Travel Tuesday

The sailor's window in the Chapel at Liberty Station

This post is the promised part two of our Thanksgiving excursion to San Diego. (Part One — San Diego’s Gas Lamp District and Space Ship in Gila Bend are here).

After a few days  in the Gas Lamp District of San Diego, we moved to one of the two new hotels in Liberty Station. The hub-bub and hand wringing that surrounded BRAC (Base Realignment and Closing) Act in  2005 sounded a lot like the acronym.  Nobody liked the idea of having a major economic engine yanked out of their community. However some communities managed to make lemonade out of the lemons.

San Diego became a Navy Town in 1923 when Assistant Secretary of the Navy, Franklin Roosevelt launched the Navy Training Station. The base trained nearly 2 million young people through the early nineties. While San Diego’s effort at re-constituting the base area still needs some finishing touches, the conversion of the Naval Training Center to Liberty Station will impress any visitor who hasn’t been to San Diego for a while.

Downtown San Diego from tip of Point Loma

For starters, the Point Loma location is fantastic–right on the bay, near downtown, and near the airport. (A little TOO near the airport for some purposes, since a flight path crosses the area.)  Because of its location, the two hotels, a Courtyard by Marriott  and a Hilton Homewood Suites, have the highest hotel occupancy in San Diego County. In our opinion, the Homewood Suites rates way to high in user-rated sites. Yes, it was spotlessly clean, but the rooms are tiny with tacky finish, like no door or panel hiding the sink plumbing. And for a hotel where people tend to stay a little longer, they provide totally inadequate storage space. Plus the rates are much higher than similar properties–because of the occupancy rate mentioned above.

A whole community has grown up here on the 350- acre development with homes, offices  and schools. But the traveler will be much more interested in the core of the project, the 26 historic buildings under the care of the non-profit  NTC Promenade.

Before leaving the commercial section, though, don’t miss the 9-hole public golf course, in use since the base began and recently redeveloped. And visitors enjoy the acres and acres of open space along the boat canal.  Bikers will appreciate a 2.5 mile bike route that can lead you all the way down to Seaport Village, an area of shops and restaurants near downtown. Also, I must mention the restaurants at Liberty Station–from quick food of several ethnic derivations, to a raucous diner, Corvette,  a simple and splendid natural foods choice, Tender Greens,  and a high-end Italian restaurant, Solare and several other choices. You will not go hungry here. And if you want to picnic by the canal, a Von’s grocery store can provide all you need.

Art installation honoring refuge children at Libery Station

But the major attraction for travelers here lies at the Western end of the development, where graceful old Spanish Revival-style buildings surround courtyards and former parade grounds. Granted this is a restoration work in progress, but the parts that are completed, like the gem of a chapel, perfect for weddings; and the installations of outdoors art, enthralled me. You can see the beginnings of a center for small businesses that purvey arts, next door to buildings converted to artists’ studios and dance studios.  The charming thing here is that a visitor can walk down the hall and watch the artists at work–painters or dancers. More arts groups are moving in every day and all the buildings are open to the public.

The foundation needs to raise money to finish the remaining buildings, including a big barn of an auditorium where Bob Hope and others entertained the troops. One dancer we met in our wander through the halls practically did a petite jeté at the thought of having a permanent place to perform.

If you want to know more about the history of the base while you are there, grab a good map of Liberty station and dial 619-342-8021 on your cell phone. The narrator does not direct you from place to place, so be sure you have a map.

Do you know about other successful conversions of military bases? Have one in your city? Have visited one?  Tell us about them, please.

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