Escondido's Makeover

Northern Exposure

CHECK OUT OUR AUTO PARK: Carlsbad may have its Legoland and Flower Fields, Del Mar its racetrack and Oceanside its harbor. But North County’s real hot spot for tourists is landlocked Escondido, if civic leaders have their say. A new Web site extolling the virtues of the city——best known for its controversial attempt to ban renting to illegal immigrants——is now live, part of a marketing effort to polish Escondido’s image and make it more appealing to visitors. The interactive escondidoexperience.com cost $20,000 to build and takes site visitors on a virtual tour of such attractions as Stone Brewing Company, the farmers’ market and the Niki de Saint Phalle sculpture garden.

FOUL BALL: Oceanside’s quest to snag the Chargers has hit a bump: A citizens group called Go Away Chargers has formed to keep the team from building a $700 million stadium on a golf course owned by the city at Interstate 5 and Oceanside Boulevard.

TEE TIME: Celebrated Canadian golfer Mike Weir is bringing six teenage Canadian golfers to Carlsbad in December to work at the Taylor Made facility with his swing, fitness and mental coaches. Weir is one of just three fulltime PGA Tour players from Canada.

OBLIGATORY HALLOWEEN ITEM: San Diego may have its Whaley House, but there’s no shortage of spook-infested edifices in North County——real ones, not to be confused with the popular Scream Zone at the Del Mar Fairground. Among the more notorious is the Hunter Steakhouse in Oceanside, just west of where Interstate 5 meets Vista Way. The restaurant is on the site of an old Indian burial ground and has long been rumored to be haunted by various apparitions. “Customers talk about it all the time,” says hostess Angela Reynolds. “They ask if they can sit in the most haunted area.” Reynolds says she’s heard strange, unexplained noises in the bathroom but has yet to see a ghost——“although some of our dishwashers swear they’ve seen things.”

SHREDDERTOWN: Carlsbad has been branded the skateboard capital of the world by The New York Times. A story in the sports section calls Carlsbad a “hub of halfpipes” and said the “laidback seaside community,” along with neighboring towns Oceanside, Encinitas, Vista and Rancho Santa Fe, “make up an area that is to vertical skateboarding what Hollywood is to the movie and television industry, without the tour buses and maps to the stars’ homes.” Carlsbad is home to Shaun White and skateboard legend Tony Hawk, while Encinitas can claim Danny Way, who launched over the Great Wall of China two years ago.

BAH, HUMBUG: The future of Encinitas’ annual holiday parade is uncertain, now that the city has handed over organizational responsibilities to the coastal town’s chamber of commerce. The parade, which each year attracts some 30,000 spectators and entries from nearly 100 community groups, may be put on hold until 2008 to give the chamber, which spent the first half of the year getting settled in new offices, more time to prepare. The parade triggered controversy two years ago when its name was changed from Holiday Parade to Christmas Parade, angering some members of Encinitas’ Jewish community.

STOP THE PRESS: The Del Mar Racetrack made national news early in the racing season when the groom for superstar Thoroughbred Lava Man was severely injured in a traffic accident near the track. Noe Garcia was traveling southbound on Interstate 5 when his van was struck by a drunk driver. The van overturned, crushing Garcia’s arm, which doctors were unable to save. The accident made headlines in such papers as the Daily Racing Form, the Chicago Tribune and the Philadelphia Daily News, as well as FoxSports and other national news outlets.

LANDING GEAR AWEIGH: It’s not the first time someone has proposed building a new offshore airport, but it’s certainly the most extreme. Ocean Works Development of Encinitas wants to build an airport 10 miles off the coast, with passengers transported to the floating terminal via fast ferries, a floating bridge and underground, or underwater, tunnels. Ocean Works has sent a notice of claim to federal, state and local agencies to gain exclusive rights to 40,000 square miles of ocean to develop, build and operate an international airport, citing such advantages as no noise complaints and the ability for planes to land safely even in foggy conditions. “We aim to make it the most secure, self-sustaining, economically vibrant and greenest airport ever built,” says Ocean Works CEO Adam Englund.

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