LIBERTY PUBLIC MARKET - VINTAGE FOOD HALL

LIBERTY PUBLIC MARKET-SAN DIEGO

     

JEAN & CAROL

OLD FRIENDS -VINTAGE BUILDINGS

My friend Jean said her sister, Carol, would arrive at the San Diego International Airport about noon on a Wednesday. We decided to meet at the Liberty Public Market (2820 Historic Decatur Road) for lunch—a five minute drive west of the airport. This is one of the new and trendy places in San Diego, located in the northeast corner of Liberty Station, Point Loma.

     Interestingly, the new Liberty Public Market is located in the original Navy Mess Hall, one of the first buildings constructed at the San Diego Naval Training center in the early 1920s. The $3 million project offers more than 24 food and beverage vendors and a choice of inside or outside seating in a renovated historical building with high ceilings and impressive white wooden rafters.

       This is my second visit to the market. The first time was on a Sunday afternoon in April and it was crowded. The lines for food were too long, tables were almost impossible to find, and it was noisy. We did not stay.

     

PLEASANT SEATING

     I looked forward to giving it another try on a weekday. It was much better, although seating was still somewhat limited, but the lines were short and there was more time to leisurely appreciate the nearly one-hundred-year-old structure. We found a pleasant long table located inside near the AE Floral shop. Here we could comfortably visit the afternoon away. We took turns heading out to explore the many food choices, and we all tried something different.

      

CHICKEN PAD THAI

I tried the lobster roll ($16) with hot melted butter on a toasted roll with French fries from the Wicked Maine Lobster, it was delicious. Jean had a endless summer salad ($9.50) which was also good. Carol chose the chicken pad Thai ($9) from Mama Made Thai—we all agreed that this was the best. We topped off the meal with great coffee from WestBean Coffee Roasters. I will return for the coffee. You might also wish to taste one of the 24 craft beers on draft or 100 craft bottled beers at Bottlecraft. Wine tasting at the Grape Smuggler is also an option. There are many choices, and I plan to return soon to sample more of them.

     

MESS HALL

SHIP PAINTING ABOVE

This first food hall (or food hall with class) in San Diego is fun, unique, and it even offers a history lesson. While in the large mess hall dining area don't miss looking up to see the 16 ships that were painted on the walls in 1952; they still exist in their original untouched form.

                                                  ***

      After a visit to this unique food hall, there are dozens of other places to explore in Liberty Station. In the 1920s the training center buildings were designed in a Spanish Colonial style similar to Balboa Park with colonnades, arches, and towers. The original 300 structures on 550 acres housed the Navy for almost 75 years; during that time more than a million sailors received training here. It was closed in 1997 under the Base Closure & Realignment Act of 1990 and later acquired by the city. It has since been restored and preserved in what has been the largest historical preservation project in San Diego.

      Today, Liberty Station encompasses 125 acres of parks, open spaces, a boat channel to San Diego Bay, shopping, restaurants, a 28-acre arts and culture district, Visions Art Museum, the Women's Museum, the nine hole Sail Ho Golf Club, hotels, schools, church, and around 350 residences.

       It is also home to the USS Recruit; a landlocked “dummy” ship often referred to as “the Neversail.” It was used to train more than 50,000 sailors a year from 1949 until it was decommissioned in 1967. This historical landmark is available for outside viewing only.

INSIDE SEATING LIBERTY MARKET

SPANISH COLONIAL STYLE

LIBERTY STATION

OUTSIDE SEATING LIBERTY MARKET

"BEST PLACE IN CALIFORNIA" --Richard Henry Dana (1835)

BAYSIDE TRAIL
CABRILLO NATIONAL MONUMENT 

One of my favorite hikes is the Bayside Trail, located at Cabrillo

National Monument on the southern tip of the Point Loma

peninsula. It is a 1.86 mile loop that offers a spectacular view of the

ocean, Ballast Point, Coronado, downtown San Diego, and Tijuana,

on a clear day.

It is also the view that Richard Henry Dana (1815-1882) enjoyed

when he arrived at Point Loma at sunset on March 13, 1835. He

was a common seaman on the Pilgrim, which was one of many

cattle hide ships. He lived and worked at La Playa, an area of beach just

north of Ballast Point. This is where they cured the local hides and

stored them in large barns before loading them on to ships to return

to Boston.

Dana is author of the American literary classic, Two Years Before

the Mast, which is based on the diary he kept at sea and was first

published in 1841. This book not only describes in detail the life of

a seaman, but it provides one of the very few detailed accounts of

early days in California.

On this voyage, Dana spent four months in San Diego—longer than

anywhere else along the way. His famous book includes many

wonderful depictions of San Diego in 1835, including the

following:

“For landing and taking off hides, San Diego is decidedly the best place in California. The harbour is small and land-locked, there is no surf; the vessels lie within a cable's length of the beach, and the beach itself is smooth, hard sand, without rocks or stones. For these reasons, it is used by all the vessels in the trade, as a depot.”

                                                                          * * * 

“. . . blessed with a climate, than which can be no better in the world.”

                                                                         * * *

“. . .This was a small adobe building of only one room, in which were liquors, 'dry goods.' West India goods, shoes, bread, fruits and everything, which is vendible in California.” (Description of the grog shop.)

                                                                          * * *

“. . .The small settlement lay directly below the fort, composed of about 40 dark brown looking huts, or houses, and three or four larger ones white-washed, which belonged to the gente de razon [upper class].”(View of San Diego from the Presidio.)

                                                                          * * * 

            “The mission is built of adobe and plaster. There was something decidedly striking in its appearance: a number of irregular buildings, connected with one another, and disposed in the form of a hollow square, with a church at one end, rising above the rest, with a tower containing five belfries, in each of which hung a large bell, and with very large rusty iron crosses at the tops. Just outside of the buildings, and under the walls, stood 20 or 30 small huts, built of straw and of the branches of trees grouped together, in which a few Indians lived, under the protection and in the service of the mission” .(Mission San Diego de Alcala)

Dana returned to San Diego 24 years later and wrote about the

many changes in Twenty-Four Years After. This was then added to

all subsequent editions of Two Years Before the Mast. The entire

book is available free online at www.gutenberg.org/4277.

In addition to his writing, he became a well-known lawyer,

politician, and a champion of the downtrodden from seamen to

fugitive slaves.

In San Diego, the Dana Middle School in Point Loma and RH Dana

Place, which is a short street in Coronado, bear the name of this

famous man. This is a limited honor compared to Dana Point where

he made only a few short stops on his journey. Dana Point honors

him with a replica of the brig Pilgrim at the Ocean Institute, a nine-

foot statue in their harbor and a city name.

    Currently, there is a proposal, spearheaded by Dan McGeorge of

Dan McGeorge Gallery, to build a bronze statue of Dana. It would

be placed along RH Dana Place in Coronado and portray Dana

gazing over to Point Loma where he worked and lived. The site

where he actually lived in Point Loma is now part of the Marine

base. More information is available at the gallery website.

Here is what Dana had to say as he departed from San Diego for

the last time in 1859:

BAYSIDE TRAIL

“A last look—yes, last for life—to the beach, the hills, the low point, the distant town, as we round Point Loma and the first beams of the light-house strike out towards the setting sun."

ILLUSTRATION BY CARL OSCAR BERG

RICHARD HENRY DANA
By Carl Oscar Berg

ILLUSTRATION BY CARL OSCAR BERG
BRIG PILGRIM

VIEW OF BALLAST POINT
BAYSIDE TRAIL CABRILLO NATIONAL MONUMENT

LIGHTHOUSE
CABRILLO NATIONAL MONUMENT

BIKE RIDE TO POINT LOMA

One of my favorite things about living on Coronado is the convenience of boarding the morning commuter ferry for a ride across the bay to downtown San Diego. It is free and includes a return pass.

VIEW OF SAN DIEGO BAY

Today I'm bringing my bike along with plans for a 45 minute ride to Point Loma. What I like about this bike route is that it follows the San Diego Bay, with a lovely view of the downtown skyline, Coronado, North Island, and moored boats. It also passes the airport for a look at the landing planes. I can almost hear the flight attendants announcing to the arriving passengers,“Welcome to America's Finest City.” I continue to agree with them, it really is.

BOATS ON SHELTER ISLAND

     My first stop is Fashion Nails, 1333 Rosecrans Street, for a much needed pedicure and manicure. I love this place because they do a great job, they are fast, friendly, and only charge $21.95. When I first came to Point Loma, 12 years ago, the price was $15.95.

     After taking at least 15 minutes to get the nails dry, I'm heading out for a pleasant bike ride around Shelter Island. This is really not an island despite the name. It is connected to the mainland by a narrow strip of land. It is 1.2 miles long and only a few hundred feet wide; mainly parkland, with a few marinas and hotels. Many people like to fish on the pier, or sit on the benches to enjoy the view of the bay and the hills of Point Loma. There is public art on the island, my favorite is the large bronze sculpture of  tuna fisherman by Franco Vianello.


BRONZE SCULPTURE
TUNA FISHERMEN

On the way back, I took a short detour around Harbor Island to enjoy one of the best views of the downtown skyline. This man-made island is two miles long and only a few hundred feet wide, and also connected to the mainland by a strip of land. It is mainly know for the Sheraton Hotel and marinas, but it is also home to The Island Prime Restaurant, which has a great happy hour in the connecting C Level. The skyline view from this establishment is great and well worth a visit. Convenient to the airport, it is a great stop when picking-up and dropping-off visitors.

VIEW OF SKYLINE FROM HARBOR ISLAND

I sat on the bench for awhile to take in the sights on this perfect San Diego day, and then finished my ride back to the pier to meet a friend for lunch. We dined at Anthony's Fish Grotto, 1360 North Harbor Drive. We were able to get a table with a window view of the bay. They have a value priced lunch menu with a choice of items for around $10.00. I enjoyed the fresh fish with cole slaw, and my friend, Jan, recommends the clam chowder. This is an old vintage establishment that was founded in 1946—worthy of a visit for its seafood and surroundings.

Since I had extra time to wait for the next ferry, I walked my bike on the sidewalk which leads to Seaport Village passing the Navy Pier and USSMidway Museum. The Midway is a floating aircraft carrier with 29 aircraft onboard.  There is a lot of activity along the way—it is prime tourist season in San Diego. Lots of people—however, the perfect weather more than compensates for the crowds. 

THE BAY

MARINA

TRAILER-- CALIFORNIA STYLE

otto