MORGAN HALL
LAYOUT ASSISTANT
With finals week in sight and the semester coming to an end, students have no doubt been thinking about planning their summer plans. Some students have plans to travel to far off places such as Finland or Africa. Others are visiting family members both away and back home. While the rest of our students have no clue what to do this summer and just look forward to enjoying three months of doing what ever they want. If you don’t have any plans and love cars and music, then this summer has multiple options for you.
Do you enjoy looking at custom cars and hot-rods? Then Cruisin’ Grand in Escondido is the place for you and the best part is that it is free. This year’s Crusin’ officially opened April 1 and runs every Friday night 5 – 9 p.m. until Sept. 30. Only a month into the 2011 season, Crusin” has already hosted 700 cars and 22,000 spectators. This annual event allows people to spend a few hours in downtown Escondido meeting new friends and enjoying cool cars, listening to independent bands and eating great food. Restaurants and pubs located on and around Grand Avenue are open late hours on Friday night and occasionally have specials for spectators. Parking for Cruisin’ Grand is located on Grand Avenue and all side streets from Escondido t o Ivy Street.
If you love all types of cars, or anything with a motor, then you are going to love this years San Diego County Fair. The San Diego County Fair, formally known as the Del Mar Fair, has the theme of Race to the Fair and celebrates modern and historic automobiles. Opening June 10 and running until July 5 and closed June 13, 20 and 17, the fair is an annual tradition not to be missed. Although the fairs ticket prices have been on a slight incline over the past few years, this year they remain at $13 f o r adults, $7 children 6-12 and seniors 62 and older. This year the fair hosts a ton of “special days” where tickets prices are reduced or ride prices are cut. The best deal for the fair is on June 14 and tickets are only $3 when you buy them through an Albertsons or Sav-on location. Though the fair is known for selling food that should be called heart attack on a stick, there are plenty of other non-food or carrelated events going on. This years fair has a variety of big name performers such as Pat Benatar, Bruno Mars, Bill Engvall , Weird Al Yankovic, Switchfoot, and several different tribute bands and music festivals. Tickets must be bought on SDCfair.com
Another option for summer fun is Disney’s Soundsational Summer, which runs from June 3 to Sept. 5 at both the Disneyland and California Adventure parks. This summer, the Disney theme parks will be opening three new attractions, a brand new parade and a summer only firework show. Starting in June, Disneyland will be reopening the brand new Star Tours ride that will now be in 3D and will focus on a set of new “Star Wars” themed locations. Also in June Disneyland will introduce visitors to a new beat based parade featuring dancing Disney characters. Over in California Adventure, the two year long project of Goofy’s Sky School and the three year long project Ariel’s Undersea Adventure have finally been completed and will also open in early June and are sure to be a hit with all age visitors. Ticket prices are $76 for adults 10 and up and $68 for children 3 – 9 for each park. Park hopper tickets are available for an extra $30 allowing visitors to visit both parks in one day.
Photos courtesy of Morgan Hall