What I love about Chula Vista

I was born in Los Angeles and moved to Baja Mexico when I was 6 years old however weekends, holidays and vacations were spent in Los Angeles. Never in my life did I think I would end up living in what is called "America's Finest City: San Diego".

If you ask me, it's the perfect place to live. Weather is always perfect as it is sunny 95% of the time, you have the beautiful Pacific Ocean to the West and the gorgeous dessert mountains to the East. We lived happily in San Diego for 11 years. One of the things I love about San Diego is the convenient location it has -only a 2 hour drive to visit family to the North and to the South. Not bad at all. Our place of residence was located in the South Bay area of San Diego in a city called Chula Vista. In all honesty I still love Chula Vista, I love everything about it. 

Here's a little history of our beloved city:

Chula Vista is a Spanish name that is translated to "Beautiful View"-believe me there are more than beautiful views from all over the City. In the late 1800's Sweetwater Dam was completed and would bring water to the area which was mostly full of farms. Mostly full of citrus trees {oranges and lemons} due to the regions climate and location. After World War II the lemon crops disappeared and so did all the big manufacturing companies {Rohr Aircraft and Hercules Powder Company} and growing crops/fields this lead to Chula Vista becoming one of the most populated areas in San Diego County. You can learn more on Chula Vista's interesting history at the Chula Vista Heritage Museum located on Third Avenue Village {a.k.a Downtown Chula Vista}.

Fun events and places to visit:

Source: Third Avenue Village Association website

The City of Chula Vista has been celebrating for seventeen years this year the "Lemon Festival" which is held in August. It is a fun filled family event on Third Avenue Village with live entertainment, food vendors, lemon pie eating contest, crafts and much more. It is lots of fun, we used to walk to it from our home.

Source: Chula Vista Olympic Training Center Website

Next to the lower Otay reservoir and at the end of Olympic Highway {heading East} you will find the Chula Vista Olympic Training Center. It is one of three in the United States, Chula Vista has the perfect weather for athletes to train in rowing, BMX, beach volleyball, archery, canoe/kayak, cycling, field hockey, soccer, softball, tennis, triathlon, cross training and several winter sports. This center offers housing, dining, recreational facilities and professional development programs for athletes. Among some of the famous athletes are the Winklevoss twins {remember them? from Facebook?} they are here to train for rowing. 

Off interstate 5 and next to the Pacific Ocean you will find The Living Coast Discovery Center {formerly known as the Chula Vista Nature Center}. It is a non-profit organization that houses local wildlife and plants. Among the animal residents are: turtles, lobster, fish, anemones, raptors, reptiles, birds, jelly fish, shark, rays and native plants. The perfect setting to learn about the local ecosystem and get up close and personal with wildlife. One of our favorite exhibits here is the Shark and Ray interactive experience where you can feed and touch rays.

Have you visited Chula Vista? Do you live in Chula Vista? What would you add as must see places? Leave me your ideas on the comments section below. :D