Goin' 'Round the Velodrome

The San Diego Velodrome has been this crazy enigma for me for some time now. I've heard tales of where it is, though I had never previously caught a glimpse of it. So with a friend coming to visit, I thought I'd hunt this mysterious beast down. The beauty of it is that it is completely free. Free parking, free to sit on the outdoor bleachers and watch and you're allowed to bring in your own food and drink. We showed up at 6:30 p.m., when I heard the signing up and practicing before the actual races began. As time went on, more people showed up but the bleachers still remained fairly sparse. The track is pretty terrifying, sloping down at a crazy angle. The races were fast and fun to watch, and during practice time the ringleader rode a motorcycle, clipping the cyclists' heels in a motivational, "go faster" type exercise. The track is located at 2221 Morley Field Dr. It's a small driveway, surrounded by San Diego County vehicles and a tiny sign that says "Velodrome" with an arrow. Just keep driving straight until you see a park. Leave your car there and head for the giant flood lights.

Enter: Balboa Park

For me, the quintessential free activity in San Diego has always been going to Balboa Park. In fact I used to have birthday parties there when I was little. This public space can offer you whatever your heart may desire: free concerts, free museums, picnic spaces, IMAX movies, wildlife, culture, plants, flowers and lavish restaurants.

The park is always good for an impromptu picnic (my favorite location is on the grass near the lily pond, right in front of the arboretum). When you're done eating you can look for the koi fish and baby turtles in the pond or walk through the gorgeous, free, arboretum with its offerings of every plant imaginable.

Right across from the arboretum is the Timken Museum of Art. This is a smaller gallery, with only a couple of rooms, but admission is always free. They will even have special exhibits that are also free.

Balboa Park offers a handful of other museums too, including the Museum of Man, the Air & Space Museum, the Museum of Photographic Arts and the Natural History Museum. If you happen to be a Southern California resident, different rotating museums are always free on Tuesdays. All you have to do is check out the schedule on the park's website.

And if a picnic isn't quite up your alley, The Prado has a beautiful outdoor patio, a diverse menu and nice atmosphere. If you're aiming to enjoy a mostly free day, you can order happy hour (Tues.-Thurs. from 4 to 6 p.m., and 8 to 10 p.m., Fri. from 4 to 6 p.m. and 8 to 11 p.m., and Sat. from 8 to 11 p.m.) appetizers in the bar and get all of the luxury on the cheap.

Yet another (not really cheap but so worth it) option would be to leave the park through the main bridge on Quince Dr., cross Sixth Ave. and head to Extraordinary Desserts at 2929 Fifth Ave. The cake is amazing, artfully arranged on your plate and a whole meal all in itself.

The coffee is really good and the restaurant itself is small, with a twinkle light decorated outdoor patio to eat on. But, if substantial food is what you're in the mood for, cruise down Fifth Ave. a couple of blocks to 3172 Fifth Ave. and try Jimmy Carter's. Very tasty carnitas.

All in all, Balboa Park has a lot of personality and endless activities. It's the home of The Old Globe, there are free Organ Pavilion concerts during the summer, you can visit the International Houses, watch a puppet show, and oh so much more. It's worth at least a quick stroll. I will never get tired of visiting my favorite place in the entire city.

Feeling the Magic of Queen Califa and Kit Carson

I know that Escondido isn't technically part of San Diego but sometimes you just need to branch out and expand your horizons. Just around the corner from the North County Fair Mall and across from San Pasqual High School is one of the most magnificent parks that I've ever seen. Kit Carson Park is so much more than that and I honestly didn't even know it existed/what it offered for a very long time. Even when I lived in Escondido.

If you bring the right attitude and the proper supplies, you could kill infinite amounts of time in this park and feel great afterwards. First off, it's enormous. When you're walking around the grounds, it feels like the park truly never ends, as you pass by duck ponds, grass mounds and picnic areas, sculptures, gardens, and hiking trails. Not to mention to tennis courts, soccer fields, softball fields, and playgrounds. The park is fairly tucked away too so you're not up against a road, in the public eye. You can remain relatively secluded if you so choose.

So just having a picnic is a really cheap and fun thing to do in this park. It provides a great enviroment for it and gives you lots of location options for where to set up shop.

After that though is what I think is the biggest enticement/incentive to drag yourself all the way up the freeway to Escondido for. Queen Califa's Magical Circle sculpture garden. This garden is the architectural dream of Niki de Saint Phalle and it was her last large scale international project. You'll find that it covers a decent amount of ground as you walk around the enclosed circular area, in and among these huge, colorful, sometimes trippy figures and shapes. The best part is, it isn't look and don't touch art. You can climb in, on, up, and through these pieces and amuse yourself for a good couple of hours. There are walls to scale, snake mouths to sit in, and little holes to burrow through.

It's very unique and the fact that it's outdoors makes it even more so I think. A lot of the pieces are coated in mosaic-esque tiny mirrors that in the sun create a really loud, inviting scene.



Give Kit Carson a try. You won't be dissapointed.