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This shop has a decent selection of mechanics who seemed pretty well skilled. Its good to shop around before settling on one mechanic but these seemed to fit the bill for my 1982 volvo dl. Good...
This shop has a decent selection of mechanics who seemed pretty well skilled. Its good to shop around before settling on one mechanic but these seemed to fit the bill for my 1982 volvo dl. Good service, with good prices, and some competant mechanics.
A good list of mechanic shops in Sd can be found here:http://entertainment.signonsandiego.com/search?type=grid&flavor_id=8&cw1=31&histoindex_left=cw1&sort=rank-desc&context=shopping&histo_name=Automotive&cslink=cs_filter1
It lists about 100 mechanic shops, all in our local city: San Diego
I'd definately go with these guys again.
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A LITTLE BACKGROUND ON BALBOA PARK
Balboa Park is set on 1,200 acres near the heart of San Diego. There are avenues to stroll, lots of museums, landscaping, gardens, fountains and...
A LITTLE BACKGROUND ON BALBOA PARK
Balboa Park is set on 1,200 acres near the heart of San Diego. There are avenues to stroll, lots of museums, landscaping, gardens, fountains and performances.
Below is a list of attractions in Balboa Park from the web site www.balboapark.org. We have visited the The San Diego Zoo and the Reuben H. Fleet Science Center, which I describe below. Obviously, if you are a tourist, you can't see it all in one day. The web site has some good information about what each museum or attraction contains. Of course, the park itself, with its landscaping and architecture is quite an attraction by itself.
American Indian Culture Center and Museum
Centro Cultural de la Raza
House of Pacific Relations
Japanese Friendship Garden
Marie Hitchcock Puppet Theatre
Marston House
Mingei International Museum
Museum of Photographic Arts
Museum of San Diego History
Reuben H. Fleet Science Center
San Diego Aerospace Museum
San Diego Art Institute
San Diego Automotive Museum
San Diego Hall of Champions
San Diego Junior Theatre
San Diego Model Railroad Museum
San Diego Museum of Art
San Diego Museum of Man
San Diego Natural History Museum San Diego Zoo
Spanish Village Art Center
Spreckels Organ Pavilion
Starlight Theatre at Starlight Bowl
Timken Museum of Art
The Old Globe Theatre
United Nations Building
Veterans Museum and Memorial Center
WorldBeat Center
THE PARK
Balboa Park is a great place to stroll around. We particularly liked the El Prado walkway. Along this pedestrian street are museums housed in buildings featuring Spanish Colonial architecture. These buildings were originally built for the 1915-16 Panama-California Exposition.
The Spanish Colonial architecture is very detailed. You could spend a lot of time just studing the fascade of each building with all its sculpture and carving. I really liked the elaborate designs - very different from what we have in New England.
We also walked around the Botanical Building. The large wood lath structure in located on the El Prado walkway. The building itself is a striking contrast to the Spanish architecture that dominates the rest of this area. The building contains tropical plants. Even if you don't enter the building, you can enjoy the botanical gardens all around the outside. Don't miss the Lily Pond which is very beautiful. My mother, who lives in the area year-round, told us the pond is particularly nice in the summer when the water plants are blooming.
The portions of the park we saw were very, very clean. We didn't see litter anywhere.
There are street performers at random places in the Park. It sounds nice, but they were all pretty awful. One woman's gimmick was to blow bubbles and sell balloon animals. Another woman just stood there and sang (badly). I wish there was some screening process for the performers because I thought these acts detracted from the Park.
THE REUBEN H. FLEET CENTER SCIENCE MUSEUM
The Fleet Center Science Museum is located right near the El Prado walkway. It is housed in a modern building - not the Spanish Architecture buildings I admired just nearby. The Fleet Center has to be the most disappointing science museum I have ever been to. The cost without membership or discounts is just over $11 per adult and I would have been horrified if I had paid that amount. As it turned out, we visited with someone who had a membership so we paid nothing. If you don't have a connection, there are deals where you can buy a pass to all the museums at a discount. The pass was $30 per week when we visited - but of course, things change and you should check before you go.
The building itself is rather small and does not house many permanent exhibits. Most of the exhibits are free-standing small booths or displays. There is a sign explaining the scientific concept. For example, one small booth had silver Christmas ornaments. The viewer was invited to look how the different Christmas balls reflected images. That's it. Another display showed videos of how earthquakes collapsed bridges. That's it. Very little was interactive or engaging. If your child is still too young to read well or appreciate complex concepts, they won't get much out of the museum at all.
Many of the exhibits were at an adult's eye level. There was almost nothing to appeal to elementary school kids. There was a play area for 2-6 year olds that consisted of a couple of computer stations and a few toys in a separate area. There was no seating for parents in the tots area and no walls to contain it so it was not exactly a relaxing place for families to explore.
There was a traveling exhibit for 2-8 year olds that featured the characters from Richard Scarey books. My kids really enjoyed this exhibit although it was scheduled to leave a few weeks after we visited. If it wasn't for this exhibit, we probably wouldn't have had more than 10 minutes of stuff to do in the permanent exhibits.
The Fleet Center has an IMAX theater that appears to show a movie every hour. The IMAX is shown in a giant tilted dome-screen theater which is different than a lot of other IMAX theaters but didn't detract from the experience.
In addition to the IMAX there is a Motion Simulator Ride that takes visitors on a trip to the Deep Sea. It sounded pretty cool but my son was ruled out on height restrictions and I was ruled out because I am pregnant so the family decided not to ride.
In addition to the exhibits, the museum had a small, overpriced gift store and a small cafe with outside tables. The cafe did have reasonably priced healthy choices for lunch.
OTHER STUFF
We parked for free in the Fleet Center Science Musuem parking lot. It was a weekday afternoon and there were many open spaces.
We ate dinner in a lovely restaurant called The Prado. This restaurant is housed in one of the old Spanish Architecture buildings and was wonderful.
FINAL RECOMMENDATION
I really liked Balboa Park and intend to return next time we are in San Diego. I like the mix of outdoor strolling and culture in the museums. I doubt I would return to the Science Center but there are still so many attractions to see.
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The San Diego Zoo has always held some kind of mystique for me. It is marketed as one of the best zoos in the country and I thought, for sure, it must be true given the solid reputation and the...
The San Diego Zoo has always held some kind of mystique for me. It is marketed as one of the best zoos in the country and I thought, for sure, it must be true given the solid reputation and the year-round good weather that would be inviting to many kinds of animals. Boy, was I disappointed. Sure, there were some great aspects of the zoo. However, I also found that the San Diego Zoo is not nearly as big as I expected, the variety of animals leaves something to be desired (unless you like deer) and some of the enclosures are not very humane.
The other kind of odd thing about the San Diego Zoo is that there is a road running through most of the zoo used by the Zoo's bus tours and express buses. It was a pain to constantly have to monitor the children from stepping into the street and we had to cross the somewhat busy street multiple times to see the exhibits.
The San Diego Zoo also has a very commercial aspect. There are lots of visible gift stores and restaurants throughout the park. There are craft projects kids can do for a price. The bus tours and gondola rides cost extra money. There was also a place where kids could jump on mini-trampolines and climb a rock wall for a price. I expected more of a serene environment and instead there were lots of additional places to separate my money from me.
THE BUS TOUR
I highly recommend taking the bus tour when you arrive as a way of getting acquainted with the zoo. Bus tickets are in addition to your admission ticket. There is a 35 minute tour available aboard a double decker bus. The wait to sit on the top part of the bus is longer than the wait for the bottom but the view is much, much better. We arrived mid-morning and waited about 20 minutes for a top floor seat although we heard the wait can top an hour.
The bus takes you past about 80% of the enclosures. The bus driver also narrates the trip and had some pretty good information about the animals. After taking the bus tour, you can plan what you want to walk back to see more of.
THE ZOO OVERALL AND HOW TO AVOID HILLS
The first thing you will notice about the San Diego Zoo is that it is spread out and very hilly. There are a couple of outdoor escalators to help you get up some of the steepest hills. There is also a gondola ride between the back and front of the park (there is a small fee each way). If you don't want to hike hills, plan your visit so that you can walk downhill, then use the escalators to get back up. It also makes sense to take the gondola from the front of the park to the back of the park since the back of the park is on higher ground.
Make sure to pick up a map. If you pay for the bus tour, you can use express buses throughout the park. They travel in a loop and make 5 stops that are clearly marked on the map.
The zoo itself is quite large and spread out. While some enclosures are close together, others are quite separate from surrounding attractions (the pandas come to mind here). Although the number of actual animals on display is not overwhelming the size of the zoo requires a lot of hiking. It would take most of a day to see everything and allow time for a meal and resting.
THE CHILDREN'S ZOO
This was, by far, my favorite part of the zoo. It is located just near the entrance. A path winds through about 30 animal exhibits that are fairly close together. There are also a lot of hands-on exhibits. The sheep and goat petting area was a family favorite (the kids way outnumbered the animals who looked drugged). There was even a considerate family wash-up area right outside the petting area with lots of soap and sinks. The children's zoo also had exhibits to explore including a garden and a bug house with some really huge, creep bugs. The cages were well-labeled with animal information. I highly recommend this area for both children and adults.
THE PANDAS
The San Diego Zoo has a female and male panda. When we visited in August 2003, the female had just had a baby and neither mother nor child was on exhibit. The male was allowed to move to a private area for a nap so we did not get to see him either. The panda enclosure is about a 5 minute walk from the other exhibits. I understand not being able to see the new family, however it would have been appreciated if there was a sign near the entrance of the zoo so I didn't trek out of my way.
OTHER EXHIBITS
There is a very large collection of "horns and hoofs" which are deer, antelope, cattle and other 4 footed brown animals. I don't really appreciate all of the nuances between all the varieties of deer and could have skipped some of these exhibits.
Polar Bears: The Polar Bears have a very large and considerate enclosure. There are plenty of viewing area and the exhibits around the back of the Polar Bear exhibit were also pretty neat.
Elephants: Three large elephants are kept in a relatively small, inhumane enclosure with no opportunity for privacy. It really broke my heart to see them kept this way.
Monkey Business: There is a decent collection of primates that were pretty active on the cool day that we visited.
Cats: I love to watch the large cats in any zoo. The San Diego Zoo had a relatively small collection of these animals. There is one small tiger enclosure and another for a lion.
OTHER THINGS TO DO BESIDES SEE ANIMALS
We saw a 20 minute show called Wacky Science with Dr. Zoolittle in the children's area of the zoo. The show was free and quite good. The kids loved it. We didn't need tickets and the show occurred at the top of each hour.
There was a trio walking around on stilts dressed like birds. It wasn't exactly a parade, but it was interesting to see.
There was a band at the entrance playing pretty good music. They also had a kid's limbo contest.
There was an area with a climbing wall and a mini-trampoline. It was $7 per child for 3 minutes on the trampoline which I forked over because my guard is down when I am on vacation.
EATING
I really don't like the overpriced, low-quality food found in tourist attractions. We brought a lot of food into the park and no one questioned us. We ate one meal at the restaurant near the entrance. There was only one person working the counter so the service was very slow. As predicted, the food was overpriced and low-quality. The only plus to eating in the zoo was that the kids' meal came in a plastic bucket that we brought home as a little memento of our trip. We also got sturdy plastic cups that could be reused.
PARKING
Parking is free in a large lot. You may have to park away from the zoo and hike. We were about 5 minutes away. There are no trams or other transportation to the entrance.
SHOPPING
Strangely, the San Diego Zoo has more shopping than my local mall. There was a huge shop near the entrance and other retail shops throughout the park selling animal-themed merchandise. The only annoying thing is that many gift shops were open air and, in some cases,you had to walk through a gift shop to exit an exhibit area. My kids, who usually don't ask for anything, became fixated with getting something because so much was on display everywhere we went.
FINAL RECOMMENDATION
I am going to recommend this zoo because we had a fun daytrip here. However, now that I have seen it, I don't think I would return. I didn't like the road running through the park and I didn't care for the commercial aspect. We have our own hometown zoo that is not as glitzy but is just as nice.
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This has been my dentist of choice for many years now and they are really incredible at what they do. They will do an outstanding job, that will last years with minimal pain and disomfort. The only...
This has been my dentist of choice for many years now and they are really incredible at what they do. They will do an outstanding job, that will last years with minimal pain and disomfort. The only downside is you will pay for it...the prices are way way up there. I almost decided to go with a cheaper dentist but its not really worth my health. You pay for what you get.
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This is an online retail store that specializes in PSP products and PS2's. All i can say is there service is incredible and there shipping times are almost always next day. 5 stars for sure...i'll...
This is an online retail store that specializes in PSP products and PS2's. All i can say is there service is incredible and there shipping times are almost always next day. 5 stars for sure...i'll be buying from here again. The best deals are on the hdadvace, Swap Magics, and USBExtremes. For the best shipping time pick the express shipping option although the Priority option is very fast as well.
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This is an online retail store that specializes in PSP products and PS2's. All i can say is there service is incredible and there shipping times are almost always next day. 5 stars for sure...i'll...
This is an online retail store that specializes in PSP products and PS2's. All i can say is there service is incredible and there shipping times are almost always next day. 5 stars for sure...i'll be buying from here again.
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