Since December is all about lists: Once Again, Abbie On Dates to Impress

*Editors Note* Originally run on November 12 as part of the Abbie On series, but it was such a good list we're running it again. Tis the Season to impress those dates...

Abbie on: All the dates that will get you some... fun.

Abbie Berry

Last week I was feeling rather pensive and I felt like I was stuck inside my brain-- somewhere in the sensitive, sappy region. This week, I’m trying something a little bit different. I love to make lists. So…

If you two just met or you’ve been married for years, this is a list for you.

5 perfect San Diego dates from $0 to $100:

1. Walk a puppy.

At the Grossmont Center mall, you can borrow a puppy as you would a library book but you’re only given one hour to do so. This is a great date. Pet Works Pets has quite a variety of puppy breeds. If you arrive early, you will have the first pick of puppies ready to be walked. This list is replenished a few times throughout the day, as all of the puppies in the store are exercised by the public.

Be ready with your personal I.D. and a credit card. This is just a precaution that the pet store takes in case you decide to dognap the puppy, which is an idea you may entertain after you watch your date fall in love with the little ball of fluff.

Also, the puppies are stinky. Try to imagine them after a bath. You’ll need to do this to survive the stench. But work through it. It’s worth it.

Cost: FREE

2. House hunt.

Get in your best business casual attire. Drive to an area that is either just beyond your grasp or WAY out of your league and go to a bunch of open houses. This is fun when you pretend you can afford to be there. Ask the real estate agents questions about the neighborhood, the home and the previous owners. Make up your price range. Create new professions. Try out new names. Anything to make it fun. This is a great way to find out how creative your date can be.

Great areas to explore: Rancho Santa Fe, Eastlake Chula Vista, Del Mar and Coronado.

Cost: FREE and a few possible phone calls from real estate agents after the fact.

3. Go on a hike.

Get in the car and drive to Torrey Pines State Reserve. When you first arrive, check out the visitor’s center. There are multiple trails to choose from and the views are amazing. You and your date will be able to share the beauty of the scenery and chat as you hike along the path. There’s nothing like arriving at the end of your hiking trail to find a spectacular view of the ocean. If you time this one right you’ll arrive at that spot just in time to see the sunset.

One warning—rattlesnakes live in the brush along the trails. If you’re afraid of snakes, know that you more apt to see one if you hike during the warmer part of the year.

Cost: $8 for parking

4. Go sailing in Mission Bay.

This is another date that is best during the warmer months, but San Diego’s weather will permit this date at any time of the year. Assuming one of you has some experience in the water, this is a great way to escape the real world for just a little while. Again, you’ll experience some beautiful San Diego scenery and there is something very peaceful about floating around in the bay. This is great if you want to be alone while experiencing the outdoors. If you rent a catamaran, make sure the water temperature is warm or be prepared to get wet and be chilly.

If you don’t know anything about sailing, they have instructors and classes for you to take as well.

Cost: $20 - $70 depending on what you choose to do and how long you stay in the water.

5. Go to a Rock Concert

Coors Amphitheatre is the best venue because of their lawn seating. Pick an artist, band or group you both like, but one that you don’t need a great view of to appreciate live. Buy lawn tickets which are much less expensive.

Tailgate before the show. Have a picnic at your car and enjoy the conversation you share since it will be more difficult to have one when the music is blaring during the show. Bring a blanket to the lawn and cuddle up. Make sure to people watch. You never know what you’re going to see. People seem to let loose at rock concerts.

Cost: $15 - $40/ticket depending on the show. $20 optional VIP parking. If you decide to eat there be ready to spend $10 for a burger and $12 for a beer.


Report back. I want to know what you think about these San Diego dates.

The best.

For me.

And you.

San Diego City Beat: They've got the best of the best

San Diego City Beat has put up their annual "Best of List" which is pretty random but is also a gret list of "things I will totally get to one day I swear, so that I too can be as cool as those cats over at City Beat."

A few (there are MANY more trust me) are below.

Suck it Snowboarders!

Best photo-op to make the snowbound jealous
Obviously picking just one gorgeous backdrop in San Diego is a fool’s errand. But with a full network of friends and family inexplicably dispersed throughout the colder climates of the world, I can say with some authority that nothing drives them quite as crazy as a great dead-of-winter picture capturing the sun, surf, sand and cliffs of Torrey Pines State Beach. The only Southern California cliché that’s missing is Marilyn Monroe.
—Lucas O’Connor

And suck it muscles! It's not like I need you any way!

Best trail that’ll kick your ass
The song “Eye of the Tiger” by Survivor might help your stamina through the first mile of the Big Rock Park trail at Cowles Mountain at Navajo Road and Golfcrest Drive, but ultimately, the rough terrain and uphill climb might leave even Rocky Balboa wincing in pain. The trail’s path is, for the most part, narrow, making a Saturday run probably not a good idea—sharing the path with other people adds an element of difficulty. But, if you make it to the top, do a celebratory dance and then obey the sign that points out various city landmarks, like the SeaWorld Tower.
—Sheena Hamilton

Or Best Place to Spot Babes (the kind that giggle and drool not the kind that giggle and wear itty bitty tank tops and scarves during the winter).

Best, and strangest, playground
Playgrounds today just aren’t of the same quality as those we enjoyed while growing up. Most of the unique wooden structures we remember from our youths have since been replaced by lifeless, factory-made plastic structures—dull towers that make little attempt to stimulate the minds of children. Queen Califia’s Magical Circle, in Escondido’s Kit Carson Park, is the county’s most obvious exception. While the lack of climbing structures and its official designation as a “sculpture garden” might make the “playground” title debatable, there’s no denying that the average child (not to mention the atypical adult) will find plenty of stimuli for the imagination. Built by French artist Niki De Saint Phalle, in a style that mimics Mexican folk art, the almost-psychedelic garden features a black-and-white maze, a variety of trippy totem poles, an outer wall shaped like a series of giant snakes and at least 50 great hide-and-seek spots.

Best Rock Formation PERIOD is Transfer (get it, cause they are a ROCK band?)!

Best random rock formation
No collagen injection needed—the plumpest lips this side of La Jolla rest on the bottom of a hill in what is technically La Mesa. Often referred to as “the lips in Lemon Grove” (and not La Mesa), the Revlon-red kisser is a natural rock formation, welcoming those exiting Lemon Grove Avenue from the 94 freeway with a smile. In 1977, an artist and Lemon Grove resident coated the oval-shaped rock with a layer of ruby-red paint. Thirty years later, the rock’s rouge is still maintained by local volunteers, making it the best-kept lips aside from The Rolling Stones’ famous logo.
—Sheena Hamilton

Resisting urge to make a joke about your Mom. Resisting urge, resisting... (not like your Mom ever does, OH SNAP! Frick...)

Best muffins
If you’ve been searching all over for the best muffin in town like I know you have, look no further than independently owned Mystic Mocha (2105 Mission Ave.) in University Heights. The muffins—as well as the other pastries—are all made on site, and they kick ass. Let me say that again: They kick ass! They’re huge, those Mystic Mocha muffins, which is key if it’s going to be your one dietary splurge before putting in three hours on the elliptical. But more important, they’re not dry and sand papery like the kind you get at that one big coffee chain. These homemade muffins are moist, not too sweet and packed with chunks of fresh fruit; my personal favorite includes big, fat blackberries. Simply biting into one of these confections causes the kind of involuntary groan that is probably prohibited in public. Be warned, though: The muffins sell out quickly. If you roll up at 10 a.m. and think you’re going to have yourself some fresh-baked divinity, you’re likely to find yourself staring at a cake holder with nothing but crumbs.
—Aaryn Belfer

Oh my GOD someone is BEGGING me to make ANOTHER your Mom joke.

Best lobster tacos
Not every plate at Las Olas (2655 Highway 101, Cardiff by the Sea) is perfect, but there’s a reason folks wait hours to get into this eatery: the lobster tacos. Every year from October to March, California and Baja coastal fishermen pluck these spiny critters from the bottom of the Pacific for the enjoyment of coastal diners around the world. With its beachside views and festive atmosphere (the bar is a great place to plop on a weekday), Las Olas is worth the North County commute to grab lobster in the winter. The lines can be ridiculous, of course—don’t even bother showing up after 5:30 p.m. on a weekend—but arrive any time on a weekday and order up a house margarita with salt for the best end to your work day. The lobster plates come with a choice of a half or full crustacean, tortillas, all the taco fixings and a cup of rich yogurt salsa. The prices are usually right below or right at market value, and the bartenders don’t skimp on the tequila in the margaritas. There’s a new location in Carlsbad, but the Cardiff shop is the true original.
—Caley Cook

They are SETTING ME UP I swear... RESISTING!!!

Best place to smoke and drink coffee and appreciate tikis
Of all the coffee houses I go to, I like Java Jungle (5047 Newport Ave., Ocean Beach) the best. First of all, it’s not even in a building. Java Jungle is the absence of a building. It is sandwiched on a lot on Newport Avenue between a restaurant and a surf shop. Half the space is covered by a heavy-duty canopy; the rest is uncovered, giving it an outdoorsy feeling. It’s decked out with plants and palms and fountains and tiki lamps—the whole place is just bitchin’. The coffee is as good as any I’ve had, and you can smoke while you drink it, for crying out loud. Smoking, and coffee-drinking, and tiki-jungle-ambience-appreciating—it’s to die for.
—Edwin Decker

Everybody's talking about this place.

Best late-night joint
Burgers, veggie burgers, hotdogs, veggie dogs, grilled cheese sandwiches, fries, bacon and cheese omelets—Commonwealth Café (3408 30th St. in North Park) serves up simplicity and strives, with pride, to be an old-fashioned after-hours diner. I’d say the place just about has it down. Ice water is served in kitschy red plastic cups, food comes in plastic baskets and a weird medieval photo of two knights in battle hangs awkwardly in the bathroom. But, the napkin dispensers are still shiny silver, the counter—a fantastical creation made of hundreds of pennies frozen forever in a thick layer of clear resign—is without a scratch and the staff is far too good-looking, young and cool to be working in a tried-and-true greasy spoon (and it won’t truly be late-night until it’s allowed to stay open past midnight). The food lacks any real greasy drippings, although the Blue Fries—a pile of home-cut fries barely visible through all the white cream of chunky blue-cheese dressing—are a step in the right direction. But it isn’t what Commonwealth wants to be that makes it the best late-night dining shack in San Diego; it’s what it is right now—cheap, easy and fun, just how I like my after-hours companions.
—Kinsee Morlan

Also known as Best Place Where I'll be Walking Around acting totally like I have no idea who that guy over there is while I follow him around Whole Foods.

Best place to see a celebrity who’s also your neighbor
The place: Hillcrest. The celebrity: Rob Halford of Judas Priest. So freakin’ cool. The only drawback is that he’s almost never wearing leather.
—David Rolland

HA- Best Place to Find a Dead Body, City Beat does my work for me.

Best freeway to hang out under
As a rather well-curved and freeway-centered city, San Diego has no shortage of massive bridges and overpasses for us aspiring hobos to sit around and get philosophical beneath. The most impressive is the stretch of 805 that passes over Mission Valley and the 8 freeway. Accompanied by a wide spread of off- and on-ramps and frighteningly huge support pillars, the structure is straight out of some cynical futuristic sci-fi movie. An added bonus is that parking is remarkably easy—the lot for the Dave and Busters arcade is, after all, under the same bridge. Easily frightened explorers should be warned, however, as the muddy riverbank adjacent to the area can be somewhat scary—a potential winner for “Best Place to Find a Dead Body.”

Been there, bought some white lace gloves cause I was CONVINCED that they were on their way back in style (any day no, any day).

Best clothing store for aspiring hipsters
My theory as to why Hillcrest lies at the center of San Diego’s growing hipster community: It’s the easiest place to find the loud and/or “ironic” clothes that seem to define the movement. Local chain Flashbacks has its strongest outlet in the neighborhood, placing an emphasis on tacky, bright, 1970s-style outfits and other appealingly out-of-date fashions. Admittedly, the prices feel a little high for used clothing—but after all, only a truly cool starving-artist type would be able to call the $10 to $20 range “expensive.” The local Buffalo Exchange has a slightly more practical selection—a good range of pants, sweaters, and “so-bad-it’s-good” T-shirts, sure to make you the envy of all your not-quite-as-hip-as-you friends. The best thing about the two stores? They are, literally, right across the street from each other, located at 3847 and 3862 Fifth Avenue.
—Ben Greenstein

Cookies are a sometimes food!

Best place to achieve cookie nirvana
If Hollywood had anything to do with it, the best cookies in the world would come from a life-size gingerbread house, served by a pink-cheeked granny with a matronly bosom and a flour-speckled apron. But this is reality, folks, and here the best cookies in the world come from a utilitarian kitchen-with-a-cash register in tiny strip mall in Hillcrest, served by a dude in a baseball cap. Uncle Biff’s California Killer Cookies (650 University Ave., 619-291-2433) has been satiating San Diego’s sweet teeth for the past 18 years, though I only recently discovered them when my roommate started coming home once a week in a cookie-binge euphoria, trailing still-warm white-chocolate-macadamia crumbles behind her. The shop is a no-frills cookie factory, with Costco-size bags of walnuts, giant tubs of Skippy and sacks of all-purpose flour stacked randomly about. Biff’s gets away with the casual display because the cookies are like crack. Warm, moist, simple, sublime—the essence of everything a cookie has ever aspired to be. You can pick ’em out one by one for $1.50 a pop, get a half-dozen for $8.50 or a baker’s dozen for $18, or get any order over $8 delivered to your door. In that case, make sure you’ve got some milk at home. You’re going to need it.
—Kia Momtazi

I beg to differ.

Best San Diego band, period
Three glorious words: Grand Ole Party (www.myspace.com/grandoleparty).
—David Rolland