S1: It's time for KPBS Midday Edition. On today's show , we're talking about the arts and culture shaping San Diego. I'm Jade Hindman with conversations that keep you informed , inspired , and make you think. For your weekend preview. We'll tell you about San Diego Design Week and much more. Then a world premiere theatrical production at the Diversionary Theater. Plus there summer. And then there's local summer. We'll tell you about it. That's ahead on midday edition. This Saturday , jazz singer Sasha Boutros will host a CD release party in concert at the Conrad Prévost Performing Arts Center in La Jolla. She's bringing us to the streets of Paris. Boutros is known for founding Sasha's Supper Club at the Lafayette , where she produced shows before the hotel was sold. KPBS arts reporter and host of the culture podcast The Finest , Julia Dixon Evans recently sat down with Boutros to discuss the concert and her return to singing after illness. Here's that conversation.
S2: Can we talk a little bit about some of the events you have coming up ? The first event this weekend is a performance of music and storytelling to bridge connections across borders.
S3: Whatever it is , it makes you feel something. And if if we can create beauty through the music , people connect and the rest comes organically. And so that's really what we're doing at the heart of it.
S2:
S3: He actually lives in the south of France , and he's incredible. Most of the people that are the composers on this record , he's played with or been bounced on their knee , as he says , when he was a little boy. His father was a world renowned musician. And , uh , and so he had the pleasure of playing with so many of these people. He has a wealth of knowledge of the music , of the French chanson and , and different things. Like , I just learned from him that , uh , a Neil Diamond song was French. I didn't know that , said Don septembre. You remember that song ? Um. We danced until the.
S4: Night became a brand new day.
S3: It was a hit here. It was French.
S2: It was. French.
S3: French. Yeah , like my was French. Right. But there's so many songs that we share in common. And so he always reminds me of something else. And we're always trying to find common points where we can share in that joy together. He's incredible. He plays the flugelhorn and the trumpet , and I'm just happy he's here. He's had some health challenges too. So there's this profound gratitude that we both have. And so when we're playing together , we really feel open and love when we're performing. So he's like my brother. And so to be able to play a concert and stand on stage with someone you absolutely admire and love as a human being , as a soul , it's really , really special. And Thomas Bromley is on the bass and he's such a also beautiful human. He's played with everyone. You know Dee Dee Bridgewater , he played a lot. Um , and uh , Clayton Cameron , who was for the last 20 some years with Tony Bennett and on all the albums they call him , it's like a rhythm machine , rhythm maker. He's incredible. And we have Laurie Bell. It's a local flute player. She's fantastic. And , um , I have a string section that I'm really excited about. Nice.
S2: Nice. Yeah.
S3: Yeah.
S2:
S3: One is called Bahia Premiere , which is like Midnight in Paris. It tells the story of what it's like to go out and all night until the the night peeks her head , you know , away. And , um. Another song I wrote , Les Berra and the rest of them are the 100 years of French and American , from Gershwin to Gainsbourg. So they're all the popular music from France that people love. But their jazz arrangements and they're my arrangements. So this is kind of like the first time I do a lot of arranging. Frank Absalom helped on a lot of them , but they were my pretty much my arrangements on everything. And people don't know me as , as as that. They , they , they just know me like as a singer. So I'm really excited to bring the composing side to showcase a little bit more color of who I am.
S2: You have struggled with illness in recent years , impacting your ability to sing.
S3: I was misdiagnosed , and I had a stroke , and I couldn't feel the left side of my face for a year , but nobody knew. Because if you talk in this business and you say you're sick , you don't get work. And I'm an independent artist and I'm a woman and I'm a double minority , so I already don't get work. So being sick is the worst thing that could happen to you. And in the meantime , I was trying to get better , and I had a tumor in my stomach , and I was so sick. And the doctors kept saying that , you know , it was nothing. And it turned out to be a tumor which was pushing against my where I sing. And it was going in from my stomach and it was pushing into my diaphragm. And , you know , I really sing. I'm a big singer. So it was really painful. I couldn't get doctors to take me seriously because I have a lung condition since I was a kid , so I already have a handicap. And so they just kept thinking it was my lungs and giving me more steroids , which caused the stroke. So finally they went in and they cut it and then it grew back. Mhm. And then it was we'd like to give you chemo and radiation and I was like nope. Come to learn that that kind of tumor if you do chemo and radiation metastasize all over your body. Hmm. So they did cryo ablation. But the scar tissue was so painful that when I sing , it hurts a lot. So I have to deal with that for a while. But I'm. I'm better. I would say I'm better as far as it's gone for the second time. But I realized that I have a little bit of trauma from what happened that I need to work through , especially understanding that when you get sick , you you truly realize if you're loved , if you're not loved , what you can do better. What ? What you didn't do , what you could do. How you want to live. How you don't want to live anymore.
S2: You're bringing people together to sing. You will be singing.
S3: I was enjoying the quiet because coming back into a jazz industry that's a difficult industry felt so incongruent with where I was spiritually. So it's been the battle internally. So I've been mind training myself to focus on all the good things. And so coming back for me becomes more of a resilient victory and one of sharing and also sharing with some of the women that will be on the stage in jazz and featuring them , because that's important to me , and it's important for me to have a lot of different and diverse backgrounds on the stage , because I do also believe that that creates a diverse and inclusive audience.
S2: In October , you're doing an event in Tijuana.
S3: He does arts in Fronteras , so Art Without Borders and Supper Club is building bridges of art and music community with art and music. So it's perfect. We want to help each other. He does a lot of beautiful programs , and he even has art programs for the elderly and the blind. And he has a clay workshop and he he does a youth mentoring , and he has two artists in residence houses , which are incredible that the artists can come and feel , you know , a sense of community there and , and work and then show their art. So I just think it's really beautiful what he's doing. And I wanted to team up with him because it fits into our our project and our plan of of music without borders. Art without borders. Love knows no borders. So we wanted to showcase both sides of the border and all the good things that there are to to share.
S1: That was local jazz singer and founder of Sasha's Supper Club , Sasha Boutros , speaking with KPBS arts reporter and host of The Finest , Julia Dixon Evans , who joins me now. Julia , welcome.
S2: Hey , Jade. Thanks for having me.
S1: Always a pleasure. So for this concert , what can we expect ? Yeah.
S2: So she is pairing with trumpeter French trumpeter Stephane Belmondo and an ensemble including some locals to like Lori Belle. And they'll sort of explore Paris through the space between pop and jazz from French and American artists. So like Cole Porter , Dalida and a ton more. And Boutros told us about some of her compositions also. Those are all on her forthcoming album Paris After Dark , so that should be a treat. It's Saturday at 7:30 p.m..
S1: All right , well , let's take a quick look at what else is going on in the arts this weekend. The big one is San Diego Design Week , which runs through Sunday.
S2: So this is the fifth annual San Diego Design Week. It started in 2020. Um , mostly at that time , virtual outdoor guided or self-guided tours and things like that. And it's grown. Um , there's a lot more interactive stuff now , a lot more exhibitions and panels and workshops. Um , it kicked off yesterday. There's dozens and dozens of events all over the area , and most of them are free. Yeah , like I said , installations , exhibits , lectures , workshops , activities. There are guided tours and self-guided tours as well. All of them revolving around design and how prevalent design is like. It's everywhere. And if you think about the built environment. So everything from the way roads are designed to architecture to also then things like fashion and app user interfaces to the packaging on your groceries. Like all of that is , is design , but it's still kind of hard to define. Like , if you asked me , I would stumble over an answer right now. But I did ask Eric Weiss , who runs Design Forward Alliance. They're the organizers of San Diego Design Week.
S5: The answer that resonates with me the most is that design is what makes everything cool.
S2: So he said that design isn't just like this professional ideal either. It's little things and choices and actions that we make every day individually. The way we dress a certain way , the way we put our kids artwork on the fridge , or the way we organize or don't organize the files on our on our phones or our computers.
S5: You know , so design is is really about creativity and it's marrying kind of the art and creative sides of us with the the functional side.
S2: So I have put together a roundup on our website of some of the highlights of the free events. A couple of my favorites are. There's like a cluster of art installations at the Nissan Design America space. It's in the UTC area. Those are on view for the full day on Sunday , and you can also take a guided tour of public art downtown. That's Thursday morning. It's with the city's public arts team. And on Sunday afternoon there's a self-portraiture for women workshop. So if you're wanting to , you know , learn how to take portraits for your portfolio or for your website , or maybe you just want to up your selfie game. Um , that's a way to figure out how to do it with empowerment and thoughtfulness. And then there's a lecture and a discussion with artist Chitra Gopalakrishnan that's on Sunday afternoon , and it's about using ancient wisdom to inform modern design practices. The theme this year of San Diego Design Week is all about fostering change.
S5: Our theme for this year is designed for impact. So last year was all about belonging. And so we really wanted to advocate that message that , you know , since design is everywhere , everyone is a designer. And this was also the year of the world design capital distinction. So , you know , last year we were San Diego and Tijuana together were recognized as this global leader in design. And so we really wanted to invite the entire city to to be involved and to see themselves as designers. Now we're saying , okay , now that we all know that we're designers , let's figure out how we can make an impact and make our city a better place.
S1: I like that.
S2: It's a partnership with San Diego Dance Theater and MTS. They've been doing this for 27 years. Former artistic director of San Diego Dance Theater , Jeanne Isaacs. She dreamed it up after seeing something similar in Europe. And basically , you buy a ticket that gets you on this official trolley tour , getting off at several stops along the route. And there you'll see these pop up outdoor performances near the stations. It's all site specific choreography , so the dances are literally designed for the the landscape , for the area where the performance happens. There's new works by incredible choreographers from across the country like Bernard Brown , but also people right here in San Diego Blythe Barton , Lavinia Rich , Odessa mizuno , and Jeanne Isaacs. And the tour starts at Fashion Valley Transit Center this year. And then they're going to take the Green Line along the San Diego River. So the dances this year are going to play off of that. The riverbed environment. There are six two hour tours each day from 10 to 3 , both Saturday and Sunday.
S1: All right. Well , you can find details on these and more arts events on our website at KPBS. I've been speaking with KPBS arts reporter and host of The Finest podcast. Julia Dixon Evans. Julia. Thanks.
S2: Thank you. Jade.
S1: Coming up here about a world premiere production at Diversionary Theatre.
S6:
S7:
S1: Midday Edition returns. Welcome back. You're listening to KPBS Midday Edition. I'm Jade Hindman , Diversionary Theatre's new artistic director , Cherie Eden Barber , kicks off her inaugural season this week , and she's bringing back powerhouse performer Shekinah for a world premiere theatrical production , the title of which KPBS arts reporter Beth Accomando will reveal in her conversation with the two creators. And just a heads up , the segment contains mature or potentially offensive language.
S8: Shekinah , you have brought your show Manifest Pussy here to diversionary theater. Now , this title does stir some controversy.
S6:
S8:
S6: Um , and like the social structures that they built. But , you know , I think back to the 2016 election campaign , and that word was being thrown around a lot , and it was called locker room Talk. And it was excused. And it was sort of like overlooked in a way that masked other morality postures. And I'm sort of pushing back on that in a kind of Pussy Riot way to say this word is powerful because we're powerful and we shouldn't be afraid of the word because we shouldn't be afraid of our power , because we shouldn't be afraid of our bodies. And the journey to reclaim all of that power is the story of my show , and I share that to hopefully empower other people to take that journey up for themselves.
S8: And Sherry , you are the artistic director here and you felt it was important to bring Shekinah here last year and now bring her back. So explain this.
S9: You know , I sit and I , I read 60 , 6070 plays a year in , sit down and really think about theater as an event in space and think about the whole season is what are we experiencing as a whole ? And for me , this was always the show that I always knew from the moment I became artistic director that I would do. Here we are , an LGBTQ plus theatre. Our mission was started because of the Aids crisis. Our trans community is currently our most at risk population within our community. How can we not open with a message about loving yourself and fighting for that community in a way that provides such hope , but such understanding ? It's a gift. It's also a theatrical gift in the sense the music is exquisite. Her performance is astonishing for me. I'm always interested in theatre. Why are we doing this together ? Why are we sitting in community ? If you make something so specific , it then becomes so universal. It's just everything that I look for as a director , but also as an artistic director. I think you're going to be changed after you see this. You're going to feel closer to yourself , closer to your community. You're going to understand things you haven't before. And we're also being welcomed to the strongest work we can see in an intimate environment. This Shekhinah sings the songs that she has created with Broadway's talent , so you're also being introduced and opened up to work at its highest caliber about something that's so important to me that should be important to all of us in this community.
S8: And explain to people what they can expect from the show , because you mix a lot of things together. It's a personal journey. It's music.
S6: And I do explore the full range of what I'm able to do vocally as a singer and , and physically as a as a mover , as a performer. So I think audiences can expect to go on a total journey.
S8: And this is something that's very personal to you too.
S6: Ever since I was really young. I just felt that like , if I'm going through this , someone else might be going through it too. And if I have the wherewithal to talk about it on stage , that might help the person who isn't able to do that. So I've always sort of put myself out there at the edge of my own comfort. And then when I knew that I was going to transition medically , I was just beginning to make a name for myself as a director out in New York City. And I thought , oh , no one's going to take me seriously if I show up in the rehearsal room in a sundress because it was like 12 years ago when the world was just not ready , there was no trans representation in the Broadway community. And so I thought , okay , if I'm going to do this , first of all , I have to crowdfund it because there's no other way to pay for it. And secondly , if I want my community to understand where I'm coming from , I have to speak to them in their language. So I'm going to write a show about it. And that was my first solo show , and that was my first time on stage , actually , as a performer in over a decade , because I was focused primarily as a director , and I put together this cabaret show that talked about my motivations for undertaking gender confirmation surgery while I was going to Thailand , and I asked some friends to write some songs for me and with me. And then when I got back from Thailand , I was facing a year long recovery from the surgery , and the only way I really knew how to get through that was to put a date on the calendar for another show. And so on the one year anniversary of my surgery , I did a show called post-op that I created at this company that I was building in New York called Musical Theatre Factory , and I was facilitating this writer's room and working with the best writers in the business and was like , hey , would you all consider contributing a piece of music to this thing I'm doing ? And after I put that show on , I realized , partially motivated by HB2 , the first the first anti-trans bill that was passed in North Carolina in 2019 , I think I realized that the two shows just wanted to be one show , and I could smash them together and take them on the road. And so that's how Manifest Pussy was born.
S8: And you mentioned ritual sacrifice.
S6: For myself , I grew up and had so many experiences of being made to feel unwelcome at the table because of who I was as a as a queer person , as a trans person , and especially in arenas of , of faith and community , which are so important to me. I faced experiences of rejection really early on that I felt were not fair , and so I wanted to push back against that and create a bigger table for people. I really believe in bridging the gap between the sacred and profane , and shaking things up in a way that make people realize that maybe they've swallowed a little bit of hypocrisy , insofar as they've built a relationship between their sexual selves and their spiritual selves. And that's something that I feel like is a is a divine quest for all of us to sort of bridge. And as I've undertaken that , I've come up with so many obstacles and pitfalls and lessons and hardships and heartbreaks , but also blessings and curiosities and , and and expansive pleasure and , and I just want everyone else to have that opportunity.
S8: And sure , you have given a theme to the season this year and it's Love is Revolution. So explain kind of what inspired that particular label and how you see this fitting in.
S9: I mean , Absolutely. I think we're so lucky. I feel so lucky as a queer artist. I think we grow up to become whoever would have saved our younger selves. And I take that so seriously. And what I do , I'm a very silly , serious person. So in the face of everything that we're going through right now , it was like , well , how do we love ourselves ? It was a big decision to go from three shows to four shows , and I said , the government is going to make us feel like less. We're going to feel like more. They're going to take away and we're going to add we've been there before , we've gotten through it before , and we're going to double down on what we're trying to do. And this is the time where we need each other even more. And in trying to galvanize our community , I thought , what's going to bring us together ? Love is a revolution. So the first show in the season is about manifest. Pussy is about loving yourself. The second show , To My Girls is about chosen family. The third show , straddle Brand New world Premiere , is about Love is sex and the final show , rent is about love is a revolution , and that's how we all come together. And we're just going to keep reminding that we are stronger as a cohesive cohort. And what's important to you needs to be important to me.
S8: And does that kind of dovetail off of this ? Love is revolution.
S9: All the way , all the way in ? Um , one of the pieces that's been created particularly for diversionary straddle is because I don't want to see two women die at the end. What is it like to end up together , to be lovers , to be lesbians ? What is it like ? How do we create the future that we want to be a part of right now ? Manifest pussy for me is no one can break your spirit. They can try , but you keep on moving forward. And Shekinah said something the other day , and it's about being able to see her in this space at the age that she is to live this long , to be able to create. That is something that community doesn't get to take for granted. Don't let them take our joy. Don't let them turn us against each other. Let's continue fighting for one another. Let's continue moving forward in this , and let's continue celebrating what it is to manifest pussy , rather than seeing it as a dirty word.
S8: World politics have changed. The United States has changed.
S6: Every time I get the opportunity to do the show , I revise it for the moment. And one of the things that we did , because this is the ten year anniversary and world premiere theatrical production. I've been doing the show truly for ten years. From rock clubs to hookah lounges to metal bars and art galleries and very , very rarely in a theater , and never before in a production with like sets and lights and costumes and all that. So aside from the fact that there's just a production , which is a total evolution in the preparation for this process , I went back to all the previous versions of the show and combed through and found like , oh , the best jokes that I had forgotten and cut for time here or there , or this part of the story that felt really precious once. And then I let go to prioritize something else. So what folks are getting is like the the freshest baked version of the show. The script is lean and punchy. We thought about making a two act thing and giving people an A mission , and we were like , no , people just want to go in and like , have an experience and go hang out downstairs and have a drink at the bar and like , decompress because it's a lot. But I'm also excited for that because diversionary has this like is sort of baked in community space at the Clark Cabaret downstairs. So the conversation doesn't end when the lights come up. I hope that people will stick around and and really process with each other , because I bring up a lot of stuff in this show , it might seem like you're just getting like the story of like a trans woman's becoming , which in and of itself is is rad. But I really try to weave a lot of , of , of big , complex things together in a way that feels personal and nuanced because it is , but also , you know , puts my journey in context alongside all of our journeys of of becoming and self liberation. And so there's not a single performance of the show that I've done where someone doesn't come up to me afterwards and try to tell me their entire life story because I've shared , you know , with them. So I hope that people will hang around here at the theater and chat and , and , uh , you know , spend some time manifesting pussy together.
S8: Well , I want to thank you both for talking about manifest pussy.
S6: Thank you. It's been fun to manifest pussy with you.
S9: This is fantastic.
S1: That was Beth Accomando speaking with performer and writer Shekinah along with director Sheri Eden Barber. Manifest P opened last night and runs through October 12th at Diversionary Theatre's main stage. Still to come there summer. And then there's local summer when tourists leave and the city is yours to enjoy. Hear more when KPBS Midday Edition returns. Welcome back to KPBS midday Edition. I'm Jade Hindman , so the summer tourists are gone and kids are back in school. But that doesn't mean summer is over. At least not for us here in San Diego. Whether you call it local summer or second summer , the time of year after Labor Day through early fall is often the best time. Jackie Bryant is a local writer and professor in San Diego and host of the Happy Half Hour podcast. She also happens to be an expert on how to best enjoy this time of year. Jackie , welcome back to Midday Edition.
S10: Thanks for having me. I'm excited to be here to talk about my favorite social phenomenon , and.
S1: I'm glad to hear all about it.
S10: Uh , June , May and June gloom and the rest of the summer gloom has cleared the weather. The water's still warm and so is the weather. And we get to enjoy our city for us without , you know , the deluge of tourists from everywhere else. It's a beautiful thing. The Arizona plates have faded into the sunset. The ade is clear. We're looking really good out there.
S1: It's a beautiful thing. I mean , and you think San Diegans really need to to reframe their yearly calendar to get the most out of local summer ? Tell us about about what you mean there. I mean , you mentioned the you know , it's a little it stays a little warmer here a little longer. Exactly.
S10: Exactly. I think it's really just a state of mind. Um , so tourism dips about 50% come September , even though that's really when our weather gets good and it stays good , it stays hot , if you really think about it , especially the last several years. And , you know , temperature charts will back this up till till December till Christmas. But I really say Thanksgiving just to give us a seasonal break and to get in the holiday spirit. But it also matches up with , like Kumeyaay indigenous calendars for the region that they categorize the seasons differently. Not according to how we do in the Gregorian , you know , autumn , fall , spring , summer with the categorical weather that comes along with it. It's different here. We don't have the same climate and we don't have the same geography here. And so the Kumeyaay seasons , actually what what coincides with the fall season is really more of like a like a late summer. It really is intended to be that it's drier , it's hotter. And so it actually it believes , believe.
S11: It or not.
S10: Who knows that they had it. Right , right. They had to totally figure it out and we changed it on them. And so that dovetails with that. And it's interesting because in the tourist industry we'll call it shoulder season and refers to the season that's not popular , where you may be able to get hotel hotel deals and things of the like. Sure. But so that's really what we talk about when we talk about local summer. And so supply chains match up with that. If you go to target right now and you go looking for patio furniture or something like that , they may not have it and they may actually tell you that it's out of season. And they'll tell you this to your face in San Diego because they're beholden to national supply chain. So it's this weird season where the hospitality industry sees a huge dip , but the weather's actually better than ever. The kids are all in school. You know , ancient cultures that have been here forever have already figured it out , and we ignored it. So it's really this socio cultural phenomenon that I think just requires us to get in the moment and understand that we're coming back to , quote unquote , real life in the fall. We're going back to school. Maybe we're back from vacation , but we can still work hard , play hard , which is what I think people really like most about life in San Diego. This is this is our time. Yeah.
S1: Yeah. Another silver lining is that you can go and catch all of the sales on your sweaters and fall clothes later in the year. You don't have to rush out.
S10: I mean , I'm wearing white. Today we are. Well , after Labor Day , these rules do not apply. I've been wearing linen. All sorts of things I'm wearing. I'm wearing sandals right now , so it's interesting.
S1: It's the truth , though. Hey. Well , okay , so I want to dig into how we can make the most of this time of year. I mean , tell me about the beach. The water has been warmer lately compared to earlier in the summer.
S10: I have a young child too. I didn't even go to the beach this summer during , you know , quote unquote normal summer. I just figured it would be too crowded. I was tired from the week this that didn't feel like dealing with it. Didn't feel like parking. I've actually gone to the beach every weekend since Labor Day just because I knew it would be easier. So the North County beaches especially , which , you know , have some of the cleaner tides right now , like Moonlight Beach , there's plenty of neighborhood parking. It's pretty easy to get in there. And even mid Saturday morning I've been finding decent parking that doesn't take too long to watch. So everything's everything's open. And part of that is because , yes , people are gone , but also people again , they're back into their routines. They have their son's little league game every Sunday. They're probably not going to the beach. So you just you have a little more opportunity to slip in. And basically all those water sports , snorkeling , the cove in La Jolla , all of those things that weren't really available before. You can do them easier now. And there may even be a deal too. There's also hotel deals all over San Diego. If you check out hotel prices. They have dropped precipitously , and many of those hotels will also offer day passes for spa , pool or other amenities , and those will be discounted during the season too. Right.
S1: Right. Tell me a little bit more about that because I always want to know about these day passes. You know , I mean , some of them come with not only the pool but maybe some spa access to a spa gym. I mean , tell me a bit about that. Yeah.
S10: Yeah. It depends. You can go to some of the hotels directly , like like the Omni La Costa , for example , is a good hotel or town and country resort. Those are two properties that are really set up for locals and that have activities for locals and days , and they're really welcome. And they make sure that their property is available so they're , you know , affordable day passes. Some of them have the , you know , just pool. Some of them will include a meal , some of them will include spa or not. You can go to the hotel directly. Or there's also like a lot of if you remember those apps like pass class and things like that , those still exist. And so there are still a variety of that apps out there that you can find and buy a pass and pick your , you know , pick your pool or your your rooftop in San Diego and , and just hang out there for the day. So there's a lot of that going on. And especially in this season , properties will prioritize that to get locals onto their property because the tourists aren't coming in as much.
S1:
S10: But I'm you can expect to pay somewhere between 25 and into the hundreds. Whether you want a cabana. Some pools are nicer than others. Some of the hotels , I think , know that that maybe their amenities aren't as up to date and they're not as competitive. So you'll see that reflected in the price. But I think you can expect to pay like 40 to $75 for like a solid full pool access day. Some of them might be crowded , like town and country , for example. It gets really crowded with families on the weekend so you can shop around and find your favorite , but it's one of the things that people forget about. We actually have a lot of pool access here in San Diego. If you have a little bit of cash to spend on it and time.
S1: Yes , well , I know that both of us are parents of younger kids. Um , and I hear about Sesame Place. So what is happening ? They just announced they're going to just abruptly close for six months. Tell me a bit about that. Yeah.
S10: Yeah. So it just it just opened. That used to be the water park in Chula Vista , and it just reopened as Sesame Place. And it's a great property. I have enjoyed it myself , and I guess they sold season passes that were passes for the entire year. But they just announced that even if you are a season pass holder , actually , sorry. Too bad the season ends on September 21st and if you go in on Instagram onto the Sesame Place. Comments. My parents are irate. They're like , you know. And they said , you can go to SeaWorld or other properties or this and you can use your past there. But I mean , if you bought a pass for Sesame Place wouldn't want to use that pass. So it just highlights for me again. National corporate supply chain thought of these are the seasons and everything must fit into this. And they don't adjust for the locality. The fact that you could close an outdoor children's place with water in San Diego on September 25th , knowing we are going in the water well into the into the winter is pretty crazy.
S1: Yeah , well , I mean , just speaking of amusement parks , just in general , are there any things that you can really take advantage of this time of year ? Legoland.
S10: Legoland is so crazy crowded , so that's like a big one. There's the zoo , of course , and there's the zoo at night. And , I mean , the zoo just gets crunched during the summer. Um , parking is better. Balboa Park in general. All of the museums. San Diego really stays open , and it doesn't adjust its tourist hours too much. The Sesame Place thing is actually a little bit of an anomaly , I have to be honest. And there's also a whole lot of Halloween activations that are coming up. So again , we're we're bouncing against the holiday seasonality with our warm weather. But that actually just means that there's more to do because there will be some holiday activations popping up there too.
S1: That's good. But I mean , you look at Sesame Place and , you know , you see that they're kind of closing down for six months because of the seasons. Do you feel like that could happen with other amusement parks ? Absolutely.
S10: Again , a lot of these properties are not managed by local companies. They are corporate. Again , it'll follow that supply chain where you can go into target and they're like right in your faces. It's 85 degrees out. We don't have any sun umbrellas because it's not the season. So it just it's interesting to me because I feel like in the wider cultural lexicon , even though San Diego is the eighth biggest city in the country , and obviously such an economic and social powerhouse where border city , it's very interesting to me how often , yeah , our geography gets and I'll put LA in SoCal in that because it's it's a massive population center in the country. It's just interesting how we don't get accounted for in the corporate planning. Yeah.
S1: Yeah. My goodness. Well , you also say this is a good time of year to visit some of the city's many rooftop bars and restaurants.
S10: That's a place that's right on the ocean , right on the 101 on the east side of it , overlooking the ocean , a sprawling deck. And it has incredible food , better than you would expect it to be , and think it would be for an ocean front , you know , wide deck pool. It could easily be just a tourist place that doesn't have great stuff , right ? But actually some of the best food in North County , they put a lot of effort into sourcing and into their food program and have a really stocked kitchen. And that's one place where I'm not going to downtown. I don't live anywhere near there. I wouldn't go to downtown Del Mar in the summer , because I just would not ever dream of getting parking and want to deal with that and the traffic getting in and out. I just sailed right in and sailed right out midday on a Saturday. The other day. Really didn't have much problem and had a lovely ocean day. I think it was 80 degrees out.
S1: That is so nice. So very nice. Are there any places in downtown San Diego that would make for a good rooftop ? Definitely.
S10: So all of the hotels downtown , um , there's they're pretty much all of them keep their pools open , I think until the evening. The Pendry has a lot of great options , too. You've got all of the places down in the seaport. You've got Seneca. That's a rooftop. That's a really beautiful place to have some Italian food , maybe an Aperol Spritz. You look at downtown , you go to OB , there's Wonderland Ocean Pub. That place is always packed right now. Oh , man , we haven't hit daylight savings yet. The sunsets too late. We didn't even talk about that. We still have , like , really great sunsets , you know , not for too much longer , but we've been enjoying that.
S1: Oh that's great. I've seen these places on Instagram , so now I've definitely got reason to check them out.
S10: And I'm from the East coast originally , so I do have a lot of social proof to check this against , but I do love being able to talk to my friends elsewhere in the country and be like , oh , you're inside. Oh , you're struggling , you know , to figure out what to do with your toddler today. Like my kids just running around , climbing outside and enjoying the sun , that's a that's a bummer for you. I'm sorry you don't have local summer.
S1: It is a real flex , right ? It's such a flex to do that.
S10: I use it , I mean , it doesn't have to be that way. Maybe it shows you my personality a little bit , but I think it's great. For me , it's just the validation of what I pay to live here. Ahmad. You know , we work to stay here and have a nice life here. I'm like , this is this is what we do it for.
S1: The humble brag Instagram post of you at the beach , you know. Yeah.
S10: And I well and to that point actually , you know , just I think we we talked about doing the segment just 2 or 3 days ago. I was asked to do it , and since then I've just been looking out there for things about local summer , things I can pull in. And I counted 15 Instagram story posts that I have seen since I got asked to do the segment that refer to local summer. So it is a thing.
S1: It is definitely a thing. Well , I've been speaking with Jackie Bryant. She is a local journalist and professor here in San Diego and host of the Happy Half Hour podcast. Jackie , thank you so much for joining.
S10: Thanks for having me.
S1: That's our show for today. I'm your host , Jade Hindman. Thanks for tuning in to Midday Edition. Be sure to have a great day on purpose , everyone.
