Cardiff Beach

The Great Coast Route

Old Highway 101 Beach Cruise Can't Be Beat

• From June 2005

John Daley is an unapologetic booster for U.S. 101.

“It’s one of the three great highways in the world,” he’s happy to tell visitors to his 101 Cafe, a 1920s diner at the corner of Coast Highway and Wisconsin Avenue in Oceanside.

Current maps don’t show U.S. 101 in San Diego County; in fact the city of San Diego is the largest in the nation that no longer has any old U.S. highways. Its old U.S. routes now end miles away… U.S. 395 near Hesperia, U.S. 80 in Texas, and U.S. 101 in downtown Los Angeles.

It’s fairly easy to find pieces of all three in the county, but no communities have embraced the old highways like those along the coast that were once connected by U.S. 101. Daley (a third-generation O’sider) and several other folks along the route have founded the Highway 101 Association. It has a nice web site and has worked to have “Historic Highway” signs posted along the five cities north of San Diego. The group’s oral history project, which included an interview with Daley’s mother, Dolly, was featured in a May 29, 2005 story in the San Diego Union-Tribune.

For today’s drivers, it’s a treat for the eyes. And here’s a secret... traffic has become so busy on Interstate 5 that it can actually be faster taking the old coast road. Plus, no drive in the county has more restaurants.

I like to start at Oceanside Harbor, with its quaint, mini-Seaport Village, and drive south. Even sportfishing with the Helgrens, if you like. That way, the ocean is on my side of the street and I don’t have to look across traffic to enjoy the view.

The small harbor is the only one between Mission Bay and Dana Point, so it’s a popular stopover for small craft cruising north or south. There are sportfishing and charter operators, several restaurants and shops. Nearby is the wide Oceanside Beach, where we’ll turn onto Pacific Street to cross the mouth of the San Luis Rey River. Pacific Street washed out during storms in 2005 but has been rebuilt.

Like much of Old 101, Oceanside’s pier area and downtown have been revitalized in recent years. The pier dates to 1888 and today boasts that it is the longest on the west coast.

Downtown Oceanside may look familiar to viewers of the “Veronica Mars” TV show. Exterior locations include Oceanside High School, on Mission Avenue, and the Brooks Theater, on Coast Highway. It’s also home to the California Surf Museum (312 Pier View Way, 760-721-6876).

A bit further down Coast Highway (once named Hill Street), is Daley’s 101 Cafe, located at 631 South Coast Highway. Opened in 1928, it’s gone through several incarnations over the years. When John “Bushie” Graham ran the place from the 1940s to the 1970s, there was car hop service, but today, you’ve got to go inside to eat. The traditional American fare of burgers, fries and shakes is well worth a visit.

One unexpected remodeling to the 101 Cafe came the morning of June 6, 2006, when a driver plowed into the southeast corner of the diner, damaging the mural along Wisconsin Avenue. Daley and his crew didn’t miss opening and had the place patched up quickly.

Around the cafe is some of the “road archaeology” that gives the old highway so much character. Next door is the Coast Auto Court, a 1923-vintage motel.

Across the street is an old Chrysler-Dodge dealer; nearby, Studebakers were once sold.Oceanside’s southern border is the Buena Vista Lagoon, one of three lagoons along the route and the only one that’s filled with fresh water. The folks at the Buena Vista Audubon Society have a small museum, a viewing area and offer tours (2202 South Coast Highway, Oceanside, 760-439-2473).

A vintage bridge takes Old 101 into downtown Carlsbad, where the road changes name to Carlsbad Boulevard, runs through the grounds of the Army-Navy Academy (open since 1936) and past Magee Park. It’s worth stopping for a bit in this area, as there’s so much history. The cliffs overlooking the beach are just a block west, while on the east side of old 101 is the Alt Karlsbad Spa and Neimans Restaurant.

The spa (2802 Carlsbad Blvd., 760-434-1887) is one of the reasons there is a Carlsbad. In 1882, farmer John Frazer dug a well on his property and discovered the water, which was compared to waters at the spa in Karlsbad, Germany. The spa became a tourist attraction, allowing Frazer and partners to develop the area. One of the homes built is currently occupied by Neimans Restaurant (300 Carlsbad Village Drive, 760-729-4131), which was once known as the Twin Inns.

Just south of Carlsbad Village Drive, the old highway swings toward the beach, taking a place at the top of the cliffs. It’s a dramatic vista, especially on a clear day, looking south to Leucadia along the Pacific.
And it’s a great spot for cruising... just sitting back and enjoying the drive. If curves aren’t your cup of tea, this cruise along Old 101 is perfect, as much of the speed limit is 45 mph or less.

Past the Encina power plant, the road widens and divides, into a freeway of sorts that was built in the late 1940s and early 1950s. South of the Palomar Airport Road overpass, highway historians can see four incarnations of the Coast Highway: the 1920s route now used for parking; the 1930s improvement, today used for the southbound lanes; the 1940s and ’50s improvements that added northbound lanes; and if you’re standing on the right hill, the 1960s Interstate 5, just to the east.

In South Carlsbad is the first of two great camping spots along the way, the South Carlsbad State Beach, and in Cardiff-By-The-Sea, the San Elijo State Beach. Both offer bluff top camping and are very popular year-round.

As the road climbs a short hill into Leucadia, look to the right and the site of the former Barker’s Noah’s Ark restaurant. Built in 1946, the ship-shape eatery is long gone but was a landmark on the drive south from Los Angeles. Old postcards note that it is 100 miles south of Los Angeles and 30 miles north of San Diego. The site is currently occupied by another restaurant.

Much of Leucadia dates back to the Old 101 days. Of particular note are: the Log Cabin Apartments, an old motel; the old gas station now occupied by Scott’s Automotive; the Leucadia Roadside Park; and Cap ’n Keno’s restaurant. The towering eucalyptus trees lining the highway are also rooted in the Old 101, once again called Coast Highway.

The old Encinitas train station found its way here in 1975, just ahead of the wrecking ball. It’s now a Pannikin coffee house.

Encinitas is next on the drive, with its now bustling downtown. The La Paloma Theater opened in 1928 and continues to anchor the north end of the strip; Swami’s Beach and the Self Realization Fellowship mark the south. Explore the shops in between, including the 1980s vintage Lumberyard.

If you take a trip off the highway, look for the boat houses at 726-732 Third Street, which were built by Miles Kellogg in 1929. A nearby popular eating spot is the Potato Shack Cafe, 120 West I Street.

Old 101 now returns to the blufftop and passes the campgrounds of San Elijo State Beach. What shopping there is in Cardiff is on the east side of the railroad tracks which parallel the highway. If you’re looking for great goodies, check out VG Donuts (106 Aberdeen Drive, 760-753-2400).

For something more substantial, up ahead is another one of those 101 oddities, the Cardiff Restaurant Row. Fancy dining on the beach has evolved over the years, beginning with George Beech’s restaurant in 1916. Legend has it that Beech built his cafe with lumber leftover from the old kelp processing plant. The Chart House is now on the site, with a half-dozen other restaurants nearby.

Heading into Solana Beach look for Fletcher Cove Beach and the downtown area of Solana Beach, before heading east over Lomas Santa Fe Drive. The train station (which replaced Del Mar as an Amtrak stop in the 1989) includes below-grade tracks and award-winning architecture. Just east of the tracks is Cedros Avenue, known for its collection of interior design shops and the Belly-Up Tavern.

Our route today is heading over to Eden Gardens, the collection of fine Mexican restaurants just north of the Del Mar Racetrack’s back stretch. A Latino enclave dating back more than 60 years, Eden Gardens is known for Tony’s Jacal, Fidel’s, Don Chuy and the other restaurants serving some of the best food around.

From there, it’s a quick trip to Via de la Valle and Interstate 5, or back to old 101 south to San Diego. Beach, fair and race track traffic can be heavy in this area.

Oceanside’s Daley says this drive is one of the three best in the world. So what are his other picks?

“I’ll let everybody else choose the other two,” he says.