Driving through San Diego’s less trafficky freeways and back roads in my Austin Healey was a memorable experience, since this was the first time I have driven my car in my “native” county.
The route was well thought out to give the drivers and passengers a taste of the variety of San Diego’s terrain: Mountains and back country, inland farms and ranches, the Pacific Ocean and back to our marina-based hotel.
From our headquarters at the Island Palms Resort on Shelter Island, we left the marina around 8:30 Friday morning to Interstate 8 East with very light morning traffic. By about 9:15 we turned off at exit 40 onto Hwy 79 North toward our first stop, Julian.
The first slowdown on the two lane road was for some brush clearing on this beautifully winding section before Lake Cuyamaca. Upon reaching Julian, almost everyone stopped, and many enjoyed a slice of pie at one of the “pie joints” in town. We stopped at Mom’s Pies and experienced the homey, laid back vibe of this former mining town.
We then headed west on Hwy79 toward Ramona via Santa Ysabel, known locally for its delicious bread from Dudley’s Bakery. The valley, as one descended from Julian into Santa Ysabel, is one of the most beautiful and unspoiled parts of San Diego’s back country. Continuing westward, we rambled through Ramona and then took a right turn toward Escondido, with spectacular views of the valley descending past recently trimmed lemon groves and avocado trees crawling up the sides of the San Pasqual valley. We rolled past the San Diego Zoo’s Wild Animal Park, now known as Safari Park.
Skirting Escondido, we rolled under Interstate 15 and the route became Via Rancho Parkway. We were now in my old stomping grounds as we then headed southwest on the Del Dios Highway, one of the best driving roads in the county. I have seen videos of cars of that fancy Italian pedigree blasting up and down the Del Dios Highway, so this is a well- known road for driving.
As the Del Dios Highway turned into Paseo Delicias we continued west through Rancho Santa Fe and then down into the San Dieguito Valley on Via De La Valle heading toward the coast. We passed the Del Mar Racetrack and County Fairgrounds, the “dog beach” in Del Mar and finally to our lunch stop in Del Mar. My navigator, George Merino, and I stopped at The Poseidon and enjoyed the view of the Pacific and a light lunch. I really wanted a chardonnay but stuck with an Arnold Palmer.
Leaving Del Mar on Pacific Coast Highway south (or Highway 1) we motored south through Del Mar. I remarked to George that when I was in high school, this town had about five gas stations. Now, it has none and the route through Del Mar, known locally as Camino Del Mar, is tree lined, tree centered and quite nice.
Leaving Del Mar, we once more saw the Pacific Ocean at Torrey Pines State Beach and the view of La Jolla to the south. Again, virtually no traffic all along this coastal route.
Climbing the Torrey Pines “grade” which I’m sure gave Model T’s a strain back in the day, was no problem for my three liters of British muscle.
Passing Torrey Pines Golf Course on the right and UCSD on the left we were in the home stretch. At La Jolla Village Drive we turned left toward Interstate 5.
I stopped for gas here but didn’t need to.
Back on the freeway again we had just about six miles of I 5 to go before the Rosecrans exit back to the hotel. Got there at about 1:30.