Even the Kennedys vacationed in faux-Saint Malo during the 1960s.

Halfway between Disneyland and the San Diego Zoo

I waded through the ankle-deep water toward Saint Malo. Waves tumbled against the shore, the wind was merciless, but I held my Lancome bag high and waded on. I pretended it was the Tricolor, and I was storming the Bastille. As I neared Saint Malo’s steep, eroded beach, the tide rose higher. I gazed up at one of the Saint Malo beachside estates and saw the figure of a woman at a window, gazing down at me without expression.

By Susan Vaughn, April 1, 1999 | Read full article

Rabbi Lisa Goldstein: "A minimum of 10,000 square feet will be landscaped and maintained at our expense."

Vacant lot in La Jolla

“There is a church-state separation issue with the UC system. At UCLA it is right across the street in a residential neighborhood. At UC Santa Barbara it is in Isla Vista, in a residential neighborhood. In Berkeley it is right across the street from campus. There were a couple of [vacant] properties that the university owned that we inquired about. But they were adamant that all the property they had which adjoins the university was slotted for development.”

By Ernie Grimm, Sept 12, 2002 | Read full article

Kevin Wirsing and Debby Knight. Nearly 1000 people packed the June 2002 meeting at La Jolla Country Day school's theater. "We probably had them beat 60/40."

Photo by Joe Klein

Big Bridge Jolts Drowsy University City

“We flooded Peters's office with e-mail, with letters and phone calls.

Then they had the big June meeting up at La Jolla Country Day.” By Wirsing's estimation, nearly 1000 people packed the June 2002 meeting at La Jolla Country Day school's theater. "We probably had them beat 60/40," he says. Peters was in attendance, and after three hours of presentations and counterpresentations, he announced that he would not proceed with the project until it had been studied further.

By Ernie Grimm, May 1, 2003 | Read full article

San Diego's lifeguards, claims Riley, are unnecessarily encouraging seal harassment these days with a message written on the signboard outside their station.

Unnecessary Seal Harassment

"My theory is that Seal Rock is eroding at a rapid rate and probably has lowered so much in the last few years that it is not a suitable place for harbor seals to haul out the way it was, say, in the '50s and '60s, when they were using it and not using Children's Pool beach…. Today, Seal Rock is absolutely an impossible place for a mother seal to keep her baby."

By Joe Deegan, Nov 26, 2003 | Read full article

A “glorious-view French” offered at $1.4 million, a “dramatic Mexican colonial” at $1.2 million, a “hilltop Mediterranean” at $1.6 million, a “Connecticut country home” at $1.5 million.

The Most ideal of Provinces

Rancho Santa Fe proposed an alternative plan, which called for preserving Del Dios as a two-lane road and, instead, extending and expanding San Dieguito Road (Route 728) such that it bisects Fairbanks Ranch, joins with a proposed Route 680 (which is slated to run north-south on the east side of Fairbanks), and finally hooks up with Del Dios Highway east of Rancho Santa Fe. The proposal also called for San Dieguito Road to be widened to four lanes.

By Lauren Simone Ostrow, Aug 18, 1988 | Read full article

The author, Steve Sorensen: Early morning surf sessions were eagerly planned with visions of ‘D’ Street cracking at sunrise with only three or at most four guys in the water.

A Kingdom Bought and Sold

Surfing was the only sport that was ever really taken seriously. All the spots -Swami’s, Boneyard, ‘D’ Street, Beacons—were within walking distance, and the matters of swell size, swell direction, surface conditions, and bottom qualities were discussed enthusiastically wherever two or more people met. Early morning surf sessions were eagerly planned with visions of ‘D’ Street cracking at sunrise with only three or at most four guys in the water.

By Steve Sorensen, Dec. 9, 1976 | Read full article

Joe and Kay Gooding. "There were 12 of us in the first group of Terrace Rats in the early ’50s,” Joe Gooding explains to me over the phone, “and we were about 12 years old. Most of us had tattoos that said TR."

Terrace Rats: A Feral Childhood in Del Mar

Big old Sam, 300 pounds, was on his way to Soule’s Market for his daily six-packs of tall-boy Busch Bavarians. Sam had the patience to talk to kids like Dick Goodman when their dads didn’t have time about those Triple-A, Pacific Coast League Padres. For years, he sat in front of and guarded the Little Bavaria, kept an eye over the neighborhood. He cared about the Terrace, did what he could for the place.

By Bonnie ZoBell, Feb. 27, 1997 | Read full article

Construction site of Shea Homes, Encinitas. The sign at Via Cantebria that, in early 1998, advertised homes selling “from the high three hundreds” now said “from the mid-four hundreds.”

Photo by Sandy Huffaker, Jr.

Get Your Checkbook Out

Lottery contestants near the blue-clothed table study a site map, maintained by a Shea representative. It shows available remaining lots. When a suburban Marla Maples leans over the map, she grimaces. “They sold it! The one I wanted” Behind her, a husky woman stares trance-like at a still-available lot. “My husband’s out of town and I don’t know if he’s gonna want that.” No one responds. She adds quietly, “But I don’t want to lose my place.”

By Susan Vaughn, Jan 21, 1999 | Read full article