SPECIAL REPORT: SAN DIEGO/ Doing the "second city" three ways:

San Diego doesn't have much standing on the "hot" lists of the world's most cosmopolitan cities. Many guidebooks seem to take pleasure in paying backhanded compliments to the alleged banality of the Golden State's "second city."

"The acceptable face of Southern California. ... Affluent and conservative, but it's also easygoing and far from smug," says the Rough Guide to the USA, published in Britain.

"Conservative, comfortable and affluent San Diego is a great place to enjoy the laid-back California lifestyle," echoes Lonely Planet USA, based in Australia.

While San Diego doesn't have the cultural standing of San Francisco or Los Angeles, it's far from the outsider's stereotype of a monochromatic metropolis filled with Republicans in golf slacks.

Fans of the city know the many flavors that earned it the nickname "jewel of the West Coast" from another guidebook, San Diego Access.

Here are three of the many slices of San Diego, each offering a very different take on life around the "other" city by the bay.

CLASSIC

The Del. The zoo. Old Town. Destinations for visitors for nearly a century. The classic San Diego itinerary. The sites that have been popular since our grandparents' time.

Start with the long drive over the San Diego-Coronado Bridge and past the anchored Navy aircraft carriers to Orange Avenue on Coronado. Though many call it an island, Coronado is actually a fist- like chunk on the end of a long, thin peninsula called the Silver Strand.

At the end of Orange Avenue rises the Hotel del Coronado. It's the most recognizable single image of San Diego - even though Coronado is an independent city.

Known to most as simply "The Del," the hotel, with its turret- like red roof in front of its beautiful white-sand beach, adorns countless San Diego postcards and guidebooks. The hotel dates to 1888 and retains a Gilded Age glow after a recent $55 million renovation. The Del is where legend has it that the future King Edward of England met American Wallis Simpson in 1920, the future "woman I love" for whom he would give up his throne. Most royal biographers believe they didn't meet for another 11 years, but the story lives on.

The popularity of the hotel really took off with 1959's Billy Wilder movie comedy "Some Like It Hot," starring Marilyn Monroe, Jack Lemmon and Tony Curtis (doing a great Cary Grant impersonation), shot in part at the grand resort.

The secret to the Hotel del Coronado is knowing how to play the room game. Like many famous hotels, The Del has tacked on a modern annex that has fine rooms and amenities but none of the history and charm of the main building. Guests who expect to be snug in the old wooden rafters of the main building may find themselves in the "resort" section. Make sure to ask exactly where your room is.

Regardless of your room, there's still that wonderful 300-yard- wide sand strand, rated the nation's best beach for families by USA Today.

If you want classic San Diego at a somewhat lower price tag, check out the U.S. Grant, the historical downtown hotel that's part of the Wyndham chain. The hotel offers frequent discounts that reduce room rates to less than $160 a night.

But try to splurge on the Del's opulent Sunday brunch.

Another classic destination is the San Diego Zoo. Sometimes the beaten path is beaten for a reason. This is one of the finest collections of wild animals - many say No. 1 in the world.

The zoo was originally a home for animal orphans. Harry Wegeforth started the collection from a small menagerie left behind at the Panama-California Exposition in 1915. Today, the San Diego Zoo covers 100 acres and is home to more than 4,000 animals from 800 species.

A pioneer in cageless display areas, the zoo features open spots with names like Hippo Beach, Sun Bear Forest and Polar Bear Plunge.

The zoo has kept its edge by forever changing. It negotiated a 12- year deal in 1996 to host two panda bears, Shi Shi and Bai Yun. In 1999, they became the proud parents of a baby boy panda, Hua Mei.

The zoo's sister operation, the San Diego Wild Animal Park, about a half-hour north of downtown, reverses the roles of a traditional zoo - the people ride in trams while most of the animals roam relatively free in massive enclosures.

To round off an evening, head to one of the city's classic eateries. Casa de Bandini is only 20 years old, but is housed in an 1829 adobe building that's one of the oldest in the city.

For a taste of the city's largely Republican old boys' network, settle into a plush leather booth at Dobson's. Martinis and meat are the staples here, though locals love the mussel bisque.

CLASSIC PARTICULARS

HANG YOUR HAT: Hotel del Coronado, 1500 Orange Ave., Coronado. (800) 468-3533 or www.hoteldel.com. Rooms from $260 per night.

U.S. Grant - A Historic Wyndham Hotel, 326 Broadway. (877) 999- 3223 or www.wyndham.com. Rooms from $320. Discounted rooms are usually available through wholesalers like www.quikbook.com and www .Hotels.com.

GOOD EATS & SPIRITS: Casa de Bandini, Old Town San Diego State Historic Park, (619) 297-821. Dinner for two from $30.

Dobson's Bar & Restaurant,

956 Broadway Circle, (619) 231-6771. Lunch for two from $40.

ANIMAL ATTRACTIONS: The San Diego Zoo, 2920 Zoo Drive. (619) 234- 3153 or www .sandiegozoo.com. Open 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. until June 21 (last admission at 4 p.m.), 9 a.m. to 10 p.m. June 22-Sept. 11 (last admission is 9 p.m.). Admission starts at $19.50 for adults and $11.75 for children 3 to 11; children younger than 3 free.

The zoo also sells several packages that can include zoo transportation, hotels and combination tickets with the San Diego Wild Animal Park.

CHIC

"Stylish" isn't a tag that's often hung on San Diego. San Diego doesn't want to be a West Coast version of Miami Beach. But it's starting to grow a bit of homegrown edge.

Uptown, the city's trendiest area, is a name for a loose collection of neighborhoods that stretch north and west from Balboa Park. The heart is in Hillcrest, also the main shopping area for the city's gay community. Drop into Babette Schwartz, The Store for pop- culture kitsch like Wonder Woman metal lunchboxes and the fortune- telling Magic Eight Ball.

To refuel, head for the local outlet of Sushi Itto, a famous Mexican-based chain of fusion food outlets that has spread throughout South America and into Spain. San Diego is home to the only two Sushi Itto restaurants in the United States (the second is in the Gaslamp Quarter). Try Mi Calaverita, a wrapped jumble of salmon, chipotle chilies, cheese, avocado, kakiage (vegetable tempura) and sesame. The fiery-flavored maki sushi isn't for everyone, but fans love the fusion between Latin heat and Asian cool. Not everything hip is to be found only in Uptown. The W hotel in downtown has become a gathering place for affluent young things. The action in the afternoon revolves around the lobby bar, with its colored-glass chess and checkers sets and huge bank of video monitors over the booze cabinet. Later the crowd migrates up to The Beach, a rooftop bar with loads of trucked-in sand that's kept heated so bare feet don't get cold during those 70-degree San Diego summer nights.

The hotel's rooms, classified "wonderful," "spectacular" "kool" and "urban" depending on location and size, have CD players, high- speed Internet connections and sumptuously soft beds. The basic rooms are on the small side and the white painted surfaces demand constant maintenance that they don't always get. But overall, the W is the most exciting addition to the San Diego hotel scene in a decade. Not too far away is Boomerang For Modern, a shop emphasizing furniture and housewares designs inspired by the "atomic modern" look of the 1950s, such as amoebae-shaped tables and wedge-like chairs.

The Gaslamp District is steadily gentrifying, though many of the bars and shops cater to a more mainstream audience. Just outside the quarter, the San Diego Padres' new baseball stadium is rising, which should accelerate development in the community.

CHIC PARTICULARS

HANG YOUR HAT: W San Diego, 421 W. B St. (619) 231-8220. Rooms from $225.

GOOD EATS: Sushi Itto, 441 Washington St. (619) 291-6060. Also at 409 F St., (619) 237-1037. www.sushi-itto.com.

COOL SHOPS: Babette Schwartz, The Store, 421 University Ave. (619) 220-7048 or

www.babette.com.

Boomerang For Modern, 2040 India St., (619) 239-2040 or

www.boomerangformodern.com.

CALIFORNIAN

What's Californian? Kind of funky, kind of mellow. It's wrap- around sunglasses, in-line skating on a beach path, cheap Mexican eats and being very, very near the beach.

Most of all, it's Pacific Beach, the most laid-back of the neighborhood strands of San Diego. It's all quite easily strolled - even in flip-flops. Explore the shops lining Garnet Avenue or take a wander up to lovely Kate Sessions Park on Park Drive. Sessions was the pioneering Pacific Beach resident who became the city's foremost public garden designer around the turn of the 20 th century.

If you want to stay on the beach, you can't do better than the Crystal Pier Hotel. It's not only on Pacific Beach, but over and beyond it. The collection of cottages sits atop a pier jutting into the sea. On nights when the ocean is angry, the pier sways a bit. If you get seasick, stick to a unit close to land. The units each have bright blue shutters with the center carved out into nautical designs - ocean liners, whales, pelicans and the like. Rooms are spacious.

Across the street from the pier is Kono's Surf Club Cafe, a laid- back hangout that serves Mexican-accented breakfasts. If there isn't a seat at one of the nine tables beside the oversized surf photos under the bamboo-thatched ceiling, head for the open-air patio where the people watching is better.

Any lingering stress can be kneaded away at the School of Healing Arts, where $30 will buy you an hour-long massage with an advanced student therapist. Pacific Beach Surf Shop has body boards, wet suits and all other kinds of beach gear, along with beach chairs for that nightly extravaganza - the sunset.

If San Diego still isn't feeling beachy enough for you, take a mental trip to the islands by heading to Motu Hawaii. The store is filled with all the Hawaiian knickknacks and treats you'll ever want - fresh flower leis, tiki mugs and macadamia nuts. Just the right accessories for that San Diego classic, chic, very Californian event - the beach party.

CALIFORNIAN PARTICULARS

HANG YOUR HAT: Crystal Pier Hotel & Cottages, 4500 Ocean Blvd., (800) 748-5894. www.crystalpierhotel.com. Units from $185.

OUT IN THE OPEN: Kate Sessions Park, Park Drive.

GOOD EATS: Kono's Surf Club Cafe, 704 Garnet Ave., (858) 483- 1669. Breakfast for two from $10.

NEED TO BE KNEADED? School for Healing Arts, 1001 Garnet Ave., (858) 581-9429.

COOL SHOPS: Pacific Beach Surf Shop, 4150 Mission Blvd., (858) 373- 1138. Motu Hawaii, 4150 Mission Blvd., Suite 115, (858) 272-6688.

Copyright 2003
Provided by ProQuest Information and Learning Company. All rights Reserved.