San Diego Kayaking for Health and Fun

You can kayak virtually any place along the San Diego coastline. Kayaking involves paddling a small craft through water. It is a low-impact activity that can improve your aerobic fitness, strength and flexibility. More importantly, kayaking can be done as a hobby, a competitive sport or as a fun activity.

Have fun while you:

• • Improved cardiovascular fitness
• • Increased muscle strength, particularly in the back, arms, shoulders and chest, from moving the paddle
• • Increased torso and leg strength, as the strength to power a canoe or kayak comes mainly from rotating the torso and applying pressure with your legs
• • Reduced risk of wear-and-tear on joints and tissues, since paddling is a low impact activity.

Below are photos of a friend and her family enjoying their day with the healthy activity of Kayaking at Crown Point North Park in Mission Bay.

Belching Beaver Brewery Tavern & Grill

by Stacey Kuhns

On Friday night, my boyfriend and I met some friends at the Belching Beaver, in the revitalized downtown Vista area. They also have a brewery in Vista (980 Park Center Drive).

This is more of a restaurant and bar setting with indoor and outdoor seating. Belching Beaver is located in the old First National Bank building on the corner of Broadway and Indiana. Their official address is 302 East Broadway. There is no sign to distinguish the place but their truck is normally parked in the small parking lot (come early to find parking downtown). They are open 3pm-9pm Mon-Wed, 3pm-10pm Thurs-Fri, 1pm-10pm Sat, and 1pm-9pm Sun. (They are located directly across the street from The Yellow Deli). 

There are three areas to enjoy at this establishment. A large indoor seating area, a dining patio, and to the right of the building, a backyard area that has lots of sand, benches and chairs, fire pits, game areas, and serves finger foods and more bar type foods. The front outside dining area and inside serve more interesting and pricier choices made by their onsite chef. They also have a nightly chef's special. Both outdoor areas are dog friendly. 

It was very hot outside so at first, we were the only ones on the patio. They have umbrellas, but as the sun went down, there was no escaping the sun in our eyes. One of the workers informed us they are getting sailcloth to block the sun so that will be a welcome addition. The staff are all nice and attentive, but service can get a bit slower as the place fills with people.

Our waitress, Jessica, was amazing. Very friendly and so knowledgeable about the beers, wines, and food. You could tell she enjoys her job. There is an extensive beer menu. My boyfriend tried 8 small (5 ounce) beers ($2 each). You can pick any beers you want to try, any amount, for the $2 each. I had a glass of wine as I do not like beer. (They also have an extensive wine list). Our friends also tried a variety of beers. My boyfriend's favorite (and also some of our friends' favorites) were the Belching Beaver Peanut Butter Milk Stout Nitro (everyone loved this), the Mango beer, the Raspberry beer (cannot remember the name of it), and the Hofbrau Hefeweizen. They tried a number of other beers, but these were the favorites. 

The next three pictures are from the Belching Beaver website as I was unable to take pictures inside and outside in the sand area due to the crowds.

We stayed at the Belching Beaver for four hours. In that time, we had a chance to order a number of appetizers and split them. The food is delicious and unique. Many of the items were made with beer so I steered clear of those, but my boyfriend and friends tried some of them.

My boyfriend tried the Andouille Corn Dogs, which he loved. They are made with a Southern style Andouille sausage dipped in their Hop Highway 78 IPA corn meal batter and served with a honey mustard sauce made with the Me So Honey beer.

We split the Dueling "Pokes", two types of ahi poke, one with a smoked poke sauce and one with a mango/tropical sauce. So good!

My boyfriend later tried the Fire Grilled Shrimp Skewers which have a citrus soy glaze and are served over local organic greens. The Belching Beaver uses a lot of locally sourced organic ingredients. 

I later found out you can order the bar food from the other side and enjoy it on the dining patio, so I ordered a small Caesar Salad. It was one of the best I had ever had (but I forgot to take a picture of it). We also split the Tri City (three different sliders). One is a house-made poke Brat patty with a stoneground mustard made with the Me So Honey beer. I took one bite of this particular slider and gave the rest to my boyfriend. I did not like it at all (probably the beer taste), but he enjoyed it. The second was a chorizo slider which I liked quite a bit and he did not care for. The last was a Cubano slider that I loved. 

The Belching Beaver also serves flatbreads (in which the bread itself is made with brewers yeast and Damned IPA), a number of interesting salads, burgers, seafood, steak, stuffed meatloaf, pork chops, and something called the Brontosaurus Bone ( a giant braised beef rib). My friend ordered the Fried Cauliflower and Leeks. I have to say, the fried leeks were amazing!! Could have eaten a bowl of those. A couple of the guys ordered the BBQ Short Rib Sandwich. They liked the meat but felt the bread was soggy and greasy.

For two of us, between the beer, wine, and food, the bill came to almost $100. The food from the other side (sand area) is quite a bit less expensive, but you have to ask to see that menu if you are not sitting in the sand outdoor area. (More fries, burgers, wings, finger food items).

All in all, it was a pleasant experience and we would definitely go there again. A great place to meet friends, talk, try new things, and relax.

Dog Friendly Areas in North County San Diego

By Stacey Kuhns

 

There are a number of dog-friendly places in North San Diego County but do not believe everything you read on the internet about a place being dog-friendly. Always call ahead, if it is a restaurant or business, to confirm they are dog friendly.

The information on the internet can be misleading, especially if you are looking at Yelp reviews or comments from people who have visited a certain place. Some of them say the place is dog friendly then a few comments later, someone else says it is not. Plan ahead so you are not disappointed (as I speak from experience). I am going to talk about some dog friendly places my boyfriend and I have visited over the last few months. I am not going to discuss dog parks as that is a given that they are dog friendly and I personally, do not let my dog go near them.

San Diegans appear to be big animal lovers for the most part. Businesses and local spots have become more pet friendly over the years, but we are still lacking a lot of amenities for pet owners, especially dog owners. San Diego is all coastal beaches down Highway 101. So it is surprising that there are very few places you can take your dog to the beach, and I mean go down on the sand, play in the water, relax on the beach kind of thing.

Of course, Dog Beach  in Del Mar is dog friendly, but there are rules, such as leash laws, that need to be followed at certain times of the year. We had planned to go there one Sunday morning. We got up at 5:30 a.m., got our stuff together, and we checked the website one more time.

Turns out, for some crazy reason, they are closed on Sundays. I don't get it, but that is what the website said. I am not sure how exactly they close a beach, and I am sure if we had driven all the way down there, we would have found dogs and owners on the beach, but it was too far of a drive to chance it.

Anyway, I checked the internet to see if there was anything at all in North County, as far as dog friendly beaches go. I found a website for Swami's Beach. I made the mistake of reading the comments and reviews. One said, "Bring the kids, bring the dogs...dog friendly!" There were a number of comments that said the beach was dog friendly, so off we went.

Well, we got to Swamis, navigated the steep long stairway and set up our stuff on the beach then went exploring with the dog. He was great and loved it there. After a while, he got tired and we sat on our towels while he stretched out in the sand. He was on leash the entire time. A "concerned citizen" proceeded to come and tell us, in a very rude way, that dogs are prohibited on the beach. I had not even paid attention to the signs. So we left, discouraged and disappointed.

It seems North County is lacking in dog friendly beaches for sure. Would be great if Oceanside or Carlsbad had a dog friendly beach area.

So, on to restaurants. We have tried a number of dog friendly restaurants and I called ahead to each one to make sure they were still dog friendly. I do not recommend taking your dog if they are not calm and used to going to these places. We have been to places where a dog is acting up, barking, and disturbing the other customers. Not fun for the owner or the other patrons.

Do not assume if a restaurant has an outdoor patio, they accept dogs. One place I know of that has a huge outdoor patio, only accepts service dogs. We have been to The Yellow Deli in Vista  which has a beautiful dog friendly patio area. I brought the dog's water dish, water, and snacks for him as some places do not provide these things.

Luna Grill, in Poway, is also a great place for dogs and their owners. Great healthy food and great service, as well as a nice outdoor area with umbrellas. I believe all the Luna Grills are dog friendly, but check before you go.

We also went to Oggies, in Vista. A bit pricey but they have an outdoor, wraparound patio area and a spigot that comes out of the wall to fill up your dog's water bowl. Also, Centre City Café, in Escondido, has friendly service, huge portions for a small price, and a large relaxing front shaded patio. They will provide a bowl of water for the dog if you request it.

Slater's 50/50  in San Marcos, actually has a dog menu. The patio area is nice and they will provide water and a bowl for your dog if you request it.

One place we love is the Continental Delicatessen, in Escondido (on Kalmia and Grand next to Vinz). They are very dog friendly. They will provide a water dish and water for your dog, as well as bring them a slice of meat for a snack (I thanked them for this but refused the offer as I do not feed Henson table food of any kind).

They have wonderful service and yummy homemade food. All the outdoor tables have umbrellas, but it can get very warm on the cement there on hot days so be careful and have plenty of water even to pour over your dog. I always bring a chew stick for him in case he gets restless.

Since Henson is still a puppy, we have to find places to take him as he is too young to leave in the apartment (and suffers from a bit of separation anxiety when I leave) so we are scoping out places we can all go together. It's been fun and for the most part, a really great pleasant experience. Let me know if you have discovered other dog friendly places that you like.

Camping Trip at Lake Perris State Park

The family had a super fun time on their first camping trip at Lake Perris State Park in their new used camper.  As the photos below attest to; 100% outside time was a hit.

The untended areas of Lake Perris may seem rocky and barren at first glance, but an amazing variety of natural wonders are waiting to be found by those who seek them out. The predominant plant community, coastal sage scrub, is home to a variety of birds and wildlife. Mule deer, roadrunners, bobcats, coyotes, cotton tail, jack rabbits, quail, gopher snakes, and rattlesnakes may sometimes be seen by day, though they tend to shy away from people. More frequently seen are a wide variety of lizards, rodents, water fowl, and birds of prey. Beautiful displays of wildflowers occur during the rainy season- generally November through April.

Lake Perris is ringed by various hills and small mountains. The coastal sage scrub community is predominant on the south-facing slopes of the Russell Mountains and Bernasconi Hills and is characterized by shrubby plants including desert encelia, brittlebush, sagebrush, black sage, white sage, buckwheat, and cacti. Conditions are somewhat shadier on hillsides that face north or northwest so that chaparral plants such as chamise, penstemon, and--caution!--poison oak are apt to be found. Remnants of the original perennial grasses that once flourished in this region can still be found in the flat interior of the park surrounding the lake, but the majority of plants that now make up the valley grassland community (including Russian thistle) were imported from Europe by early settlers. Riparian areas near springs and seeps, and on east and south lakes include willows, cattails, elderberry and nettles.