In this episode: December Nights, holiday fitness, and travel tips

December is officially upon us, meaning that the holidays have arrived. You can’t escape the glittering lights strung up on your neighbors’ homes and the holiday music drifting through the speakers at every store you step into, but why would you want to? Holidays in San Diego are pretty magical. What other city can you enjoy the best winter holiday of all while sunbathing on the beach? Granted, we’ve seen brief bouts of rainfall, but the warm weather just doesn’t want to let go and we’re certainly not complaining.

To commemorate the best season of all, we have a brand new Entertainer and Lifestyles Television December episode, filled with everything you need to know about San Diego this month. Watch it below, or if you haven’t already checked it out, here are some highlights!

We want to spread as much holiday joy as possible and to do that, we really have to mention Balboa Park. If you want to spend a pleasant evening among lights and laughter, take your family and friends to Balboa Park on December 7^th or 8^th to catch “December Nights”. Park Ranger Kim joined us on the show to tell us all about this great event and even gave us a little San Diego history lesson. Did you know that Balboa Park began as 1,400 acres of land that was set aside in 1868 by San Diego civic leaders? Known at the time as City Park, the first attempts to turn it into what it is today were taken in 1892 and was largely possible thanks to Kate Sessions, “The Mother of Balboa Park”. If you want to learn more, make sure to check out this month’s episode of E&L TV!

Going back to “December Nights”, it’s a tradition that has been going on for 35 years, making it one of San Diego’s cultural must-sees. Chock full of holiday cheer, the event is a celebration of our multi-cultural community with music, entertainment and food from all over the world (found at the International Christmas Festival at the House of Pacific Relations Cottages). The annual Santa Lucia Procession will be at the Plaza de California and unique gift shopping opportunities will be available at the museum stores and within the Spanish Village (full of artisan work). There will also be musical presentations performed by the San Diego Junior Theatre, San Diego Civic Youth Ballet, Del Cerro Baptist’s Christmas Story Tree, and many more. Expecting to bring in over 300,000 visitors, “December Nights” really is the perfect way to start off the holiday season and is great for any age. Doors open 5 – 9 and it’s completely free to get in so you don’t have to take from your gift budget at all.

Not only is “December Nights” great for San Diego locals, it’s the perfect place to take visiting friends and family. We guarantee that your guests won’t want to leave this great city when they see Balboa Park transformed into a winter wonderland. We’re sure people travel to San Diego for the event alone; it’s definitely worth the trip!

Speaking of traveling, our friends Pat and Wayne Dunlap told us some great stories about San Diego so make sure you check the episode out. Experts in travel and authors of “Plan Your Escape”, the Dunlap’s know a thing or two about travel destinations and for them to put their stamp of approval on our city is a pretty big deal; they’ve literally been all over the globe. The two of them have appeared on various media outlets and even host a travel blog for the Huffington Post, but they took some time to talk with us from right within Balboa Park. They gushed over all the great San Diego features, from the amazing weather to the cuisine to the romantic spots. Make sure to check out the episode to hear about San Diego from the point-of-view of travelers. We promise that their commentary on our beautiful Spanish-Renaissance-inspired architecture will make you appreciate this great city all the more. Anyone planning on visiting San Diego soon should definitely bookmark this month’s episode of E&L TV because the Dunlap’s give tons of great advice on how to enjoy this gorgeous city without having to delve into the savings account!