Best of 2003: Best Marathon Religious Experience

Saint Demiana Coptic Orthodox Church
360 North Granados Street, Solana Beach
858-635-2169, 858-259-2585

Cymbals crash in peppy rhythm. Huge clouds of incense roll through the nave. People line up in their stocking feet to receive the Host on their tongues. For four hours the adorable Father Mina Youssef celebrates the county's most spectacular liturgy at Saint Demiana Coptic Orthodox Church. Copts are Egypt's Christian minority. They cling tightly to Egypt's pre-Muslim past.