Landmarks

Located on the San Diego Coast, San Elijo State Beach offers swimming, surfing and picnicking. The narrow, bluff-backed stretch of sand has a nearby reef popular with snorklers and divers.

San Onofre State Beach features 3.5-miles of sandy beaches with six access trails cut into the bluff above. The campground is along Old Highway 101 adjacent to the sandstone bluffs. The beach is popular with swimmers and surfers. The park includes a marshy area where San Mateo Creek meets the shoreline and Trestles Beach, a well-known California surfing site. Whales, dolphins and sea lions can be seen offshore from time to time. The park’s coastal terrace is chaparral-covered.

Located near the Safari Park, San Pasqual Battlefield is the site of the only significant battle between the Californios and U.S. forces during the Mexican-American War.

It took several years for the Scripps Institute of Oceanography to settle on a name; it was born through the efforts of a researcher named William E. Ritter. Ritter's studies were underwritten by E.W. Scripps for about 25 years before the Institute was created. Although Scripps was not noted for his love of oceanography, he was well-known for his philanthropy, which saved the Institute, now a well-respected marine studies center. The Institute opened in 1903 and, while under the direction of the late Roger Revelle, became the site of some of the world's premiere work on continental drift.

The Scripps Research Institute is the largest private, nonprofit, biomedical research organization in the country. Founded in 1961, the institute became internationally recognized for its work in immunology, molecular and cellular biology, chemistry, neuroscience and more. Particularly significant is the study of the basic structure and design of biological molecules. Its most recent significant findings include the process of angiogensis -- reversing tumor growth to stop the metastasis of cancer; Rational Molecular Design Technology, a new approach to designing and producing pharmaceutical drugs, based on an understanding of how drugs interact with the human body and advances in finding a cure for ALS (Lou Gehrig's disease).

A visit to San Diego hardly seems complete without a visit to SeaWorld to see Shamu jump and all of the other fishy attractions. Opened in 1964, SeaWorld is fun for young and old alike with a number of live shows and interactive exhibits.  It is possible to pet and feed the dolphins, watch them perform and even swim with them one-to-one.

A great way to see La Mesa is by ascending this set of public stairways, called the "secret stairs" that goes up into a hillside through a residential area. The bottom off the stairs are at Windsor and Canterbury drives, with three levels of stairways ascending to Beverly Drive – 445 stairs in all.

The white towers and gold onion domes of this temple is a landmark in Encinitas. West of the scenic Highway 101, the Self-Realization Fellowship temple was built in the 1937 and offers classes, workshops and retreats in meditation based on the teachings of Paramahansa Yogananda, a spiritual leader from India who is credited with introducing millions of Westerners to Kriya Yoga.

Silver Strand State Beach features extensive beaches on both the Pacific Ocean and San Diego Bay. Combined with the area’s mild climate, the beaches make Silver Strand one of the area’s finest recreation destinations. Camping, swimming, surfing, boating, water-skiing, volleyball, and picnicking are popular activities. Anglers can fish for perch, corbina, grunion and yellow-fin croaker.