Griffith Observatory sits atop Mount Hollywood in Griffith Park at 1,135 feet elevation. The original 3,000 acre property where Griffith Observatory was built was donated by Griffith J. Griffith (you have to love that name) in 1896. Griffith J. Griffith also donated funds to build a planetarium and an observatory. His goal was to make …
Casa del Prado Theater is the historic reconstruction of a 1915 Panama California Exposition building at Balboa Park. The building is used by the San Diego Junior Theater, the country’s oldest junior theater program. It is a great place to continue our introduction to theater, especially when the production is SpongeBob SquarePants the Musical.
Scripps Institution of Oceanography was founded in 1903. It is one of the oldest and largest centers for ocean and earth science research. We signed up for a Scripps tour, which resumed just a few months ago post-pandemic precautions. The tour begins at the Nierenberg Memorial Rose Garden, where the longest standing director of Scripps, …
The historical botanical garden building is in the middle of a 21 million dollar remodel. It is supposed to be completed in summer 2023. Luckily there are plenty of other plant options within Balboa Park. There is a small pedestrian bridge that takes visitors safely across Park Blvd. to two public gardens that were waiting …
St. Michael’s By-the-Sea is the oldest church in Carlsbad, and one of the four oldest buildings in Carlsbad Village. The 1894 historic chapel now resides adjacent to a larger, newer chapel, both of which hold regular church services. Once a year St. Michael’s By-the-Sea hosts the Carlsbad Music Festival, an artist-led, grass-roots non-profit that features …
Anza Borrego State Park is named after the Spanish explorer Juan Bautista de Anza and ‘borrego‘, the Spanish name for bighorn sheep. Although I have seen bighorn sheep on this trail, and they were spotted here yesterday, the only evidence of bighorn sheep today was their scat. This nature trail is numbered and the printed …
Culp Valley Overlook Trail located inside Culp Valley Primitive Campground offers incredible views of Borrego Valley and perspective on the magnitude of the state’s largest state park, Anza Borrego. Anza Borrego State Park is 935 square miles, roughly one fifth the size of San Diego County. Anza Borrego State Park is bigger than 44 of …
Every Thursday before Halloween Oceanside’s weekly Sunset Market is transformed into Haunted Market. People of all ages dress up and go trick-or-treating at vendor’s booths. It seems even more vendors participated this year than in years past. Haunted Market is the best way to kick off All Hallows’ Eve, our pre-tradition tradition.
Rhino Savannah is a four-acre addition to the Living Desert Zoo in Palm Desert; their last one to be constructed. It houses twelve different species, including two critically endangered black rhinos. The walls of the cave entrance to Rhino Savannah is filled with naked mole-rats, burrowing rodents native to the Horn of Africa. Rhino Savannah …
This year was Oceanside’s 21st annual Día de los Muertos Festival. Although the location has changed from downtown to the mission and back to downtown again (as of last year), the culture and diversity that this festival brings has remained the same. There are meticulously decorated altars (many in vintage cars), dancing, art, food and …
My favorite winery, Rancho Guejito, is trying something new. This Friday they opened their vineyard to popcorn eating, wine drinking movie goers, showing Hocus Pocus on an inflatable big screen. Typically Rancho Guejito is only opened to the public on Saturday and Sunday, their winery being a small portion of their 23,000 acre rancho which …
Rancho Guejito Winery in Escondido is a magical place. Located on the outskirts of their 23,000 acres, it feels like you are out in the country. Each Sunday they offer food services, which use their organic, grass fed beef in their recipes. Almost every weekend they are open they have live music and a jumper …
Mellano Farm Stand is a 300 acre organic flower farm along the San Luis Rey River located in a rural agricultural area of Oceanside, where Oceanside meets Bonsall. The small farm stand sells some vegetables and semi-local eggs along with tickets for the tractor ride and corn maze. The corn maze is super small, the …
Temecula Valley has about fifty wineries to choose from, all of which vary in cost, comfort, amenities, popularity, flashiness, exclusivity, and wine quality. Today we wanted to go to wineries that we haven’t been to before. Even though we are from the area, we haven’t visited many of the local wineries since there are so …
The Temecula Greek Festival attracts thousands of visitors every year (except the last two) who want to celebrate and learn about Greece culture. This tradition has been taking place for the past two decades, although this is our first time attending. Luckily for us, a huge part of culture is food and drink. Feta fries, …
Four Points Bulletin 