Friday, October 30, 2009

Visit Carlsbad on Your Next Trip to San Diego

By Debbie Kern-Jones

Carlsbad is not only a special place to visit, but it's a great place to live. With an abundance of sites to see and an ample amount of coastline, it's easy to make a day out of visit to Carlsbad on your next trip to San Diego. There are resorts, golf, restaurants and even an amusement park. Well you probably can't do everything in one day, so let's take a look at how a nice day in Carlsbad might unfold.

Let's start off our day with a stroll on the beach. Carlsbad beach's main attraction for locals is that there usually isn't the hustle and bustle you experience at a lot of the other beaches in San Diego County. It is common to find free parking and plenty of room to relax in the sun. Another great feature is a convenient walkway that makes for great jogging or walking along the coast while enjoying the fantastic ocean views and refreshing ocean breezes. Regardless of whether you are there for the surf, the sun or exercise, there is no better way to start your day than with the sound of the crashing waves and the occasional sighting of a dolphin's dorsal fin making a majestic pinwheel in the Pacific blue.

If walking and site seeing has made you hungry, than there are wide variety of restaurants to check out in the Carlsbad area. Great Italian, Japanese, and Mexican food can be found throughout the main strip in Downtown Carlsbad along Carlsbad Village Drive. One of the more popular places is Pizza Port Carlsbad, that has been serving up great pizza and some of the best beer on the planet for over ten years. They recently one the best large brewpub and brewer award at the Great American Beer Fest.

If you're looking for family fun, than you must spend a nice part of your day at Carlsbad's Legoland. You'll experience great rides, an amazing exhibit of sites around the world made just of Legos and much more. In addition to Legoland you can also visit the new Sea Life Aquarium which can be purchased with your Legoland pass or as a single admission ticket. If you're not currently a big fan of Legos than a day at Legoland will do the trick.

Another great activity in San Diego for the more active lifestyle is hiking. Among one of my favorite trails is the Batiquitos Lagoon ,located in the southern part of Carlsbad, which can be accessed from the Aviara neighborhood. It's a flat terrain 2 mile hike that looks over the lagoon and the ocean. The trail takes you all the way to Interstate 5, and there is talk about opening the path to give the trail beach access. During your hike on this path you will see birds, plants, trees and the occasional multi-million dollar ocean view estate.

One of the great things about Carlsbad is if you get the hankering for city life the proximity to Los Angeles and San Diego are within reasonable driving distance. On your next visit to San Diego you may want to take a drive up north and see why the lesser known city of Carlsbad is a real gem of a city in Southern California.

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