San Diego Free Press

Grassroots News & Progressive Views

You are here: Home / Archives for John P. Anderson

San Diego For Free: Get Lost in the Map & Atlas Museum of La Jolla

by

A weekly column dedicated to sharing the best sights and activities in San Diego at the best price – free! We have a great city and you don’t need to break the bank to experience it.

Location: 7825 Fay Ave Suite LL-A, La Jolla, CA 92037 (Located in lower courtyard of building)

Free Hours: Wednesdays & Thursdays, 1st and 3rd Saturdays of each month. Also by appointment for groups – call 855-653-6277

Best For: Travelers, geography whizzes, explorers, navigators, the lost

Website: mamlj.org

As the first month of a new year comes to a close you may still be thinking about (or drafting) resolutions for 2013. If those resolutions include a goal to travel somewhere the Map & Atlas Museum of La Jolla may be a good resource for you to further ponder a destination. The museum has a wide variety of maps dating from the 15th through the 20th century and is sure to inspire even the biggest homebody to sail for distant seas.

I received a copy of Maphead by Ken Jennings (of Jeopardy fame) for Christmas in early December and had just finished the book when I saw an article about the Map & Atlas Museum in the San Diego Reader. I decided I had to go and visited later that month.
  [Read more…]

SD For Free: Brunch with Mayor Bob

by

A weekly column dedicated to sharing the best sights and activities in San Diego at the best price – free!  We have a great city and you don’t need to break the bank to experience it.

  1. Location: City Hall Lobby – 202 C Street, San Diego, CA  92101 (Downtown)
  2. Free Hours: 1st Saturday of each month from 9:30 AM to Noon, starting February 2nd
  3. Best For: Pardon requests, autograph seekers, the politically active, pothole complaints
  4. Website: http://www.sandiego.gov/mayor/

In addition to many other items in his first State of the City address on January 15th, newly elected mayor of San Diego Bob Filner announced  that he will hold ‘open hours’ on the first Saturday of each month to be available to the public.  These open hours will take place in the lobby of San Diego City Hall and run from 9:30 AM to Noon.  Residents don’t need an appointment and are welcome to come and share whatever is on their mind.   [Read more…]

San Diego for Free: Museum of Contemporary Art San Diego

by

A weekly column dedicated to sharing the best sights and activities in San Diego at the best price – free! We have a great city and you don’t need to break the bank to experience it.

Locations: 700 Prospect Street, San Diego, CA 92037 (La Jolla), and 1100 Kettner Boulevard, San Diego, CA 92101 (Downtown)

Free Hours: 3rd Thursday of each month from 5 to 7 PM. The museum is always free to those 25 and younger and to military and their families.

Best For: The curious, the bold, the beautiful, the pensive, the happy

Website – click here.

With a building on the coast in La Jolla and downtown San Diego the Museum of Contemporary Art San Diego (MCASD) has prime locations to display their collection. The museum has a mission of serving “diverse audiences through the exhibition, interpretation, collection, and preservation of art created since 1950”.
  [Read more…]

Solving the New Year Resolution Quandary

by

A few years ago I was on a holiday vacation with my then-girlfriend / future-wife in Argentina. Between meals consisting almost exclusively of bife de lomo (tenderloin steak) and malbec we were doing the usual tourist things: visiting museums and churches, strolling along leaf-strewn parkways, taking overnight bus trips, etc. With the end of the year approaching we got to talking about resolutions, something we had both done to some extent in the past but had never really taken seriously or committed to fulfilling.

Resolutions seemed to be too big of a task – there are so many areas of life that could use some work. It was hard for us to pin down the most important changes we should make. The endless array of choices led our conversation to the same conclusion as our past resolutions had: nowhere. The next day we took a different angle…   [Read more…]

The Children’s Pool in La Jolla – Visit the Harbor Seals

by

San Diego For Free: Children’s Pool in La Jolla

A weekly column dedicated to sharing the best sights and activities in San Diego at the best price – free! We have a great city and you don’t need to break the bank to experience it.

Location: La Jolla, map here

Best For: Wave watchers, seal gazers, sandy feet aficionados, soul searchers

Near downtown La Jolla is the Children’s Pool, a small beach protected from ocean waves by a sea wall. The wall was built in 1931 to create a calm area of water for swimming. Today the Children’s Pool is the center of a battle between those wishing to see it refurbished and preserved as a swimming area and those that advocate for protection of the harbor seals that have established a home at the Children’s Pool in the past two decades.
  [Read more…]

North Park Beer Scene Is Blowing Up

by

North Park is an urban neighborhood located on the northeast side of Balboa Park. The neighborhood boundaries are roughly Mission Valley to the north, Interstate 805 to the east, Switzer Canyon to the south, and Florida Canyon to the west. In the past year North Park has received some national attention including being named the 13th best hipster neighborhood by Forbes. This ranking was based on the following criteria:

San Diego For Free: Hike on Cowles Mountain for the Winter Solstice – December 21st

by

San Diego for Free is a weekly column dedicated to sharing the best sights and activities in San Diego at the best price – free! We have a great city and you don’t need to break the bank to experience it.

Location: San Carlos, hike starts at the trailhead near the intersection of Golfcrest Drive and Navajo Road

Best For: Restless spirits, insomniacs, hikers, walkers, strollers

Date & Time: Friday, December 21, 6 – 7:30 AM

Website : Here.

This Friday, December 21st is the Winter Solstice – the shortest day of the year and a date held sacred and marked on calendars (both paper and stone) since time immemorial.

To celebrate the date the Canyoneers volunteer hiking group is leading a trek up Cowles Mountain in the pre-dawn stillness to view sunrise from a Kumeyaay solstice observatory about halfway up the mountain.   [Read more…]

SD For Free: 3 Sisters Falls Hike – Adventure in East County

by

The Three Sisters Falls trail is a moderate to difficult hike located north-west of Descanso in east San Diego County. Although today is a rare day of heavy rain in San Diego and not advised for strenous hiking in the backcountry keep this hike in mind for sunnier days ahead, especially during the early spring when the falls are likely to be heavier due to more rain and melting snow-pack.   [Read more…]

San Diego For Free: December Nights at Balboa Park – The Biggest Celebration in Town

by

A weekly column dedicated to sharing the best sights and activities in San Diego at the best price – free! We have a great city and you don’t need to break the bank to experience it.

December Nights – The Biggest Celebration in Town

Location: Balboa Park

Best For: Revelers, families, holiday cheer, San Diegans both native and adopted

Date & Time: Friday, December 7 (5 – 10 PM), Saturday, December 8 (Noon – 10 PM)

Website

This Friday and Saturday mark the 35th annual December Nights celebration in Balboa Park. The event is expected to draw more than 300,000 people over the two-day stretch and is a great time to visit Balboa Park since most of the museums and other sights are free to visit. Additionally, there are is wide assortment of food and drink to enjoy and presentations of song and dance to take in.   [Read more…]

San Diego For Free: Walking – It Does a Body (and Mind) Good

by

A weekly column dedicated to sharing the best sights and activities in San Diego at the best price – free! We have a great city and you don’t need to break the bank to experience it.

Walking – It Does a Body (and Mind) Good

Address & Neighborhood: Anywhere
Best For: Ramblers, wanderers, cubicle dwellers, homebodies, lost souls
Free times: Anytime

In every walk with Nature one receives far more than he seeks.
– John Muir

One of the most simple and enjoyable activities that is good for both body and mind is walking. Living in San Diego affords the opportunity to stretch your legs anytime of year, indeed any day.   [Read more…]

Spreckels Organ Concerts – Outdoor Auditory Enjoyment in Balboa Park

by

A weekly column dedicated to sharing the best sights and activities in San Diego at the best price – free! We have a great city and you don’t need to break the bank to experience it.

Spreckels Organ Concerts – Outdoor Auditory Enjoyment in Balboa Park

Best For: Music players, music listeners, picnickers, people watchers

Free concert times: Sundays at 2pm, see Website for additional special performances

2215 Pan American Road San Diego, CA 92101, Balboa Park

Every Sunday afternoon at 2:00 p.m. the Spreckels Organ Pavilion in Balboa Park is the site of a free organ concert, performed by Dr. Carol Williams, the San Diego Civic Organist since 2001.   [Read more…]

Prop 37 Failed, Now What? Ways to Avoid GMO Foods and Support Sustainable Agriculture

by

On the November 2012 ballot was Proposition 37, which would have required foods containing genetically modified ingredients (GMOs) to be labelled. The proposition did not pass, falling by a vote of 53% No and 47% Yes. John Lawrence wrote about Prop 37 in the lead up to the election with some good thoughts and information you can check out here and here.

The battle over Prop 37 drew a lot of national attention, and dollars in support and opposition poured in from all over the country. According to Ballotpedia.org, the final financial tally was $8.7 million supporting and $45.6 million opposing. The largest contributors to the opposition were Monsanto ($8 million) and DuPont ($5.4 million) followed by PepsiCo, the Grocery Manufacturers Association, Dow, Bayer, and …   [Read more…]

©2010-2017 SanDiegoFreePress.org

Code is Poetry