Exploring San Diego North: beautiful weather, world-class sights, and 36 miles of coastline make this string of Southern California communities a popular year-round destination for all ages

Travel America, Jan-Feb, 2003 by Pat Woods

TO FAMILIES, THE SAN DIEGO WILD ANIMAL PARK and LEGOLAND provide a magnetic attraction. To empty nesters and couples on romantic getaways, top-notch resorts, manicured golf courses, and upscale dining and shopping hold the charm. To winter visitors fleeing frigid climates, sunshine and flower-bedecked streets delight the senses.

Desert dwellers escaping June heat, husband Bob and I set out on historic Highway 101 to savor the cool Pacific breeze and explore the diversified, friendly communities just 30 minutes north of San Diego. The ocean air, California sunshine, and fertile soil blend to create beauty at every bend.

We stopped to watch surfers in dark wet suits paddle furiously on long boards, then jump to their feet when huge waves broke, riding the surf in a graceful ballet. Children were building sandcastles. Dog walkers and joggers ambled down paths.

Heading for Carlsbad, we passed an array of beach towns, each with its own personality. Often referred to as "The Village by the Sea," Carlsbad combines the charm of a European village with the laid-back manner of a beach town that hasn't yet gone commercial. On the narrow, tree-lined streets, we found boutiques, trendy shops, sidewalk cafes, and coffeehouses. A seawall walkway along the beach bluff is popular with joggers and walkers. Named for the famous 19th century Karlsbad spa in Europe, Carlsbad today is known as a commercial flower-growing center and antiques mecca. The postcard-pretty town boasts coves, picturesque lagoons, and upscale golf resorts. After checking into the conveniently located Holiday Inn Carlsbad by the Sea, we enjoyed a refreshing swim in the oversize courtyard pool surrounded by palms and blooming jacaranda trees. While relaxing in the hot tub, we chatted with a three-generation family group from Oregon who had spent the day at nearby LEGOLAND.

Geared to kids under 12, everything in this nifty theme park, from animals to entire landscapes, is constructed of 30 million LEGO plastic bricks. Miniland displays scenes from New York City, Washington, D.C., New Orleans, a New England harbor, and Southern California. In the Imagination Zone, kids can drive miniature electric vehicles and build programmed robots.

On Carlsbad Village Drive, the Children's Discovery Museum provides hours of fun-filled, hands-on learning experiences for all ages in science, history, the arts, and environmental awareness.

The nearby Museum of Making Music displays more than 450 vintage instruments. Whether you grew up with Louie Armstrong or the Beatles, you will enjoy some of the most memorable tunes spanning more than 100 years.

Adjacent to the Holiday Inn, the fragrant scent of blooming flowers fills the air at Flower Fields, a working flower ranch. From March through early May, you can walk through a 50-acre rainbow of spring blossoms on a hillside overlooking the Pacific Ocean. Themed gardens display an extravagant array of colorful annuals and perennials.

Carlsbad is home to Biplane, Warbird & Air Combat Adventures, the nation's oldest and largest vintage air tour operator. You can enjoy a gentle or thrilling flight along the coast in an open-cockpit biplane. More thrills await if you participate in a real aerial dogfight! For those who prefer enclosed-cabin comfort with Glenn Miller music setting the mood, the company just acquired a World War II twin-engine C-45H transport plane.

Duffers enjoy touring the Callaway golf production plant, birthplace of the innovative Big Bertha golf club. Culture connoisseurs in Carlsbad find a plethora of performing arts and heritage attractions.

Fine dining in character restaurants abounds in Carlsbad. Locals recommend the macadamia nut salmon at Neiman's Restaurant. Housed in a restored Victorian mansion in Carlsbad Village, the front reception rooms feature beautiful wood floors and period furnishings. We enjoyed a delightful dinner and to-die-for cheesecake in the Carousel Room.

Carlsbad accommodations range from beach condos to chain motels where kids under 12 can stay and eat free. Those seeking to mingle with the rich and famous can do so at the renowned La Costa Resort and Spa or Four Seasons Resort Aviara. The lavishly landscaped Four Seasons sits high on a hilltop with a spectacular view of the sparkling Pacific Ocean and Batiquitos Lagoon.

Carlsbad is an ideal base to explore nearby communities. In Oceanside, we had breakfast at the 1950s-style 101 Cafe, where Beach Boys tunes play on the Wurlitzer-style jukebox and nostalgia buffs show off classic cars. Historic Oceanside photos and Highway 101 memorabilia line the walls of this cafe that has operated at the same location since 1928.

A tour of the nearby Mission San Luis Rey, known as the king of missions, provides a fascinating look into the lives of the padres and early California history. The mission's lovely courtyard and grounds invite contemplation.

A short ride away at the San Diego Wild Animal Park in Escondido, African and Asian animals roam in their natural habits while people view them from the Bush Line Railway monorail. We watched nimble goats and their cute kids scamper up nearly vertical rocks. Delores, our enthusiastic driver, told us keepers do a daily animal count. Nature lovers are drawn to the park's annual spring butterflies and orchids exhibit. On an optional Animal Park photo caravan, guests feed giraffes and white rhinos from an open-back truck.