Everyone - EVERYONE - I know that has been to San Diego just loves it. Many of my friends have moved there. And yet, we haven't had the chance to visit yet. After discovering a cool new website, The Best Places in San Diego, I am definitely making travel plans. Created by Timothy Schenck, The Best Places in San Diego is so enticing that you will soon be making travel plans, as well.  Full of excellent resources for San Diego, you can find attractions by theme, top attractions, active adventure, amusement parks, animals, boats, golf, history, kids activities, movies and music, performing arts, picnics, scenic drives and vistas, shopping, sports, and much, much more. There is also a detailed events calendar, as well as visitor services and information. WOW!

This is truly the best place-specific travel resource I've ever seen. We were lucky enough to be able to sit down and talk with Timothy, about San Diego, his site, educational opportunities, and more. Here's what he had to say...

WE: Please tell us about your site, The Best Places in San Diego...

TS:  The Best Places In San Diego helps you quickly find everything our area has to offer for your vacation. It provides in-depth profiles for each attraction, with information on what makes it popular, when to go, what lesser-known opportunities are available, what transit options, if any, can be used to reach the attraction, and what other nearby attractions may be of interest.

The site organizes attractions into themes. The goal is to help match the right travelers with the right attractions so they can make the most of their vacation. Those who like wildlife will learn they can visit four National Wildlife Refuges, several wildlife centers, hike in the Cleveland National Forest and Anza-Borrego Desert State Park, and participate in programs that help track eagles and protect endangered species. Those who love adventure will learn they can paraglide off ocean cliffs in the same area Charles Lindbergh set a distance gliding record, fly in a motorless sailplane above the mountains and desert, and explore mud caves in the Carrizo Badlands. 

WE: What was the genesis of your site?

TS:  The idea for the site began when I found myself spending more time planning vacations than I spent enjoying them. Since I never know if, or when, I might have a chance to return to a distant destination, I like to make sure I’ve uncovered every opportunity. I want to make the most of my first trip.

It is easy to find information on the most popular attractions but it takes time to sift through travel guides and user generated travel sites to gather information about lesser known, but still top quality opportunities. It takes even more time to plan an itinerary that allows me to visit as many attractions as I can during my visit. I have to figure out which attractions are close to one another and how much time I should spend at each one. My wife and I are generally not ones to sit back and relax during a vacation. We love to explore.

For the explorers out there, I found they would find the same challenges when traveling to my hometown of San Diego. It’s easy to find information about relaxing on our beaches and taking in some of the major attractions like the San Diego Zoo and SeaWorld. However, it takes a lot of research to find you can take a train ride on a locomotive across the border to the small town of Tecate, Mexico, take a tour of the Fox Theatre where Walt Disney premiered his movies, or get an up-close look of big military vehicles at the Marine Corps Mechanized Museum.

So, I decided to create a singe source web site for all of the attractions in San Diego, organize them by theme and location, and provide details such as how much time visitors may want to allot for a particular attraction and what transit options are available to reach it.

I’ve profiled over 250 attractions in San Diego and I know of at least 250 more that I need to add. I keep thinking I’ve found everything but as I explore this area which covers the Pacific Ocean, Inland Valleys, Mountains, and Desert, I keep coming across more opportunities.

Because San Diego covers such an extensive area rich in travel opportunities, I am now working on creating escorted tours to make it easier for guests to enjoy these attractions.

WE: What can visitors expect, when they head to San Diego?

TS:  San Diego has such a wide array of attractions that visitors can expect whatever it is they are looking for. I’m finding most people associate San Diego with beaches, good weather, and the Zoo. So, they come here to relax and take in a major attraction or two. San Diego meets their expectation of being a great place to come for a fun, family-friendly vacation. My goal is to point out that adventurers can take advantage of our seaside cliffs, 6,000+ foot-high mountains, and the most scenic desert landscape in the world; those who love flowers can come see why San Diego is the #1 producer in the country of floriculture; military enthusiasts can come explore three Marine Corps Museums and tour an aircraft carrier; and on and on.

WE: What do you love most about San Diego?

TS: The variety. I love that in a two hour drive, I can have visiting family and friends dip their feet in sand on a sunny beach in La Jolla, throw snowballs at each other in the historic mountain town of Julian, and look at the beautiful wildflowers in the Anza-Borrego Desert. I love that I can go kayaking with leopard sharks, stand on a sunny mountain top overlooking a cloud, or listen to the San Diego Symphony while I enjoy watching sailboats pass by in the bay behind them. This variety makes for very happy, and friendly, people in San Diego.

WE: What sorts of educational opportunities are out there, for visitors to SD?

TS: The opportunities are endless. A lot of them are nature related. You can take a walking tour with the Chula Vista Nature Center and learn about the 370+ species of birds that migrate through the San Diego National Wildlife Refuge Complex. You can go for a late night stroll with the Birch Aquarium to watch grunions (fish) spawning on the beach. You can take a class with the San Diego Natural History Museum to learn about the fossil discoveries of mastodons, saber-tooth tigers, and dinosaurs that used to roam the San Diego area millions of years ago.

WE: Are there ways for visitors to give back, while they are in SD?

TS: The best way visitors can give back is by taking the knowledge they gain here in San Diego back to their own communities. For example, San Diego is home to more endangered species than any other area in the United States. While you are in San Diego, you can see first hand how people have succeeded in preserving endangered animals by taking part in a Hawk Watch offered by Wildlife Research Institute or take a tour of the Center for Reproduction of Endangered Species by the Zoological Society of San Diego. You can visit the Birch Aquarium, which is the public side of the world-renowned Scripps Research Institution of Oceanography to learn about ways you can reduce your carbon footprint and preserve the environment.

Many San Diego attractions offer special visitor opportunities for an extra fee, which goes towards continued conservation efforts. For example, if you help cover the cost of tracking an eagle in the wild, you can join the Wildlife Research Institute as they go out into the wilderness to place the tracking band on the eagle. I have made a point to note these types of opportunities on TheBestPlacesInSanDiego.com  

WE: Is there anything else you'd like to share with us?

TS: I hope travelers, especially explorers and those who love to learn, consider San Diego as a must-see destination. I love San Diego and I hope you will give me a chance to show you why it is such a wonderful place. I’d be happy to help anybody planning their trip to San Diego, so feel free to contact me.

WE: Thanks so very much, Timothy! Your site is so very impressive - we can't wait to head to San Diego!

For more information, please see:

http://tourguidetim.com/wandering-educators-photos/