written by Scott Gressitt

San Diego is one of the best cities in the world for serious hikers. The attractions start at the coast with beautiful sections of sandy expanses, coastal escarpment such as Torrey Pines State Park, and move to advanced free-climbing in the Laguna Mountains. There are, in between, thousands of miles of trails that meander through the open chaparral that runs from the Mexican border north to Camp Pendleton, and east to the Anza Borrego Desert.

I have a few favorites that include some strenuous vertical trails, but reward some hikers with a place to launch a para glider for an easy flight back to a trail head. My absolute favorite is Black Mountain Open Space Park, situated east of Del Mar between Ranch Santa Fe and Rancho Bernardo. Local hang glider and para glider pilots call it “Little Black”, differentiating it from the much taller Black Mountain in Ramona, which we call (you guessed it) “Big Black”.

If you live anywhere in San Diego County, there is a good chance you’ve seen Little Black. When you look from the Del Mar Fairgrounds, it’s the mountain to the east with a huge antennae array. Hiking there is comfortable and relatively safe year round. There is, as most of San Diego County, a healthy population of rattlesnakes and coyote, but in my twenty-two years hiking and flying there quite regularly, I’ve never heard of anyone being injured by the locals.

There is an improved dirt road that one can hike from the pavement at the end of Laurentian Drive in Rancho Penasquitos. The communications companies that service the array on the highest point of the mountain, 1558 feet above sea level, use the road exclusively. There are several trails that run north and south over the more than two thousand acre park property, and countless coyote trails run between them. In the winter after the rains, the view, looking out in every direction, is spectacular. While there is ocean view from most of the trails, the whole area turns green after a heavy rain and the color is breathtaking. The best part of the day is getting home after a great hike, enjoying beautiful scenery, and smelling the sage on my clothes.

To read more of Scott’s work visit: http://www.lexiconoclast.wordpress.com

by Scott Gressitt

After pouring through hundreds of profiles on Match.com last year, I learned that women were interested in dating me, but wanted an inventive choice of venue for our first date. I rose to the challenge and, having met a gal with whom I was quite taken, asked her to meet me for what I promised would be a truly unique date.

I asked Gorgeous to meet me at the Coaster station in Carlsbad. We met at the appointed time; she gave me a lovely hug and peck on the
cheek, exchanged the obligatory niceties, and then looked at me with an anticipatory smile. I told her I loved trains and thought it would be nice to have a ride down the coast, to watch the world go by without the stress of traffic or having to pay attention to the road.
Gorgeous concurred.

Our train came in; we boarded, and headed south, to San Diego. We talked about the view, the weather, and the parts of San Diego you
don’t see if you don’t ride the train. We got off at the downtown station and walked several blocks East on Broadway to a hole-in-the-wall nail salon where I had arranged pedicures for the two of us. I ushered her in the door and asked her if she were in the mood for a pedicure, and comfortable exposing her naked feet to a relative stranger. Gorgeous responded with a lovely heartfelt laugh and responded positively.  “Now that is an original!” I was relieved.

The proprietor was ready and sat us next to each other for simultaneous servicing. We talked quietly through the procedure and had a great time getting to know a little bit about each other, laughing and breathing in the aroma of nail care products and acetone.

Next, we walked around the Gaslamp, stopping for espresso and croissant. We had a great time window-shopping, then walked back to the train via the harbor, stopping for a tour of the Star of India, which she had never been aboard.

All in all, it was a fabulous day with a terrific woman, whom I was hoping to see again.
Back at the Carlsbad Station, I walked her to her car where I received an amorous kiss and warm hug.
“If you care to see me again, I’ve booked a tour of the abalone farm in the Agua Hedionda lagoon Thursday afternoon.”
She agreed, and grabbed me for another peck.

Check out more articles from Scott here:  http://www.lexiconoclast.wordpress.com

San Diego may not get snow in the city, but that doesn’t mean there isn’t plenty to do to get in the Christmas (holiday) spirit. With everything from tree lighting ceremonies, to carolers, to plays, to ice skating, all you need to do is grab some hot coco and go.

Outdoor ice skating- Horton Plaza , Hotel Del Coronado, Viejas Outlet Center

Tree Lighting- Little Italy 12/3, Balboa Park 11/26

Fairs & Festivals- Holiday Festival at Hotel Del 11/30, December Nights 12/2-3  , Holiday Wonderland in Del Mar Village 12/4, Carmel Mountain Ranch Holiday Festival 12/4, Cardiff Kringle Mingle 12/4, Del Mar Starry Night Reception 12/12

Parades- Encinitas Holiday Parade 12/3, Starlight Parade at Third Ave Village in Chula Vista 10 am on 12/3, La Jolla Christmas Parade 12/4, San Diego Bay Parade of Lights 12/11 & 12/18, Gaslamp Holiday Pet Parade 12/11,

Plays- How The Grinch Stole Christmas!, It’s A Wonderful Life, Miracle on 34th Street, and The Nutcracker are just some of the plays. Check Theatres for show times.

It’s that time again! You can be whatever or whoever you want to be and no one can say anything. Wondering where to go to show off your awesome costume? Here is a list of Halloween parties in San Diego:

Thursday 10/27

Syrah Wine parlor Halloween Carnivale -$10

Min Sok Chon Haunted Village - $5- $15

On Broadway Haunted Playground – $15

Friday 10/28

Broomstick Ball at the Hilton Del Mar - $10

Art After… Death at OMA - $25

Halloween Bash at Taste & Thirst - $5

North County Goons & Goblins at Club 945 - $10

Saturday 10/29

Costume Paintball Party – $40

Seaport Village Halloween Bash – free

Zombie Apocalypse Walk - free

Halloween Funhouse Costume Party – $20

HalloSheen Rockstar Party – no cover

Vampires Vs Warewolves – no cover

Halloween Cruise  – $35

Thriller Party – $50

Underworld Halloween – $20

San Diego Monster Bash – $30- $35

HOB Halloween Block Party – $30

Sunday 10/30

Nightmare on E St at Kleen House – no cover

Fangbangers Ball at Belo -$15

Monday 10/31

Halloween Ball at the Prado - $50 – $75

Fangtasia at Voyeur - $10

Down the Rabbit Hole at Stingaree -

Hallowierd – $20

Spellbound at The Lincoln Room – no cover

Of course, pretty much every bar will be having a Halloween party of some sort… whatever you do, be safe and have fun!

There are very few places where you will see museum quality cars in one place and up close as you can at The Del Mar Concours d’Elegance, which took place on 10/16/11 at the Del mar fairgrounds. There were gorgeous cars being showcased, from Rolls Royce to Fleetwood to Pierce-Arrow classics. A 1936 Delahaye 135 Competition Convertible – Figoni et Falashi was awarded Best of Show. . Attendees had a chance to look under the hood of these beauties, as well as see all the intricate details up close. Most of the car owners were there to answer questions, too. If you have a car buff in your life, this was definitely the place to take them.

To see pictures of the show and a complete list of winners check out: Concours d’Elegance

The Pearl Hotel in Point Loma is a boutique hotel decorated in vintage swanky 60′s decor. They host a variety of events in the bar/pool areas, including movie nights, co-working events, meetups, bingo, and holiday events.

On October 20th, they hosted their annual pumpkin carving contest. They provided the pumpkins and the tools, pumpkin carvers provided the creativity. They had Frankenstein projected on the big screen over the pool and specialty cocktails being shaken up for the night.

There were about 30 guests transforming their gourds into everything from intricately detailed patterns to cats to traditional faces. One man even brought his power tools. The winners were a mustached pumpkin face, an angry bird, and Snookie (complete with cocktail in her mouth). Prizes included a one night stay at the Pearl and gift certificates to the restaurant.

If you haven’t been to the Pearl, I highly recommend checking out one of their events. Check out the event calender here: The Pearl

The San Diego Asian Film Festival, SDAFF, is in full swing with a lot of movies, celebrities, and after-parties. The festival started October 20th with the opening movie and after-party. It will continue until October 28th. There are movie shorts and full-length films in just about every genre. Tickets are $11 for individual films or you can purchase 4 and 10-packs for a discount. Some of the movies are free and there are some you can watch online.

I attended the Blowfish party at the Culy Warehouse downtown. I thought it was interesting that they had a completely separate room for the VIP guests. They had a great dj, Mike Relm, playing music in the main room and Croniclr was there capturing it all for their projection screen during the event. The VIP area featured beer, wine, sake, and food from Rendezvous Del Mar.

I also attended the karaoke party at the Sheraton on Shelter Island. They had a karaoke contest and a lot of talent was displayed. Afterward, they opened it up to everyone and I even got to sing a song!

There is one more after-party coming up on October 28th at the Randy Jones All-American Grill in Hazard Center starting at 9pm. You can see the full schedule of movies and parties on their website: http://www.SDAFF.org

Water to Wine is a non-profit organization run by Doc Hendley. Almost half of the world’s hospital beds are filled with people suffering from water-related illnesses, such as diarrhea and bacterial infections. This could be easily fixed just by installing filtration systems that cost $20 and can filter enough water for 5-8 people for 5 years. This isn’t as easy as it may seem, though, because warfare is fought by infecting the water in many countries and the leaders of these militants will kill people who try to clean the water.

Doc Hendley has been trying to get clean water to people around the world for 10 years. On one trip, a friend of his was shot and killed for trying to do good things and helping people.  This man had a family and was ruthlessly hunted down by people trying to keep the water infected.

On 10/15/11 a fundraiser was held at the Coast Highway Photography and raised $6,000 for this cause. Chef Jeff of Taste Culinary made delicious hors d’ouvres  including stuffed baked baby potatoes, stuffed figs, coconut shrimp, and fried artichoke balls. Many different choices of wine were served and wonderful prizes were raffled off. It was a great event for a great cause.

Anyone can host a fundraiser for this cause. You can see photos of the event on our Facebook page.  

Hess Brewery celebrated OktoberHess last Saturday afternoon, 10/15. It is a small nano-brewery, located in a space the size of a large storage unit in a business park, but it can host a fun party. The event was held in the parking lot of their building and they were barbecuing up some brats with sauerkraut. They also had strudel on hand to make it really authentic. There was music playing and people seemed to really enjoy the special beers they made for the event.

You can do a tasting of 5 of their special brews for only $10 and that includes a souvenir glass. Make sure to get there quickly, though, because their beer sells out.

For tasting hours and more info check out their website: http://hessbrewing.com/index2.html

* Photography by Amir Abouriche

Pardon My French is creating fun networking events that showcase emerging artists in an upscale nightlife environment. Their goal is to bring the art to the younger generations in a fresh and exciting way.

I met both Eric Fillion of Pardon My French and Ryan Crowley of Symbolic Collection representing Trevor Young at their event at Fluxx on 10/14/11. Ryan said that Symbolic has one of the largest private collections of art in America, with over 30,000 pieces in their collection. Ryan has an eye for art and can recognize talent when he sees it.

Trevor Young has exhibited his work in galleries all over the world, including New York, Washington D.C., and Rome. His current collection is inspired by car culture and outposts of Americana.

The event itself was lovely. The attendance was lower than usual due to the traffic that evening, but the people that were there had a chance to sip champagne with strawberries and mingle with the other guests. The DJ played cool beats at a moderate volume conducive to chatting and Trevor was available to answer any questions.

You can find out about the next Pardon My French event by visiting their website: www.pardonmyfrenchevents.com