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San Diego's Secret Mission: Culture on the Cheap

January 26, 2004 -- Most people know San Diego for four 'S'es: sun, sand, the San Diego Zoo and Sea World. Okay, sure, the Gaslamp District is a 'G,' but that doesn't change our point: Southern California's most civilized large city isn't known for the powerhouse art museums that you find a few hours north in LA.

Instead, San Diego museums concentrate on the quirky, the oddball, and the unique: these are great little places that you're not going to see in many other cities, and they'll flavor your San Diego visit with a unique spice. Apparently, some local Southern Californians know little about San Diego's more peculiar museums, so the San Diego Museum Council (www.sandiegomuseumcouncil.org) makes February "Museum Month," when tourists and residents alike can get into a slew of local museums for half price. All you have to do is pick up a brochure at any branch of the Robinsons-May department store, and you're good to go.

The more peculiar museums on the list include the Computer Museum of America, with its display of oddball old technology including an Apple LISA, the forerunner of the Macintosh; the Museum of Making Music, which tracks the history of popular music through the instruments used to produce it (we imagine teens would love the electric guitar exhibit); the Aerospace Museum with its collection of vintage airplanes; and the Model Railroad Museum in Balboa Park, which is exactly what it sounds like.

That's only the tip of the sandbar (icebergs would probably melt in San Diego). You also get museums of anthropology, history and nature: the Birch Aquarium, which offers a breathtaking coastal view from its rooftop tidal pool; the Maritime Museum, best known for the full-rigged 19th-century Star of India; the Quail Botanical Gardens; the San Diego Historical Society the Serra Museum of artifacts from early settlements; the anthropological Museum of Man; the similarly anthropological Heritage of the Americas Museum and the San Diego Natural History Museum.

Lest you think San Diego does entirely without art museums, there's the Mingei International Museum of World Folk Arts and Crafts; the Museum of Contemporary Art; the Museum of Photographic Arts; the San Diego Museum of Art, which specializes in Spanish and Indian (Asian, not American) painting; and the Stuart Collection of outdoor sculpture at UCSD.

Enough museums for you? Cryin' "Uncle" yet? San Diego isn't done (though we'd excuse you if you want to go lie on the beach for a while and think about this.) You also get the Cabrillo National Monument, another great place to view the sea, this one with a restored 1855 lighthouse; the Flying Leathernecks Aviation Museum of Marine Corps aviation history; the Reuben H. Fleet Science Center, a fun, interactive museum and planetarium for kids; and the San Diego Automotive Museum, a fun collection of 80 old cars.

In short: especially if you live nearby, February is a great time to discover museums you never knew southern California had.

A Cheap Route to Cheap Museums

This cheap-museum deal will probably mostly appeal to residents of southern California, for whom San Diego is a short drive and a great weekend trip. But Northeasterners trying to avoid the current icy weather can take advantage of some great fares to take in both some culture and some beach time.

From New York, fly JetBlue (www.jetblue.com) or American Airlines (www.aa.com) for only $158 roundtrip ($190 or so, including taxes) nonstop from JFK to San Diego. To get either fare, fly on a Tuesday, Wednesday or Saturday and book by Feb. 10 for travel through April 14 on the appropriate airline's Web site.


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