. Why would you want to know something like that." Next I found Jonathan taking a cigarette break in front the Verizon Wireless where he was employed. I knew he was employed there since he had on his official Verizon employee badge. Well, Jonathan wasn't much help either, but Wal-Mart was next. Surely, the Wal-Mart greeter would know. Well, after a hurried bi-lingual conference among Wal-Mart greeters, the consensus was that the shopping center had no name.  I immediately conjured up visions of generating a lot of capital by having a contest for the naming rights to this shopping center. I know in La Jolla they have naming rights for everything. At the Atheneum Music and Arts Library, you can have everything from a chair to a whole room named after you. The chair might go for $5000., but the room will cost you big bucks...up to $50,000. It's amazing what lengths rich people will go to to immortalize themselves! I figure the naming rights for the "No Name" shopping center should fetch at least $100,000.

By the way, pictured above is one of the numerous and convenient bus stops along our tour route. You can always hop aboard the old 932 at any time if you feel tired, and I'm sure you will wind up at our destination, the H Ave Trolley station in Chula Vista.

Now that we're in Chula Vista the street changes names. We're no longer on National City Boulevard, but now we're on Broadway, and the streets are no longer numbered, but now we're into lettered avenues starting with A Avenue. We will be going all the way to H Avenue where we'll turn right and so go back to the trolley. Now that we've  left the Mile of Cars and entered Chula Vista the scenery gets much more interesting as can be seen by the picture on the right above. It's a mystery what this building is, but I did conclude that it was not a place of business. Otherwise, there would have been some indication of the nature of that business. So it must be a residence of some sort, but who lives there at 115 Broadway? It's nicely painted,  but it's just a block of a house surrounded by asphalt. No grass to mow! When guests come over, they can conveniently park just inches from the front door. However, they have a 2 hour time limit on their visit. Directions should be easy though. Hey, it's right between the Used Car lot and The Mattress Outlet.

The next point of interest is low Profile Tires. You know you never know when you're going to need some low profile tires. And they come in various sizes depending on how low you want to go. They come in your 15 inch size, your 16 inch size all the way up to your 22 inch size. Even if you don't need them today, when the need does arise, you'll always know where you can get them.

One of the things I appreciate about this particular walk is that there are plenty of amenities along the way. You never have to worry about food or drink because you're never more than a couple minutes walk from these necessities. On our walk already we've passed Fillipi's Pizza Grotto and Zorba's Greek Restaurant. If you've worked up a bit of a thirst you can stop in at Steve's Cabana, one of a number of distinctive, individualized watering holes along the way. Now Steve's isn't a franchise. You'll not find Steve's on every street corner the way you'd find Starbucks, for example. Incidentally, we will come to a Starbucks a little bit further on.

(By the way, we're almost to E Street where you can take a right and head on back to the E Street Trolley Station if you're a wuss and don't want to stick it out all the way to H Street.)

If you don't like Steve's, there's always Wild Woolly's where, I assume, they serve similar concoctions. Wild Woolly's was established in 1904 (click on the picture to verify the establishment date) so it's got quite a track record. For over 100 years Wild Woolly's has been catering to the tastes of Chula Vistans. With a lot of places here today and gone tomorrow, Wild Woolly's has survived the vicissitudes of changing tastes, trends and fads. The secret of their success is simple. Find a product that the public wants, and give them lots of it at a reasonable price. You know the family that owns Wild Woolly's probably retired about 80 years ago, but that little storefront on Broadway in Chula Vista is like the gift that keeps on giving. Who knows how many generations of Wild Woolly's family have been put through college with the profits that have been made here.

And if you're in need of a tattoo, there's always Lefty's as pictured at left. In fact there's a satisfied customer coming out of Lefty's right now. You know you can always stop in at Lefty's, get tattooed and then continue on your way. Why not? Now that you're all beered up from Woolly's or Steve's, this is the perfect time to get tattooed so go for it! Maybe a little butterfly on the lower back. If you're a male who wants to convey a more robust, hard-bitten image, you might want to get one of those cobras running up your arm. However, take my advice and don't get "Diana" tattooed on you arm. You never know when she might ditch you and you might wind up with Jessica, her best friend. How embarrassing!

Well, we're almost there folks! That big, little intersection, the corner of the world - Broadway and H Avenue in Chula Vista. The center of the universe! Now the eating and drinking establishments are coming on hard and heavy. If you're hungry for a dog, here's the Wienerschnitzel, World's Largest Hot Dog Chain! No apologies to McDonald's! They've found their niche. The good old American hot dog, something McDonald's left off their menu, fortunately!

And folks, go ahead reward yourself. You deserve it. You're almost there. And here's the reward for all your hard work right on the corner of H and Broadway. Ta Daaaaaa! Starbucks. And it's a drivethrough to boot. What a bonus Jack! Sorry McDonald's!

If you take a gander over to your left you can see the sign announcing the Chula Vista Center a mega mall with a name yet! Need to do some shopping. All the stores are here including Mrs. See's candies. There are tons of stores and restaurants around here. If you can't find it here, you can't find it anywhere, folks. And oh, did I forget to mention that sometime ago we passed the Vagabond motel where, if you had been tired and wanted a snooze after getting beered up at Wild Woolly's and the trauma of getting tattooed, you could have rented a room.

OK, take a right on H Ave , and there's only a couple of blocks to go to the H Ave Trolley Station. But fun-filled blocks they are chock full of shops and services! Just check out the National Cremation store front in the Banco Popular mini mall in case you're so tired you just want to check out!

And if you still need a cup of coffee or a taco before you get to the trolley station you can stop here:

Finally, we're at the H Avenue trolley station:

I always like riding the trolley because you meet some interesting people:

Climb aboard and after about a 15 minute ride we're back in downtown San Diego. I do hope you have enjoyed this exercise in photojournalism with me as your tour guide. Let's plan to travel together again soon!