Chula Vista Fun Day

A few weeks ago we were watching Wonderland on KPBS, a program that focuses on different cities in San Diego County each week. The host, Noah Tafolla, visits not only the obvious attractions but also the unique or little known businesses in these cities.

One recent episode was about Chula Vista where Pennie was born and raised. There were two small businesses and a nature center we found interesting, so we planned a fun day in the South Bay to explore a few of Chula Vista’s features.

Our first stop was La Concha, a family-owned panaderia or bakery, located in a strip mall on E Street. There were three self-serve display cases filled with a variety of the typical American muffins and pastries, and traditional Mexican baked goods such as empanada de calabasa (pumpkin-filled pockets), maize (corn-shaped cookies), cochinitas (gingerbread pigs) and other cookies topped with coconut and caramel.

Pennie struck up a conversation with the young storeowner and soon found out that he had graduated from Castle Park where she had begun her high school teaching career. His wife’s family was from Chicago, and they were the founders of the bakery. We mentioned we had seen the bakery featured on Wonderland, and he thanked us profusely for our business.

Since there were no tables or chairs in the lobby, we drove west across Highway 5 to the parking lot of the Chula Vista Nature Center. We enjoyed our coffee and pastries as we watched squirrels munching seeds near the edge of the marshland. It was soon apparent why La Concha had been featured on Wonderland. My banana nut muffin was light, airy and fully baked, as opposed to the dense and soggy muffins so prevalent elsewhere. I also had a cream cheese pastry reminiscent of Mom's kolaches, and the icing was rich and creamy. Pennie’s pumpkin-filled empanada was soft and delicious.

In a few minutes the shuttle bus arrived to take us on the one-mile private road to the Nature Center. Opened in 1988, the facility is one of Chula Vista’s best kept secrets, with displays of Green Sea Turtles, shorebirds, hawks, eagles, sharks, stingrays, jellyfish, and other amphibians, reptiles and raptors. In the main lobby area, Pennie watched an eel and a lobster dance back and forth across the aquarium. Until the lobster … er … relieved himself, and we moved on. Next were tanks and containers with frogs, steelhead trout, rattlesnakes and walking sticks — definitely a strange looking insect.

We went outside to a platform and enjoyed a panoramic view of the marsh and wetlands surrounding the Center. Next we watched several varieties of rays in a large pool, and were surprised by one ray when it turned on its side and continued to splash the water as he maneuvered around the edge of the tank. Adjacent was the large shark tank with three viewing windows.

We passed a pool with ducks and shorebirds including the endangered light-footed Clapper Rail (bane of So Cal developers), and a large snowy egret. As we continued on the trail we came to the raptor displays where we saw a Peregrine Falcon, a Great Horned Owl, a Turkey Vulture, a Ferruginous Hawk, two Golden Eagles and, most impressive of all — a Bald Eagle.

We climbed to an observation deck with an unobstructed view of Gunpowder Point, the bay and the Coronado Cays, and enjoyed the freshening sea breeze. Finally, we went to the Green Sea turtle pool, but they were almost completely hidden in a corner of their tank.

We boarded the shuttle bus and returned to the parking lot. We decided to take a trip down Pennie’s Chula Vista memory lane, and she eagerly served as a knowledgeable tour guide with tidbits of information on Carol Brown's term as Demolay Chapter Sweetheart, the renovation of the Vogue Theatre, the renown La Fonda restaurant, Memorial Park (site of Pennie’s graduation) and finally, the office of her dermatologist, Dr. Pappenfort — unfortunately referred to by all as Dr. Poopenfart.

The second small business featured on Wonderland was Santa Fe Meats. This is primarily a Mexican market and butcher shop, but the reason for our visit was the little, five stool food counter carefully concealed in the rear of the market. We had to wait a few minutes for two stools to become available, and we took the opportunity to browse the aisles and the meat display case. The three butchers were friendly and hard at work, preparing thinly sliced steaks and other traditional Mexican meat favorites.

We took our seats at the counter next to an active four-year old, who was playing both with toys and his food. He was the son of one of the two women cooking in the mini-restaurant, and she scolded him whenever she thought he was bothering me. He wasn’t, though he did stare at me and question me in Spanish, but I wasn’t equipped to respond to him.

The two highly recommended items on the menu were the carne asada and the guacamole. We each ordered a carne asada taco, and Pennie added a pollo asada taco, while I ordered a bisteca taco. It wasn’t necessary to ask if we wanted corn or flour tortillas — corn is the only acceptable tortilla for tacos; the flour variety is like eating a paper plate covered in lard.

We also placed a side order for guacamole, expecting a basket of tortilla chips and a bowl of guacamole. Instead, the cook smiled and nodded as she moved to the grilling area. In a few minutes she brought our tacos, each topped with guacamole. After adding a splash of the fiery red hot sauce (an 11 on the 1 to 10 heat scale), we took our first bites of what we later agreed were the best tacos we had eaten anywhere. Carne asada at other establishments is quite often dry and tough; ours was tender and moist, cooked to perfection. The other tacos were equally tasty, and the guacamole topping each taco was indeed very rich and especially flavorful. We will make Santa Fe Meats a mandatory stop whenever we’re in the area.

We drove east on Main, then north on Highway 805 to Olympic Parkway, then east again to our final destination, Otay Ranch. This huge and very upscale shopping center is located on the bluffs of Otay Mesa. Two weeks ago there was considerable hubbub in the San Diego Union about the opening of a new retail-clothing store — the very hip, reasonably priced and nationally known H & M, the first such outlet in San Diego County. We entered the semi-crowded store and were immediately pummeled by the pounding beat of the background music. We were eager to see what the hyper-buzz was all about, and the fashions were indeed very cool, but we soon realized we did not fit their target market (nor their miniscule sizes), and we quietly made our exit.

We left the shopping center and drove to the new Highway 125 Toll Road entrance. We pulled up behind a car with two young women who didn’t understand how to operate the toll machine. Confused, they sheepishly looked around at us, then quickly threw three dollar bills into the metal coin basket and sped off. We laughed, tossed ten quarters into the same basket, and were home in twenty minutes. Another fine, fun day.

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Coronado Farewell on Segways

Because that's how we roll…


We were a few minutes early for our meeting in front of Barnes & Noble at Grossmont Center, and Pennie took advantage of the moment by visiting Starbucks. Chase Meyer was the first former The UPS Store #2869 employee to arrive. Chase had recently become a San Diego County Sheriff, and he described some of the more physical aspects of his training. Soon Tami Colton-Grenier, Jessi Barrer and Linda Hopkins pulled into the parking lot. As greetings were exchanged, Tom asked the group if they had any idea what the surprise was that he had planned as their farewell activity. None even ventured a guess.

The four piled into Tami's CR-V as she informed Chase that he would be driving. They followed Tom & Pennie out of the parking lot and then west on Highway 94.

FAN (Former All-Star Noriko Singler) was in Japan and unable to participate — we all missed her.)

Soon the caravan was driving over the Coronado Bridge which offered a spectacular view of the harbor on this clear sunny morning. We parked near the Coronado Ferry Landing and crossed the street. The group was standing in front of the Segway of Coronado storefront and suddenly realized what the activity would be. Immediately Tami and Linda were on their cell phones calling home with the excited news of our adventure.

Norm, the proprietor of Segway of Coronado, informed us that we were about 30 minutes early, so we walked around the corner to Tartine, a French bistro, and enjoyed pastries and coffee.

At 11:30-am, Jeff, our instructor and guide, began the training session on the two-wheeled Segways. The group donned safety helmuts and slowly conquered their fears as they learned how to mount, balance, roll, stop, turn and go up and down driveways. The process took about 30 minutes and soon Jeff led us across 1st St toward the bay, with Norm following behind.















After a group photo at the Old Coronado Ferry Landing with the amazing San Diego skyline in the background, the group proceeded single file south along the scenic walkway toward the bridge. Tami momentarily lost control near the Marketplace but soon was on her way again with Norn nearby.

We stopped for a few minutes at a mini-pier as a fisherman grabbed his pole and pulled a small sea bass out of the water. Then Jeff turned off the speed control on each Segway which meant we were now free to zoom along at speeds up to 12 mph, instead of just 5. The increase in speed was definitely exhilarating as we rolled along the bay, attracting the gazes of folks walking, skating or riding bicycles along the walkway.

We passed Tidelands Park and paused underneath the bridge as Jeff gave us information about the bridge, Navy Seals and other interesting tidbits about the bay. Golfers stopped and stared as we rolled along a narrow pathway next to the Coronado Golf Course.

We crossed Glorietta Blvd. and continued on the sidewalks in front of the historical mansions and beautiful homes. When Jeff mentioned we were going to continue on Margarita Ave., some in the group thought he said we were going for Margaritas, but alas, it was not to be.

After touring more neighborhoods, we returned to Tidelands Park where we were encouraged to "off-road" anywhere we wanted on the grassy fields. Everyone raced off in all directions on the rolling grass hills, but this momentary free-form riding was over all too soon. We slalomed back onto the scenic walkway toward the Ferry Landing.

Jeff and Norm guided us back to the storefront and our Segway adventure was over. We waited a few minutes as Jeff printed copies of our group photo, a nice touch. As we returned to our cars, Tom was presented with Thank Cards from each member in the group.

Tami, Chase, Jessi, Linda and Noriko — my former employees, and now my forever friends.


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Baja Winery Trip

On the last day of May, we decided to celebrate Tom's first day of retirement with a trip south of the border. We arrived at Balboa Park at 7:30-am, and boarded our bus to the Baja wineries located in the Guadalupe Valley 20 miles east of Ensenada. Our adventure was sponsored by the San Diego Natural History Museum under the guidance of Maria Mitrano, owner of Andiamo Tours, and her daughter Esther.

The border crossing is always easy going into Mexico, and soon we were on the toll highway skirting the Pacific. We had been on two previous trips to Ensenada, and the weather for both was dreary and overcast. But not this time—we were treated to clear blue, cloudless skies over the rolling surf—and fantastic views of the coastline—and some surrealistic views if you count the multi-colored, bizarrely-shaped Mexican hotels, condos and villas.

Along the highway we passed a towering statue of Jesus, the Fox Studios where Titanic and Master and Commander were filmed, and the Tuna pens where the fish are fattened up before being flown to Japan where they fetch a huge price as a prized delicacy.

After making a pit stop just north of Ensenada, we turned east on the winding road and drove past the tiny village of San Antonio de Las Minas, where we had been introduced two years ago to the wonders of Barbecoa—lamb cooked in the ground for 24 hours—and a lecture on the history and production of Tequila, accompanied by many tastings.

But today's trip was all about Baja's burgeoning wine industry, as we focused on three wineries. The first stop was the small, family owned and operated Liceaga Winery. We received a brief tour of the operations before adjourning to the marble-floored tasting room. It was only 10:30-am but we enjoyed five fine tastings, topped off by a tiny, but powerful portion of their Grappa, a liqueur designed to promote paralysis. We purchased a bottle of the 2006 Castillo de Las Minas, a blend of Grenache and Merlot. Our early-morning buzz had begun.

Barón Balch'é, the second winery on our tour was slightly larger in terms of acreage and production. The vintner, Jesus Salgado, led us on the tour down into the cool, dark cellars, repeatedly stressing that he was committed to quality, not quantity. His wines ranged in price from $12 to over $200. Here's a sample of his passion for his product:

The Mission of the Barón Balché Vineyard is to produce the best wines in Mexico for the discriminating palate. Each year our wines attain better quality. The Barón Balché vineyard utilizes 21 stainless steel tanks and each year we bring in 360 new barrels of French Oak and 40 American Oak for the wine production. The Barón Balché winery produces 120,000 bottles of quality wine per year.

The small tasting room featured a long table with the wines placed in a line along the center. Jesus described each wine we tasted, while young men filled our wine glasses and Maria and her son Alejandro provided bread to cleanse our palates between tastings. We were particularly impressed by a blend of Grenache and Cabernet—very smooth and mellow. We made our way upstairs and purchased a bottle, our second of the day.

We sat under a huge grape arbor and enjoyed a fine lunch of paella accompanied by very tasty sliced tomatoes marinated in olive oil, balsamic vinegar, Worcester sauce and salt & pepper. Dessert was a cake called Trés Leche, very moist and simply muy delicioso.

Full of wine and fine food, we still had one more tasting scheduled at the massive, totally commercial L.A. Cetto Vineyards. Gilberto guided the group around the huge facilities, dominated by four enormous silos.

We trekked around the pressing buildings and entered one of four aging rooms. This room alone housed over 1500 French oak barrels. Once matured, the wine is trucked to Tijuana for bottling. It's easy to see why L. A. Cetto is Mexico's largest winery. Each couple can bring across a maximum of three bottles of wine at the border, so we purchased our third—a Reserve Chardonnay.

Unfortunately, the tasting room was completely out of olive oil, and some of our fellow travelers registered their complaint. Our tour guide Maria, a resident of Ensenada, knew exactly where Cetto's retail outlet was located, so we left the Guadalupe Valley and headed west toward the coast. Many on the bus took this 30 minute detour as an opportunity to take a wine-aided nap.

The return trip to the border was quiet and uneventful, except for a stop in Tijuana to view a 60-foot high nude statue attached to the front of a dilapidated apartment building. Esther knew the sculptor and described him as kind and sensitive, but one couldn't help wondering, "What the hell was he thinking?"

Our tour bus used a special express lane at the border which allowed us to exit the bus, go through customs (they were surprisingly pleasant this time), declare our wine purchases, and re-board the bus in less than ten minutes.

Near National City, we saw a van which had overturned in the fast lane less than a minute before we arrived. As we continued on Highway 5 toward San Diego, we saw lots of emergency vehicles and police cars speeding to the crash site.

We returned to Balboa Park a little after 8:00-pm. ending a long but enjoyable day in Baja.

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