tool name

Saturday, Jan. 10, 2009

San Diego: Any time is a good time to visit

SAN DIEGO -- Something kept postponing the annual family vacation. First it was work responsibilities, then family obligations, followed by the downward economic spiral.

Before we knew it, autumn had arrived. The end of the year was rapidly approaching and a lot of those vacation spots we had considered -- Denver, St. Louis, Buffalo -- seemed less appealing. We weren't relishing the idea of driving in snow or bundling up in parkas.

Which is how San Diego immediately jumped to the top of our list. Here's a city designed for year-round vacations. The average temperature is 70 degrees, it's mostly sunny with minimal humidity and has an annual rainfall of less than 10 inches.

The city's also a quintessential playground for any age group or interest -- a good thing considering my travel party consisted of my husband, 12-year-old stepdaughter and 18-year-old niece.

Attractions include a world-renowned zoo, wildlife animal park, two aquariums, Sea World, Legoland and dozens of museums, including the USS Midway; shopping in Old Town and Seaport Village; and 70 miles of beaches.

Restaurants number in the hundreds, from the Gaslamp Quarter to Little Italy and beyond. The airport is centrally located; three interstates make driving a breeze; and a trolley system takes you virtually anywhere you want to go, including the Mexican border.

About the only thing San Diego doesn"t have are enough hours in the day to see and do everything.

We wanted a trip that deviated from the usual sights, but at the last minute we were talked into adding the San Diego Zoo. Consider that one of our best moves of the week.

This is not your typical see-the-animals zoo. For starters, it sits on 100 acres of park land. The size and scope quickly become obvious from a skyfari aerial tram, which sweeps you over treetops across the zoo and offers panoramic views of the city.

The zoo stretches mostly uphill, so I recommend taking the tram from the bottom to the top and then walking back down. Or consider taking the 35-minute guided bus tour, which covers 75 percent of the grounds.

The zoo is home to more than 4,000 animals, mostly rare and endangered, and has a division devoted to conservation and research of the species.

Within five minutes, I was staring eye-to-eye with animals I had never even heard of: Calamian deer, Nubian Soemmerring Gazelle (humorous with their wagging tails) and Chacoan Peccary.

"It's a pig," a delighted 2-year-old told her mom.

To me, it looked more like a cross between a boar and a porcupine, but what did I know? In truth, not as much as I once assumed.

Usually at zoos, I read the name of the animal and move on. Here, I found myself entranced by the nuggets of information provided, like how zebra species are distinguished by the size and placement of their stripes or how a female panda looking for a mate will make scent marks 50 times an hour.

Ah yes, the giant pandas. Let's face it; they are the real reason why the zoo ended up on our trip itinerary.

San Diego Zoo has the largest number of giant pandas in the United States. Its research station can hold up to six at a time.

The pandas are so popular a long line forms just for the chance to take a 30-second walk past their exhibit. When we visited, 17-year-old Bai Yun -- on loan from China -- sat chewing bamboo while her newest cub, 16-month-old Zhen Zhen, lounged in a nearby tree.

The black-and-white bears are adorable, but I was more taken with the meerkats. A sizable crowd quickly gathered around their enclosure as two meerkats tussled in a bucket, a few more dug aimlessly in the dirt and a trio sat up on hind legs, as if preening for the cameras.