Destinations
Courtesy San Diego County Fair
Cook Up A Summer Escape To San Diego
Serving the Community Since 2002
Tiki Oasis attendees; Photo: Mitch Tobias
46
7.18
As Arizona cranks the heat up to full broil, and summer vacation cabin fever begins to simmer, Valley families may be looking for some quick relief. With a drive time of just over five hours, or less than an hour by air, San Diego has the perfect recipe for a quick, summertime family escape. From parks and gardens to festivals and performing arts; delicious new dining to tiki-tastic gatherings (and, oh yeah, the beach!), San Diego has a flavor to satisfy most appetites. Annual Festivals July 19-22, San Diego becomes the center of the pop culture universe during Comic-Con International (www.comic-con.org), America’s longest continuously-run comics and popular arts convention. August 8-12, the largest and longest-running tiki gathering in the world, Tiki Oasis (www.tikioasis. com), returns to Mission Valley. Enjoy a tiki-tastic art and fashion marketplace, live tropical-jazz music, go-go dancers, a classic car show, pool parties and more.
Perennial Favorites Walkabout Australia at the San Diego Zoo Safari Park (www. sdzsafaripark.org) will transport visitors to a land featuring a walkthrough exhibit teeming with kangaroos, grasslands where wombats frolic, and forests filled with kookaburras and cassowaries. Experience wildlife from the Land Down Under and come face-to-face with some of the most mysterious animals on Earth. Something New In March, Little Italy’s (www. littleitalysd.com) Piazza della Famiglia opened as a central public gathering place to host farmers’ markets, concerts, cultural events and more in the heart of this San Diego neighborhood. Within the plaza space, the Little Italy Food Hall will open in summer 2018. Arriving with it will be six locallydriven food stations, a mobile outdoor chefs’ area featuring pop-up cooking demonstrations See Summer Escape, page 47