Things to Do in Solana Beach

Guests ride into Surf Bowl under a glowing pink and green sign, and once inside, cast their eyes down freshly polished lanes. As an homage to their name and the local culture, a mural running parallel to the lanes depicts bowling pins engaging in beach activities such as lounging in the sand and testing their own buoyancy in the ocean. Players can stop in for classic games throughout the day, or enjoy Xtreme Glow-in-the-Dark Bowling once night falls. Between games, bowlers can break for a pizza, sandwich, or freshly fried snacks at Blue Wave Café, a casual, diner-style eatery with chrome-accented bar stools. The alley also boasts an arcade, bar, and billiards table.

Through innovation and a passion for creation, Eleanor Burns revolutionized the process by which quilts are made. She cast off the shackles of scissors and templates for a more visceral approach that combines the ripping and stripping of fabric with an assembly-line approach to sewing. The new process brought an exciting speed to an activity once known for taking months and causing anyone who attempted it to grow a 4-foot beard. To spread the word and bolster the quilting community, she released her first book, Make a Quilt in a Day––Log Cabin Pattern.

Thirty years and 100 quilt books and patterns later, she continues to promote the art of the quilt and to improve the efficiencies of quilt construction. Along with a staff of fellow seamstresses, she began Quilt in a Day to further spread her message through simple and social classes filled with thorough and accurate instruction. Beginners can register for classes or attend a demo day, where refreshments fuel entertainment and scraps of fabric fly.

What started as a camp founded and staffed by schoolteachers has turned into a year-round surf school for one reason: people love to surf. Today, the school offers everything from lessons for first-timers to professional surf clinics for advanced surfers. Their teaching model focuses on private and small group lessons, which they believe is the quickest and easiest way to learn to ride the waves. And for their graduates, they’ve even created a surf team that is cheered on by countless adoring seagulls.