The San Diego (Carlsbad) Half and Full Marathon

A January 2006 trip to Carlsbad by StephCat

Quote: Weekend in Carlsbad capped off by the Carlsbad Half Marathon!

The San Diego (Carlsbad) Half and Full Marathon

Overview

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Carlsbad is a very pretty Southern California beach town. It's the home of Legoland (which I've never visited) and has good surfing, nice bicycling paths, and decent restaurants. It's a short drive from San Diego.Quick Tips: Other than Legoland, Carlsbad doesn't seem like a tourist town. If you need a lot of excitement and things to do, schedule your visit around an event like the Half Marathon/Marathon.Best Way To Get Around: If you stay in or near the village, you can get by with walking to nearby restaurants, the beach, etc. Bring or borrow a bike and take advantage of the bike route paralleling the coast.To get to Carlsbad, drive. You'll have the mobility ...Read More

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Pelican Cove Inn

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Hotel

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I've had the pleasure of staying at the Pelican Cove Inn (the only bed-and-breakfast in Carlsbad) several times for nearby conferences. This trip was the first time that my husband and I traveled to Carlsbad for fun, and I knew the Pelican Cove Inn would be the best choice for us.The inn was, I believe, specifically built as such; it's not a remodeled house or old building. As such, the architecture lacks some of the charm of older buildings. However, there's a nice parlour for afternoon cookies and breakfast in the morning, and the rooms themselves are comfortable and have some nice antique pieces.Dave and I stayed in the Carlsbad room. The star of this room is the Captain's b...Read More

Member Rating 5 out of 5 on February 5, 2006

Pelican Cove Inn
320 Walnut Ave.
Carlsbad, California 92008
(760) 434-5995

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Passage French Bistro

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Restaurant | "Le Passage"

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Our innkeeper, Nancy, recommended Le Passage--we were looking for good, well-prepared, but simple, food, and French bistro food sounded great.The restaurant is walking distance from the Pelican Cove Inn, located on State Street along with a variety of other restaurants and boutiques. We chose to sit outside in their back patio, a small brick-walled enclosure with a huge tree hung with white lights in the center. The heaters kept us warm enough during the cool evening.We were immediately served bread with an aioli dipping sauce (scrumptious) and asked for our drink order. We shared a bottle of sparkling water (then later switched to tap). I also ordered a glass ...Read More

Member Rating 5 out of 5 on February 5, 2006

Passage French Bistro
2961 State St
Carlsbad, California 92008
(760) 729-7097

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Vigilucci’s Cucina Italiana

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Restaurant | "Vigilucci's Cucina"

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Saturday night was nominally our carbo-loading night. As such, we were going for pasta. But we wanted good pasta, not just plain spaghetti with Bolognese sauce (which I do quite well at home, thank you!), but something tasty and filling that I don’t normally cook.Nancy pointed us to Vigilucci’s Cucina (a few storefronts north of Le Passage) on State Street. (Carlsbad has quite few choices for Italian; Nancy had a stack of menus I forged through, and this sounded better than most of the others.)The restaurant was busy (we only got reservations thanks to Nancy), with tables (no booths that I saw), a full bar with a TV tuned to a football game, and cheerful waiters. The atmosphere...Read More

Member Rating 3 out of 5 on February 6, 2006

Vigilucci’s Cucina Italiana
2943 State Street
Carlsbad, California 92008
(760) 434-2500

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Biking by the Ocean

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Attraction

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Like all good triathletes, we brought our bikes with us in hopes of going for a ride Saturday. We'd heard mixed things about the weather (rain!) but woke up to a lovely, sunny morning. The Pelican Cove Inn is located a couple small blocks from the ocean. We rode our bikes to Carlsbad Boulevard and decided to go south (paralleling the beach). There's a decent bike lane and it appears that cars (well, their drivers) are used to bicyclists--I never felt any of the fear I occasionally feel while biking on the streets near my house.The route was scenic, with a few rolling hills (a little more challenge than I wanted the day prior to the half marathon, but that's primarily because I'...Read More

Member Rating 4 out of 5 on February 6, 2006

Biking by the Ocean
Carlsbad
Carlsbad, California

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Carlsbad Half Marathon

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Attraction

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We picked up our race packets on Saturday from the expo site (a high-tech local gym with some really nifty water wall fountains/sculptures--I'm thinking we could've snuck in workouts if we'd wanted; if nothing else, we had day passes in our goody bags). The expo was set up in several rooms throughout the gym, which seemed a little strange but apparently was the only way to really set it up at that location. The usual suspects were there--local businesses, the same running clothes/paraphernalia vendors, energy bar dealers, and various charities. RoadRunner Sports (who has a storefront in San Diego in addition to their mail order business) did have a booth with $40 ru...Read More