April 2006

"Brendan Morgan asserts that ‘hockey is still alive and fairly popular in San Diego with the minor-league Gulls.’ If you believe 5,000 people turning out to see a minor-league hockey team is good, then you are crazy."

NATIVES ONLY!

Regarding your editor’s letter, “The Natives” [by Tom Blair, Inside, March]: Cachet? You can keep the cachet. I gave up years ago hoping for fences along the Arizona border with California, but I still feel that only real San Diego natives [“How San Diegan Are You?” by Ron Donoho, March] should be allowed to drive white cars, which would have the right of way over all other vehicles (except emergency). H.O.V. lanes? How about N.O. Lanes: Natives Only! That’s all the status I need.

How San Diegan are you? How about:

1. Know where and what Zanzibar was—extra points if you ate there.
2. Saw your first Chargers game at Balboa Stadium (Beatles, too—$3.50 for tickets!).
3. First date at the Frontier Drive-In movie (other firsts, too!).
4. Hung out at Oscar’s Drive-In (restaurant).
5. Know what the Fiesta del Pacifico was—extra points for attending.
6. First Padres game at Lane Field (snuck in).
7. Know what used to be where Fashion Valley is today.
8. Have heard of de Baffi’s / Cotton Patch / China Land / Tops—more extra points.
9. Remember when MCRD had the best football team in town.
10. Bought first ball glove at Stanley Andrews.
11. Almost forgot: Remember Watermelon Rose, Hot Curl & Mac Meda.

The sound track for all this is “Angel Baby” by Rosie and the Originals.

SCOTT MACLAGGAN
SAN DIEGO

RESTLESS NATIVE

How San Diegan am I? Here are a few more I thought might be interesting for your list:

1. Ate some of those hot little yellow peppers with your half-pound steerburger at the Boll Weevil.
2. Remember the Rib Cage.
3. Miss the Cotton Patch.
4. Remember before the Sports Arena was there.
5. Ate carnitas at the Old Town Mexican Café when it had just one room.
6. Remember Qualcomm Stadium even before it was The Murph—when it was just called San Diego Stadium.
7. Drove to Ocean Beach via Midway or West Point Loma Boulevard because there was no OB Freeway.

Guess I’ll stop now—could probably go on for days!

ANDY LEBARRON
POINT LOMA

GOOD TASTE

What a fantastic column on George Hauer of George’s at the Cove restaurant in your February issue [Dialogue with Tom Blair]. His humble manner carries throughout the entire question-and-answer session.

I love La Jolla. When I am there, I feel I have found heaven on earth. My first stop has always been La Valencia for a superb breakfast. I guarantee you that now I will be stopping at George’s for lunch or dinner. Several of my friends had told me about George’s, and I have tried to eat there, but each time found such a long line I didn’t wait. Now, I will just enjoy that fresh ocean air and wait for this ultimate surprise.

The end of the column focuses on the staff (which makes or breaks a restaurant). I am a restaurant eater. All of my meals are eaten out. I have tried the best of the best, and I know an excellent restaurant when I find one. It starts with the busboys, on to the host and waiter, right up to the owner’s management ability.

Thanks for the wonderful article. I’m looking forward to savoring my time at George’s when I am next in La Jolla.

RICHARD M. DOLPHIN
LAS VEGAS

PARK ATTACK

Recently I took a prestigious guest to Plaza Pasado, formerly Bazaar del Mundo. I was embarrassed and upset. The location of so many colorful exciting gardens, shops and restaurants has been destroyed, replaced by the sad and drab. I thought of the needless attack on Dresden. Any visitor center or hotel that recommends Plaza Pasado will look foolish.

In Dialogue with Tom Blair [August 2005], the owner of Bazaar del Mundo, Diane Powers, was interviewed. Rather than revealing the facts of the questionable associations and protections that led to this appalling state injustice [of awarding the park contract to Delaware North], Ms. Powers gives us all a lesson in tenacity, commitment and creativity.

As a result of her determination, and at very great expense, there is now a new, glorious, smaller Bazaar del Mundo two blocks away at 4133 Taylor Street, where tourists and San Diegans can entertain, have a fine meal and shop for beautiful and unusual gifts (as you have reported). This community owes Ms. Powers, the new Bazaar del Mundo and its staff our active support! And the officials of San Diego County must never allow our city, or an individual in it, to be so abused by an apparently uninformed or corrupt state government again.

As Mr. Blair reported, the original Bazaar produced $27 million in annual gross sales and was the hub of the most profitable California State Park. Those resources are now lost to the state as a result of Ruth Coleman’s ineptitude. Ms. Coleman, the state director of Parks and Recreation, stated on numerous occasions that the Delaware operation was unquestionably the better choice. All actions and petitions from thousands of locals were denied. As a member of the California State Park Foundation, I suggest she should be held accountable for her actions, or lack thereof, and be fired.

MARI LATIMER
CLAIREMONT

STAYING ALIVE

I read your piece “No Walk in the Park” [Tom Blair’s I on San Diego, February] regarding the drop in visitors and revenue in the old Bazaar del Mundo space in Old Town. Unfortunately, we have heard the same. However, at the south end of Old Town, business is booming.

Our team represents the Historic Old Town Community Foundation, sponsors of the Old Town Fiesta Cinco de Mayo, the largest festival of its kind in the western United States, and the Historic Old Town Association, a marketing collaborative anchored by Café Coyote, Old Town Mexican Café, Zócalo Grill, Old Town Corral and many other San Diego Avenue businesses. Local merchants have come together to fund a comprehensive marketing campaign to remind the San Diego market Old Town is still that local escape with a fiesta flair found nowhere else in town.

As part of this ongoing campaign, San Diegans will be invited to Fiesta Fridays in Old Town and see more strolling entertainment along historic San Diego Avenue. New restaurants and shops are opening, including the Spicy Mexican Grill, brought to us by the owners of El Agave. To speak plainly, business is thriving along San Diego Avenue in the heart of Old Town.

KATIE SCHULTZ
OLD TOWN

IN REBUTTAL

Pablo Picasso rightly said, “Every act of creation is first of all an act of destruction.” In order to create the perfect balance between historical accuracy within a California State Park and attractions that will appeal to a diverse group of visitors, there must be a time of tearing down and rebuilding. We are living through that time at Plaza del Pasado, before construction has begun.

Accurately restoring the park to the historical period of the 1800s is something that must happen in stages. The majority of construction will occur over a 12-month period, and the park will remain open to visitors during this time. Additionally, we will be responsive to our park visitors and the community so that changes and/or improvements will occur continuously throughout the contract period.

Plans are moving forward for an interpretation of the period that is more historic. At the end of January, work began on the retail stores to restore color to the façades and reorganize the merchandise for a better customer experience. The color applications will represent the vibrancy of the Mexican historic period that is reflective of the 19th century. In addition, the entryway into the plaza is being redesigned to feel more welcoming and colorful.

Plaza del Pasado will be actively involved in this year’s Cinco de Mayo celebration. We look forward to working with our Old Town neighbors and entrepreneurs to make it a highly successful and enjoyable event. We will welcome San Diegans to visit the park and see what is happening at the plaza. It will be a process—a process that will result in a historic state park that San Diegans can be proud of.

STEVEN CASAD
GENERAL MANAGER
PLAZA DEL PASADO

THE PITS

Thank you for Ron Donoho’s recent City Beat story [“Sixth Sense,” Front Pages, February]. I wish, however, that his remarks, limited to downtown, had covered the northern part of Sixth Avenue. At the northeast corner of Sixth Avenue and Upas Street, one sees the ugliest corner in San Diego. We have had the pleasure of “admiring” this corner for years.

For far too long, in the place where the Mi Arbolito apartments or condos were supposed to be, there has been an abandoned pit that now is becoming an even uglier garbage dump. It is a scar on one of the entrances to the gem we call Balboa Park. But it is not downtown—or it would not have been ignored for such a long time. Indeed, when the harsh voice of building greed is heard, nobody can hear the tenuous voice of the ordinary citizen.

OTTO MOWER
SAN DIEGO

WANDERLUST

Many thanks for the Judith Morgan article on Garland’s Lodge at Oak Creek Canyon [“Cabin Fever,” Travel, February]. I chuckled at the beginning . . . and laughed out loud at the end. How I had missed her writing. Can’t wait to get to Sedona. I sincerely hope you will run more of Judith’s articles for us to enjoy.

BETTY HOSIE
SAN DIEGO

Look for more of Judith Morgan's travel stories in upcoming issues.—EDITOR

SPORTING TRY

I was immediately drawn to a cover teaser on your magazine for an article on how San Diego ranks as a sports city [“Sports Support” by Brendan Morgan, February]. I am a huge sports fan and love to read opinions on this subject.

Morgan rightly states near the end of the article that “comparing one sports town to another is a subjective matter,” but trying to justify San Diego as even a “good” sports town is absurd. Qualcomm Stadium is an archaic venue that is falling apart before our eyes. The ipay- One Center is a laughingstock, dilapidated piece of you-know-what that would be an embarrassment to a city a tenth this size.

Our town has only two of the four major professional sports leagues represented. The Padres and Chargers have loyal but very small fan bases. Most San Diegans are fair-weather fans. The only reason Chargers games were not blacked out locally on television the past few years was the infamous ticket guarantee. The Padres have drawn well the first two years in Petco Park, but most of it is due to the newness factor and the influx of summer tourists.

Morgan asserts that “hockey is still alive and fairly popular in San Diego with the minor-league Gulls.” If you believe 5,000 people turning out to see a minor-league hockey team is good, then you are crazy.

We lost the Clippers because we did not support them. Morgan also states that San Diego is not currently pursuing an NBA or NHL franchise because the talent has been diluted due to overexpansion. First, the level of talent in both leagues has dramatically increased in the last decade or so as more international players have joined. Second, no owner would even consider moving or putting a team in that 40-year-old arena. It still isn’t out of the question that we could lose the Chargers if a new football stadium isn’t built.

Being born and raised in Denver, Colorado, I watched that town blossom into a real major league sports city. The people of Denver and the surrounding areas support their teams with passion and vigor. The NFL Broncos have sold out every home game since the early 1970s, even in losing seasons, and still have a long waiting list for season tickets. The NHL Avalanche has sold out every game since moving to Denver in 1995. The MLB Rockies and NBA Nuggets, while not quite as popular, still draw huge crowds. The populace takes great pride in its teams, facilities and the spirit and camaraderie that sports can bring to a community.

With all that said, and as much as I miss living in a great sports town, I choose to live here for a reason. This is a place where people are more participants than spectators. We are all very fortunate to live in a beautiful place like this, where we have the option to be outdoors all year long. But let’s not kid ourselves. San Diego is, and probably always will be, a mediocre sports town.

JOE WILSON
CARLSBAD

---

LETTERS WELCOME: San Diego Magazine invites letters from its readers. Send comments to Letters to the Editor, San Diego Magazine, 1450 Front Street, San Diego, CA 92101 or to tblair@sandiegomag.com (e-mail) or 619-230-0490 (fax). Letters must be signed to be considered for publication. Please type or print your name, as well, and include a daytime phone number. E-mail should include the writer’s full name and city. We reserve the right to edit letters for clarity and to excerpt them.

Do you like what you read? Subscribe to San Diego Magazine »