What better way to celebrate the sun than with it’s very own party, under the sun’s own power?  Fiesta del Sol 2010 is co-presented by the Solana Beach Chamber of Commerce and the Green Chamber of San Diego County, and it’s going off the grid.  More than 50,000 people are expected to attend the free festival next Saturday & Sunday, June 5 and 6, AND the event will be powered by solar, bio-diesel and other renewable energy sources…
The 31st annual Fiesta del Sol begins at 9 a.m. with the Arts & Crafts fair, vendors and children’s activities, and continues until 9 p.m. when the live music stages call an end to the day.  A beer and wine garden will provide adult refreshment, and a VIP Section (tickets are $100) will host exclusive seating, bar service & bathroom facilities.  With music booked by the renowned Belly Up Tavern, what has always been a great family affair has grown to become a destination event.  This year’s festival will introduce an enclosed paintball venue and a “Green Alley” featuring environmentally-friendly products and services following the Fiesta’s theme, “Moving Off the Grid”.

Located adjacent to Fletcher Cove in Solana Beach, it’s easy to keep with the spirit of the festival and go green… Take the train! The Solana Beach Coaster station is a mere 1 block from the event. Parking is free at the train station on Cedros Avenue, and a Fiesta shuttle will be running throughout the day.

or baby spinach salad with candied walnuts…”

We’re sitting  at the Lockwood Table Cafe in the ultra popular Cedros Design District, trying to decide if we are saints or sinners. Do we watch our waistlines, or opt for watching each other smile as we pay a visit to the french? Or perhaps a foray into their world of scrumptious gluten-free desserts…

“Decisions, decisions…”

Alicia Douglas, the woman behind LTC, is a  chef extraordinaire and marketing visionary. She knows what we want. [To stay fit, keep in budget, be entertained, and still satisfy our palates...]

Tantalizing breakfast offerings… baked egg and Gouda souffles, steel-cut oatmeal & fruit, or yogurt bowls & ultra-exotic teas…

For lunch there’s eight specialty salads (Nicoise, Quinoa, Greek, Farmer, Spinach…) and toasty  panini sandwiches (the ‘Cedros’; a grilled turkey, bacon, Gruyere & avocado comfort ensemble is all the rage.) Everyone, saint or sinner, leaves Lockwood Table Cafe satisfied.

Want to out-do the couple on the next beach blanket over? Get a Lockwood Table Cafe ‘picnic basket’, the must have of beach dining chic!

Click here for an exclusive coupon from Lockwood Table

“Sun + Party = Good Times”

A Solana Beach favorite, the 30th annual Fiesta del Sol is back at Fletcher Cove June 6 & 7th, and it’s bigger than ever! Take a walk in the sun, or a stroll after dark and support causes like the FACE Foundation, our angels in waiting to four footed friends in dire need.  Bring your family or come solo, the Fiesta del Sol is the place to be this weekend

Streets full of vendors from A to Z line up flush with freebies, giveaways, free advice, news, neat tips and helpful solutions and causes. Get your fair food fix on with the requisite gastronomic delights like kielbasa dogs, kettle corn, and sticky gooey sweet things. Who cares if the pants won’t fit on a day like this!  Roaming around a street fair is akin to comfort food…

“Live Music + People = Spontaneous Dancing”

Want to hear some great live music? Popular bands on the marquee like Common Sense, Skanic, Donavon Frankenreiter, and The Devastators are heating up the stage starting at 11 AM today and tomorrow, continuing into the night. Libation anyone? Quench your over 21 thirst in the convenient Beer & Wine Garden adjacent to the stage.

“Stress + A Baseball = Relief”

Need to de-stress? Dunk the fire fighter, climb the rock, down a beer & dance the night away… Still in elementary school and stressed? Check out the big jump-ee inflatables or hop on a llama for a wild ride around in a circle, there’s something fun for all ages. See you in Solana Beach at the Fiesta Del Sol!

“Caffeine Anyone?”

When moving to a new community, one can become overwhelmed just trying to find new places, recommendations and the like. While it is tempting to just ignore the dilemma with frequent visits to the beach, well, at some point you’re going to have other needs…like coffee?

Take some advice from SanDiegoSunCoast.com’s revered Beach Patrol. An easy way to get your finger on the pulse of a community is at your local neighborhood coffee emporium.

“And we DON’T mean Starbucks!”

In Solana Beach, there’s Zinc Cafe in the Cedros District (a very artsy shoppers paradise) The relaxed atmosphere at Zinc makes it easy to pull up a chair on the patio and stay a while. Peruse the news, and see what tasty morsels may be gleaned from your fellow lattè lovers. In addition to some of the best java around, there’s gourmet Vegetarian fare, fresh baked goods and friendly baristas – what more can you require?

Nursing my double espresso, it was there I learned about concerts nearby, scandalous happenings at the Dog Beach, where the best farmer’s markets are, and where to find both comfort food and local brews versus the elite fine dining and perfect wine pairing.

“If a barista is worth his or her beans, they’ll remember you after a visit or two.”

The regulars will, too. Before you know it, easy conversations will start and you’ll know some secret spots prized by the locals. And isn’t that the best way to make yourself feel right at home?

“Solana Beach is trying to make a bluff plan…”

As the last city on the San Diego coast to enact a Local Coastal Program to fit into to the greater plan of development and preservation maintained by the California Coastal Commission, years of dispute in Solana Beach regarding seawalls and beach preservation might be coming to an agreement.  But at what cost?

“Failure is NOT an option”

The fragile sandstone bluffs that line the coast of North County continue to vex the city as well as landowners that watch their property collapse and wash away as mother nature continues to claim what is her own.

Seawalls have long been looked to as a solution, with mixed results.  They stop the natural replenishment of sand to our beaches, and when they fail, they do so in a spectacular and often hazardous manner.

A few years back, the Surfrider Foundation sued the city of Solana Beach for approving seawalls without proper environmental study.  The problem with solving the dilemma of collapsing bluffs is the balance of the short term solution against long term success and improvements.  Now Solana is trying to look to the future with a controversial proposal of fees levied on landowners constructing seawalls and an expiration date on seawalls that are permitted.

“The year 2081 should be far enough into the future to have found a solution to the ongoing problem of coastal erosion, but will it really see better odds of success?”

For now, Solana Beach has been working with the Surfrider Foundation in hopes to aid the passage of their Local Coastal Program with the Coastal Commission.  Even to the extent of paying up to $100,000 to win Surfrider’s support. Certainly the support of the association will aid the passage of the program, but citizens question the impartial review of this independent group with the exchange of funds, apparently for “attorney’s fees”.  Does the Surfrider’s stamp of approval come with the Program caveat that seawalls will be removed by 2081?  This begs the concern; “Is all this a temporary solution at best?”

The added funds that seawall fees will contribute to preservation and restoration programs certainly help make the plan more attractive.  The city of Solana Beach is unique, also, in their position of interest in acquiring disputed properties as they come on to the market, in the interest of halting continued development on unstable ground.

The details of the plan proposed by the city will be reviewed by the Coastal Commission in November, and we’ll eagerly await more details on the scope and shape of our coast to come.

For further information, see the following Union-Tribune articles…

http://www.signonsandiego.com/news/northcounty/20081009-9999-lz1mc9coastal.html

http://www.signonsandiego.com/news/northcounty/20081005-9999-lz1mc5surf.html