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 Claudia Fenner is a writer, photographer and travelenthusiast who is a stay home mom of three in Dix Hills. She loves to plan her family’s vacations and helping her friends and relatives with their vacation ideas. |
| Wow! I was impressed with San Diego. I have never been a huge fan of California as a vacation spot but after a recent trip there I am hooked. We had 5 days to travel and needed to rack up as many frequent flier miles (4892 round trip to be exact) as possible to keep our medallion status , so I chose San Diego as our destination for Memorial Day weekend. It was easy to find a flight; Delta, American, and Jet Blue all fly numerous nonstops a day from JFK to SAN. The fare usually ranges between $350 – $500 round-trip. I researched where to stay and decided upon the Homewood Suites Liberty Station as a centrally located hotel that fit our needs perfectly. 2 bedrooms – check. 2 bathrooms – check. Free breakfast and happy hour and dinner on weekdays – check. Friendly staff, who happily answered my millions of questions – check. One of the nicest things about San Diego is that nothing seemed to be more than 20 minutes away from the downtown core. We picked up our rental car, checked into the hotel and we were off. 20 minutes later we arrived at Old Town. Old Town is a State Historic Park that was created to preserve the rich heritage that characterized San Diego during the 1821 to 1872 period. The park includes a main plaza, exhibits, museums and living history demonstrations. There are numerous restaurants in the park, as well as on the adjacent side streets. We enjoyed an authentic Mexican lunch at Miguel’s Cocina and it was awesome! For help planning your visit click on www.oldtownsandiego.org Next day we drove (20 minutes!) to La Jolla to see the Sunny Jim Sea Cave. We descended via a 144-step staircase that provides the only land access to a sea cave in California. Built in 1902 by a German engineer and 2 Chinese laborers they dug the tunnel with picks and shovels to allow tourists to visit the beautiful cave below. We paid the $5 admission fee each and carefully made our way down to sea level. It was a thrill to say the least and well worth the trip. Go to www.cavestore.com for hours and information. Downtown San Diego was another lovely day. The historic Gaslamp Quarter has been transformed into a premier shopping, dining, and entertainment neighborhood. It has over 200 restaurants, bars, nightclubs and lounges, boutiques, art galleries, and shops to enjoy. Click on www.gaslampquarter.org to see what awaits you. Last but not least, we traveled 90 miles north to Anaheim and spent a very full and delightful day at Disneyland’s “California Adventure Park.” See www.disneyland.disney.go.com for a wealth of information. It’s a nice twist on the beloved Magic Kingdom experience. A truly classy and grand way to end our truly classy and grand San Diego stay. |
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20 lucky winners will win $500 each in prizes totaling $10,000. 