San Diego: So sparkling it's almost unfair

Author: By David Aldrich, Globe Correspondent

Date: SUNDAY, February 8, 1998

Page: M1

Section: Travel

San Diego did not always look like an Impressionist painting. If you drive into the surrounding hills, the palms and bougainvillea disappear, and all you see along the road are dusty manzanita, thistle, chaparral , and sage. And no trees. Unbelievably, not a single tree grows naturally in San Diego.

How did this city of 1.1 million become so lush? Beginning in 1892, a horticulturalist named Kate Sessions planted trees suitable for dry climates, up to 400 a year. That got things started. Today it's hard to imagine that San Diego was not always filled with palms and junipers, hibiscus, and birds-of-paradise.

And Marines and sailors. San Diego is filled with Marines and sailors. You see them jogging everywhere: across beaches, through parks, along the waterfront. They run in twos, squads, platoons, sometimes in civvies and sometimes in combat boots that sink deep in the sandy beaches. When not out running, these young men and women staff the gray rows of carriers and destroyers anchored in the city's fine harbor.

San Diego is a nautical city, and visitors spend much of their time connected to the sea. It was not the Navy ships that first caught Nancy's and my attention, however, but the three-masted, 205-foot Star of India, a restored 1863 sailing ship tied up photogenically at the city's palm-lined waterfront.

Before the Star retired to San Diego (home to many retirees, including more admirals than anywhere else in the country), it circled the globe 21 times. Mustered out of service in 1926, she sat rotting in the harbor until volunteers restored her in 1959. Today she gleams of polished brass, scrubbed decks, and varnished railings. Every year or two, the Star unfurls her 15,000 square yards of canvas and slips into the harbor for a nostalgic slow sail.

The first things to catch my eye when I went aboard were the ropes: They dangled from the masts, hung over railing pegs, and lay coiled on deck like great rag rugs. Ropes everywhere. Joe Jensen, the guide that day, told me that the ship carried about four miles of rope, and ``about a hundred of those.''

He was pointing at the spider's web of ropes draped from the sails to the railings.

A hundred?

I asked how crew members had been able to keep track of them.

``They just had to learn,'' Joe replied. ``That's where we got the expression `knowing the ropes.' ''

After touring the Star of India, Nancy and I meandered along the Embarcadero, an invitingly wide sidewalk that curves along the bay. From here, you can catch a harbor cruise or whale-watching excursion or rent a bicycle or in-line skates. Townspeople and visitors alike gather along the Embarcadero in the evening to dine and stroll and watch the sun set. Huge Navy ships slip past as dark hulks, and brightly lit pleasure boats set out for a noisy sail. One evening Nancy spotted a seal a few yards off shore, bobbing and rolling and ignoring the harbor traffic.

Nearby downtown is modern, neat, and -- fittingly -- as clean as a military base. The first of its two main attractions is Horton Plaza at G Street and First Avenue, a shopping mall of crazy architectural angles, bright Mexican colors, and topiary bears -- pleasing to the eye but nevertheless offering the same wares as your shopping mall back home. The second attraction is the Gaslamp Quarter, bounded by Fourth and Fifth avenues and Broadway and Market Street. Although it boasts National Historic District status and has Victorian houses to show off, the Gaslamp Quarter is not the quaint place its name implies. Instead, it's an upscale/downscale collection of cafes, clubs, art galleries, adult bookstores, some historic buildings, and some aggressive street types. Don't walk there at night.

To see more of San Diego, you need to drive, take a tour, or ride public transportation. The sights are many, so those of us with just a week's vacation miss something. But no one misses the zoo.

The San Diego Zoo may be the best in the world. It's overwhelming: You need a half day to tour its 100 acres on foot. The birds and animals live in natural environments surrounded by exotic trees and plants that make this as much a botanical garden as a zoo. Don't miss the glass-walled hippopotamus pond where these lumbering beasts turn into delicate dancers. Toes tapping the bottom, ears bent back, the hippos propel themselves serenely through the water with the grace of ballerinas. When the crowds get to you, head for the Scripps Aviary to see and hear tropical songbirds of every hue, and watch hummingbirds hover among the orchids.

The zoo sits in Balboa Park, 1,400 beautiful acres containing a dozen museums of Spanish-Moorish architecture. You could easily spend a week here. There's something for everyone: art museums and a performing arts center, a model railroad museum and a space theater, an antique carousel and a Japanese Friendship Garden. My favorite spot was the lily pond in front of the Botanical Gardens; Nancy's favorite: the colorful artisans' workshops at the Spanish Village.

To get back to nautical matters, visit Sea World, a huge marine park in Mission Bay just north of the city. Here's what we enjoyed most: watching a young whale stick its nose out of the water to be fed, walking through a glass tunnel inside a shark pond, and seeing a four-ton black-and-white killer whale leap straight up out of the water. Children love the place, but parents pay a hefty price: $32.95 for themselves and $24.95 for each youngster.

In contrast, the beaches are free. The famous Coronado Beach is wide and beautiful and the cleanest beach I've ever seen. Blue trash cans stand in rows at regular intervals, like Marines in formation (platoons of real Marines trot through regularly), and the sand is groomed with earth-moving equipment (no kidding).

Farther up the coast, Mission Beach is not so militarily spiffy. In fact, it's crowded, noisy, and downright unkempt, but also funky and what outsiders expect a southern California beach to look like: sunbathers and surfers, guitar players and loafers, bikers and in-line skaters whose tattoos cover more skin area than their outfits. Pelicans glide low overhead with motionless wings, in groups of four, wingtip to wingtip, as if they've been spending too much time watching Navy fliers.

Another much-visited site in San Diego is the Old Town near the junction of interstates 5 and 8. The original city, Old Town encompasses several streets of cafes and shops and the Old Town State Historic Park. The park is small, colorful, and inviting. Half is a frontier village of one-story wooden buildings, stern and unpainted, with backless benches out front just made for sitting with cowboy boots crossed for long silent hours and spitting into the dust. In sharp contrast, the park's other half contains the Bazaar del Mundo, a swirl of color and music and shops and noisy outdoor cafes, a caricature of a Mexican marketplace compressed into a happy, taco-scented, red, blue, and yellow courtyard. Not exactly authentic, but lots of fun.

If you want to visit the real Mexico, just take a trolley. No joke. Just 18 miles south of San Diego lies Tijuana, an up-and-coming city of 2.5 million that little resembles the Bazaar del Mundo. Some areas are prosperous, some gritty. If you think of Tijuana as the sin city south of the border, you'll be disappointed. If you think that all of Mexico looks like the scrubbed resort you visited last winter, you'll be equally disappointed. Whatever your expectations, you won't regret spending a day south of the border. There are great bargains on pottery, blankets, and folk art.

So that's San Diego: sunshine year round, palm trees, ocean breezes, prosperity, trips to a foreign country for a $1.75 trolley ticket, and never a snowy driveway. Tell me, is that fair?

Driving is surprisingly easy for a city of this size, except that townspeople (carrier pilot wannabes) hit jet speeds getting on and off freeways. All-day parking next to the cruise-ship terminal on the Embacardero is only $3.

The Old Town Trolley passes a dozen main attractions and lets you get off and reboard all day on one ticket ($17 adults, $8 children ). It's a good introduction to the city. Phone 619-298-8687.

The San Diego Trolley operates an east line (El Cajon) and a south line (San Ysidro, which goes to the Mexican border). $1-1.75, depending upon distance. Phone 619-233-3004.

Most attractions are open daily. The Maritime Museum is at 1306 North Harbor Drive, $5. Phone 619-234-9153. Entrance to Balboa Park is free. The zoo costs $15 adults, $6 children 3-11. Phone 619-234-3153. Sea World is at 1720 South Shores Road, $32.95 adults, $24.95 children. Phone 619-226-3815.

The flashiest hotel in town is the two-tower, glass San Diego Marriott Hotel and Marina at 333 West Harbor Drive. $155 to $275 for up to five people in a room. Phone 800-228-9290; fax 619-239-8978.

In Old Town, the Vacation Inn charges $80 for streetside rooms, $90 for the quieter courtyard rooms. The price includes a continental breakfast. 3900 Old Town Ave. Phone 800-451-9846, fax 619-299-1619.

For a Victorian bed and breakfast, try the museum-like Heritage Park Bed & Breakfast Inn, also in Old Town at 2470 Heritage Park Row. $90 to $225 a couple, including a full breakfast and afternoon tea. Phone 800-995-2470; fax 619-299-9465.

Not surprisingly, seafood is a San Diego specialty. The Fish Market at 750 North Harbor Drive offers good food and a harbor view. The menu at the Downstairs restaurant lists everything from Hawaiian Tombo to Maine lobster in a casual, somewhat noisy setting. Most meals are $15 to $22. Phone 619-232-3474. Upstairs, the Top of the Market is much more elegant and much more expensive. Phone 619-232-4867.

It's no surprise either that Mexican food is another specialty. The Casa de Pico sits in the middle of the Bazaar del Mundo and offers surprisingly good fare for a tourist location. Meals are in the $8 range. Also in the Old Town park, El Fandango provides pleasant outdoor dining and Mexican dishes for $8 to $10.

Our favorite dining spot was the Sculpture Garden Cafe in Balboa Park, a cool, soothing patio filled with sculpture. For $10, I had shredded smoked chicken with raisins and walnuts in a half melon (and would like more right now).