One of San Diego's most scenic spots -- the star of postcards for more than 100 years -- is La Jolla Cove and Ellen Browning Scripps Park on the bluff above it. The walk through the park, along Coast Boulevard (start from the north at Prospect St.), offers some of California's finest coastal scenery. Just south is the Children's Pool, a beach where dozens of harbor seals can be spotted lazing in the sun. The 6,000-acre San Diego-La Jolla Underwater Park, established in 1970, stretches for 10 miles from La Jolla Cove to the northern end of Torrey Pines State Reserve, and extends from the shoreline to a depth of 900 feet. The park is a boat-free zone. Its undersea flora and fauna draw scuba divers and snorkelers, many of them hoping for a glimpse of the brilliant orange garibaldi, California's state fish.
One of only 17 nonprofit, membership libraries in the United States, the Athenaeum Music and Arts Library, 1008 Wall St. (tel. 858/454-5872; www.ljathenaeum.org) hosts art exhibits, jazz and classical concerts, lectures, and special events that are open to the general public. An incredible collection of books, music, and more makes for fascinating browsing, but only members can take something out. The library was founded in 1899 and has been on this site since the very beginning. Over the years, it has expanded into adjacent buildings, including one built by Balboa Park architect William Templeton Johnson.
Other architectural highlights in town include Mary Star of the Sea, 7727 Girard Ave., a beautiful Roman Catholic church: and La Valencia Hotel, 1132 Prospect St., a fine Spanish Colonial-style structure. The La Jolla Woman's Club, 7791 Draper Ave.; the adjacent Museum of Contemporary Art San Diego; the La Jolla Recreation Center; and The Bishop's School are all the handiwork of famed architect Irving Gill.
At La Jolla's north end, you'll find the 1,200-acre, 22,000-student University of California, San Diego (UCSD), which was established in 1960 and represents the county's largest single employer. The campus features the Geisel Library, a striking and distinguished contemporary structure, as well as the Stuart Collection of public sculpture and the Birch Aquarium at Scripps. One of celebrated architect Louis I. Kahn's masterpieces is the Salk Institute for Biological Studies, 10010 N. Torrey Pines Rd., a research facility named for the creator of the polio vaccine. Farther north is an ersatz jewel, The Lodge at Torrey Pines, a modern, 175-room luxury resort in the guise of an early-20th-century Craftsman-style manse. It overlooks the revered Torrey Pines Golf Course.
For a fine scenic drive, follow La Jolla Boulevard to Nautilus Street and turn east to get to 800-foot-high Mount Soledad, which offers a 360-degree view of the area. The appropriateness of the 43-foot-tall cross on top, erected in 1954 in this public park, has been a subject of a nearly 20-year legal fight (religious symbols are prohibited on public land). The debate goes on.
