Seasons & Holidays (San Diego, El Cajon, Santee: to live in, shop, beach)

[hanna_house]

Originally Posted by mewzikguy

Go to the December Nights celebration in early Dec. in Balboa Park. It's one of the coolest festivals anywhere. Choirs, music, food, all the museums are open for free 'till 9:00 P.M. Also, many churches and youth groups have very fun Halloween celebrations for kids. Plus the "trick or treating" in most all neighborhoods. Enjoy Also, the 4th is HUGE out here- - multiple fireworks in the sky- - actually SD is ranked as one of top ten places to celebrate the 4th.

Now this sounds like my kind of event! Thanks! I did hear that they have ice skating in downtown San Diego (perhaps Balboa Park?). What could be better than ice skating outdoors in SoCal?

I am usually involved with the Harvest Festival at church and that's always fun. What about haunted attractions? Detroit is known for having the largest number of these during Halloween but it's catching on in bigger cities. Maybe LA would have more of that sort of thing than SD though.

[mewzikguy]

The skating rink is below the NBC building on Broadway. Fun Also, there are many haunted fun things to do- -let's see, the Haunted Trail in Balboa Park (very fun and scary), Haunted Hotel downtown, (lines around the block for the whole month of Oct.) Del Mar Scream Zone @ the race track- -just a few I can think of.

[hanna_house]

Originally Posted by mewzikguy

The skating rink is below the NBC building on Broadway. Fun Also, there are many haunted fun things to do- -let's see, the Haunted Trail in Balboa Park (very fun and scary), Haunted Hotel downtown, (lines around the block for the whole month of Oct.) Del Mar Scream Zone @ the race track- -just a few I can think of.

Woohoo! Sounds like fun! Glad to know about these things. Thanks again for sharing! My husband and I are really active and love going to events like these. Actually it will be nice to do some of these things without it being so frigid for once!

[sav858]

Originally Posted by hanna_house

Kind of surprised that 4th Of July and Memorial Day are not more of a big deal with all the military!

They are, not sure what the other poster was talking about. July 4th is probably SD's biggest holiday and usually hundreds of thousands of people pack the beaches every year and well over a million over the course of the weekend. But it was fairly tame this year in Pacific Beach, where the biggest crowds are, due to the alcohol ban on the sand. Memorial Day is big too but not as big as July 4th, the weather that time of year can be hit or miss and this past May it was a miss b/c of cool temps and rain.

[Sassberto]

I almost always go back to NY for the holidays. Around here it's almost like they don't exist.

[SomeThings]

I love, love, love the Christmas decorations on Garrison Street in Point Loma (zip 92106). It only runs for a block between Chatsworth and Liggett, but well worth it--get of the car and walk it as they do quite a setup in the windows. Some nights (weekends?) the kids at one of the houses set up a stand and sell hot chocolate...

Boat Parade in December is also worth catching from a waterfront location!

[sdurbanite]

I was fortunate to be in New England just after the peak season for Fall foliage one year - beautiful. There is nothing like that here. I'm sure our local mountains have some color, but nothing like it is back there.

[CrissCT]

Originally Posted by sav858

They are, not sure what the other poster was talking about. July 4th is probably SD's biggest holiday and usually hundreds of thousands of people pack the beaches every year and well over a million over the course of the weekend. But it was fairly tame this year in Pacific Beach, where the biggest crowds are, due to the alcohol ban on the sand. Memorial Day is big too but not as big as July 4th, the weather that time of year can be hit or miss and this past May it was a miss b/c of cool temps and rain.

I guess it's just celebrated differently than the East Coast & Midwest where you have small town parades. Going to the beach isn't how I celebrate those holidays. Like I said, I think I would feel differently if I had been brought up there.

[hanna_house]

Originally Posted by Sassberto

I almost always go back to NY for the holidays. Around here it's almost like they don't exist.

I guess that means I'll have to over compensate!

[hanna_house]

Originally Posted by sdurbanite

I was fortunate to be in New England just after the peak season for Fall foliage one year - beautiful. There is nothing like that here. I'm sure our local mountains have some color, but nothing like it is back there.

It is beautiful in New England during the Fall and Winter! Same with Northern Michigan. Lots of trees and rolling hills.