Rancho San Diego Stories
On the table in front of me, a take-out box nearly overflows with steamed rice, macaroni salad, and a shining pile of teriyaki. I can make out the short rib, …
Because I first spotted it at a mall, I walked around for years assuming Hooleys Irish Pub & Grill was part of a national franchise; like it was the Irish …
Having recently moved out of San Diego’s urban center, I’ve spent much of this year reconciling myself to the idea that, beyond the city proper, sometimes independent restaurateurs manage to …
The marketing cachet of Japanese-bred cattle seems to be rising. At least, I find myself writing about wagyu a lot more than I used to, as local restaurants and butcher …
Rancho San Diego Stories
There aren’t too many exciting things that can be said about sandwich shops these days. Most of them carry one of two or three deli meat suppliers — usually Boar’s Head or Dietz & Watson …
Tucked discreetly into a Rancho San Diego neighborhood and unknown to many is a 29-acre county park that offers a shady retreat in the form of eucalyptus groves towering above a year-round creek. Several short …
The House Where Nobody Lives sits out on Fuerte Drive in El Cajon. Kids sometimes visit at night to scare themselves: “Don’t come back” has been scratched into the black-and-white poster of a shirtless and …
The relatively unknown Par 4 trails wind through the east end of San Diego National Wildlife Refuge’s Sweetwater River Unit. The area is boxed in by Highway 94 to the south and west; Steele Canyon …
Despite his best efforts, a suspected mail thief in East County failed in an attempt to flee sheriff's deputies after a brief pursuit in Alpine on Wednesday morning (December 14). Shortly after 7 a.m., deputies …
Rancho San Diego ambrosia (aka Ambrosia pumila) came out from the weeds Saturday (November 5) as a dozen volunteers and agency staffers scraped and swiped weeds — and discovered the skin left behind by a …
Aside from fresh-baked bagels, I wouldn’t say I had specific expectations going into Memo’s Bagel Café. It’s in a boxy shopping center storefront in Rancho San Diego surrounded by a litany of corporate food chains. …
The Sweetwater River is the main artery of the Sweetwater watershed. Its headwaters are in the Cuyamaca Mountains, flowing into Sweetwater Reservoir and emptying into San Diego Bay at the Sweetwater Marsh. The Sweetwater Interpretive …
Sheriff's deputies are looking for suspects in a pair of attacks on East County drugstore ATMs early Monday morning (January 4). Shortly after 1 a.m., sheriff's deputies responded to a commercial burglary call at a …
A few friends and I went riding East County's Great Western Loop on a clear November morning. The GWL is a popular rural cycling route along Willow Glen, Dehesa, Japatul, Lyons Valley Roads and Jamul …
Rancho San Diego’s Press Box Sports Lounge has a beer selection that outshines any sports bar for at least ten miles in any direction.
The San Diego Sheriff’s Bomb Squad hosted a fireworks disposal demonstration on the morning of June 29 at their bomb disposal range in the Rancho San Diego. Two separate blasts were set off beginning at …
San Diego sheriff’s deputies believe they've thwarted a growing homeless population occupying the wooded areas that neighbor the Rancho San Diego Towne Center on Jamacha Boulevard. According to Deputy Albert Carrillo, the transients were likely …
Damon Lane County Park, two miles east of the Mount Helix summit, serves more than local residents’ needs for a peaceful commune with nature. “The park was put there,” says Jack Phillips, chair of the …
A suspected burglar was arrested after a random tandem bike ride in El Cajon on April 22. The 35-year-old parolee allegedly marketed the stolen bicycle on Craigslist after the owners reported it stolen from a …
On April 19 at approximately 11:15 a.m., robbers hit the Citibank branch located in the Rancho San Diego shopping center on Avocado Boulevard and Highway 94. With the parking lot bustling with many patrons of …
Seven months of countywide conflicts, calamities, and curiosities, part 2.
If you live in Rancho San Diego, you may be curious as to why a fairly large “L” shape of brush was cleared from the southeast corner of open space surrounding Cuyamaca College earlier this …
On Friday, May 22, at about 5:45 p.m., the sound of crunching metal brought many neighbors out of their houses. A young man in a late-model Jeep Wrangler had swerved off Highway 94 west and …
At 5:24 p.m. on Tuesday, April 21, the plaintive cries of a man could be heard in the parking lot of the shopping center at the corner of Jamacha Road and Fury Lane in Rancho …
On the afternoon of Friday, April 3, I was riding my bicycle in the parking lot between the Villa Toscona apartment complex and Kohl’s in Rancho San Diego. A friend had recently asked me about …
They say the swallows return to San Juan Capistrano on the 19th of March every year. Rancho San Diego boasts its own colony of the same bird, the cliff swallow. After a long flight from …
East County's Damon Lane Park is 26 acres of scenic and varied landscape. The secretly stashed park recently received an overhaul, according to the County of San Diego Parks and Recreation department. District park manager …
Workers have been busy cutting down trees and clearing brush from a narrow zone between the Sweetwater River and Jamacha Road in Rancho San Diego. They began near the intersection of Jamacha and Cuyamaca College …
In a non-descript Rancho San Diego parking lot, a group of people known as the Hay Elves busy themselves. This group of dedicated volunteers spends two Saturdays each month packing hay for the San Diego …
For what seems like a couple of years now, the corner of Jamacha Road and Cuyamaca College Drive West in Rancho San Diego has included an entertaining sight. From a distance, it appears to be …
After more than a decade on the planning books, ground was broken on January 27, 2009, for construction of a new YMCA in Rancho San Diego. Located adjacent to the Rancho San Diego Towne Center …
Rancho San Diego witnessed an unusual sight at 5:15pm on Thursday, January 22, 2009: a full-color rainbow fitting just under a ceiling of gray rain clouds. This rarity occurred on a dark, cold, and wet …
I meet DB at the Coffee Grounds, where we catch up on gossip. He asks why I moved from downtown to Rancho San Diego, his gaze fixated on the very competent, very cute, barista. I …
“There are a lot of transplanted Midwesterners in East County that like a drier climate, not as moist and damp as the beach is. And they like to see the sunshine a little bit more.”