Exploring Southern California

A random opportunity arose last week when I realized a friend from Brooklyn was flying home for a month to Escondido, California. I quickly put together a plan to drive out for a visit as I had never been south of Los Angeles.

The plan quickly came together to include seeing friends from San Clemente and Tijuana, having a beach bonfire, and visiting some of the many local breweries.

Below I have made a really nifty interactive tour, with a service called Tripline, of my trip based on my Foursquare check-ins! Push the play button and see some of the places I visited… (Its Flash so it wont work on most mobile devices)

Some of the highlights from the trip you can see below. The beach bonfire on Saturday night put together by my friend Kanan was really excellent. It was a cold night but the beaches in San Clemente are beautiful and a commuter rail line running right next to it really lends to a unique atmosphere.

I got to visit four local breweries out of the hundreds(?) in the area. Latitude 33, Mother Earth Brew Co., Ballast Point Brewing, and Stone Brewing of course.

My favorite was Ballast Point because of the crazy and unique beers they had on tap that day. They don’t really advertise their adventurous stuff on their website, but I highly recommend stopping by if you’re in the area.