La Jolla’s down-to-earth side

UNABLE to face yet another weekend of home improvement hell, my husband, Brad, and I decided to make a run for it.

After dumping the dogs on my unsuspecting in-laws, we faced the tricky business of finding a hiding place. My requirements: quiet but not somnambulistic. Close to nature but not too far from the civilizing influence of good dining. Brad’s requirement: a sports bar for that Sunday’s big game. That’s men for you.

Surprisingly, La Jolla fit the bill for both of us. The seven-mile stretch of rocky coastline is sleepier than the rest of San Diego but has enough culture, good eats and hiking trails to make its distance from the world-class zoo utterly forgivable. And despite La Jolla’s painfully pricey reputation, our off-season visit gave us a taste of luxury without having to take out a second mortgage.

Still, as we arrived in town we braced ourselves for a snooty quotient. La Jolla (“the jewel” in Spanish), with its dramatic cliffs and quaint, turn-of-the-last-century architecture, long has been a playground for the rich and famous. Newspaper heiress Ellen Browning Scripps moved here in 1896 (thus, the Scripps Institute of Oceanography), polio vaccine creator Dr. Jonas Salk established his institute here in 1960 and native son Gregory Peck founded the La Jolla Playhouse, a magnet for celebrities in the ‘40s and ‘50s.

The demure streets of cozy boutiques and cottage-like storefronts of La Jolla Village certainly seemed like a proper playground for wealthy landowners. Instead, we found the town was less hoity-toity than laid-back, dude. Shop windows showed capri pants, not haute couture, and young families and retirees glided out of their pricey SUVs in lowbrow flip-flops. Instead of fake-baked sunbathers on the beach, we spotted men in sun hats carrying metal detectors. Seemingly the only difference between the upscale natives and us was the sweaters they wore around their shoulders. Good thinking -- the minute the sun slipped behind a cloud, we felt how chilly that ocean breeze could be.

After a quick tour of the neighborhood, we went hotel hunting. After eliminating the Best Western Inn by the Sea (right price, wrong decor) and the Grande Colonial Hotel (lovely but pricey), we landed at the Empress Hotel. For $179 a night, we had a plush, king-size bed, recessed lighting, fresh-baked cookies in the lobby and sophisticated decor in an array of earth tones. Perfect.

Well, almost. The Empress’ complimentary breakfast of bagels, muffins and hard-boiled eggs was underwhelming, so we set out to try our luck in town. Little more than a block away, we stumbled across the Cottage, a quaint early-1900s home transformed into an eatery offering sunny bistro fare. The short wait for a table was offset by a cart of free coffee and crumb cake on the sidewalk. We considered holding out for a table on the umbrella-covered patio, but the plates traveling by on the arms of the wait staff looked too tempting. We weren’t disappointed. My lobster omelet special ($16) was stuffed with an entire claw of the good stuff, and Brad made an impressive dent in an omelet of mushrooms, chicken, sun-dried tomatoes and brie.

Over breakfast, we leafed through fliers from our hotel’s concierge, settling on the Birch Aquarium at Scripps. We missed the aquarium’s naturalist-guided whale watch departing from the San Diego Harbor, and we lacked sufficient interest in the three-minute simulator ride for $4. Sitting in a bucking and rotating tin can while watching nature videos may be great for the kids, but not adults full of omelets. So we set off to see the aquarium proper.

We lingered over the multitudes of jellyfish and patted some sea stars at the tide pools in Preuss Plaza, but even taking time to find out about our genetic similarities to a sea squirt at the educational Sea of Genes exhibit (open through summer 2007), we were in and out of the aquarium in a scant 90 minutes. “We could’ve gone to a movie instead,” Brad said with a shrug as we got into our car.

Still, we were glad to have the extra time when we spotted the Torrey Pines State Reserve off the Coast Highway. This 2,000-acre stretch of unspoiled beach, hillsides and a lagoon popular with migrating birds is the home of the rarest native pine in the United States and is laced with five hiking trails. After huffing uphill to the visitor center, we caught our breath watching a 10-minute film about the history of the reserve before setting out on the Parry Grove Trail, a half-mile loop with a steep drop-off. Though drought and beetle infestation had left barren spots in the low-lying brush and had toppled some of the spindlier pines, the silver lining was a breathtaking, unobstructed view of the shore.

With hearty post-hike appetites, we headed to the Crab Catcher for dinner. Though leery of any restaurant with a great view (so often a distraction from less-than-great food), we put all reservations aside after our starter, a delicate roasted beet salad with Maytag blue cheese and toasted pistachios. An entree of perfectly seared ahi with purple sweet potato and baby bok choy was a hit, though the focaccia-crusted, crab-stuffed Hawaiian ono was overcooked. Still, capping off our dinner with creamy mint chocolate chip martinis while looking out at the inky black Pacific, we deemed the meal at least equal to the view.

With the rest of town brunching or at the beach the next morning, we had the La Jolla branch of the San Diego Museum of Contemporary Art almost to ourselves and relished the opportunity to lazily browse works by such heavy hitters as Ed Ruscha, Ed Moses and Llyn Foulkes as part of “La Dolce Vita: Selections From the Ruth and Murray A. Gribin Collection.”

The museum has a small room set aside for viewing the video art of your choice on DVD. By picking up a nearby phone and dialing the front desk, I was able to kick back and watch a Bill Viola film I chose from a catalog. Try getting a private screening like that at the Getty some weekend.

Leaving the museum, we hungrily watched happy diners sipping orange juice at linen-covered tables on the Museum Cafe patio. The brunch menu was tempting -- asparagus scramble, homemade granola, huevos rancheros -- but our concierge had earlier suggested Harry’s Coffee Shop, a La Jolla institution since 1960. We stuck to our only firm plan of the weekend. Big mistake. Given the half-hour wait and the hunting-themed, truck-stop-caliber decor, we figured the food had to be the main attraction. But our hockey puck of a turkey burger and inedible oatmeal pancakes left us scratching our heads.

Having tolerated some froufrou dining and a dose of artsy pretense, Brad finally had his chance to get his testosterone on -- game time! La Jolla Brew House, less than a block from our hotel, had a wood-paneled bar with home brews, guy grub including chicken wings and nachos (and a few salads for the waistline-conscious), a cozy outdoor fire pit and, most important, a bunch of TVs tuned to the game. A mahi-mahi sandwich was a bit on the fishy side, and Brad disparaged the home-brewed Irish stout as bland, but the seasoned fries were crisp and the atmosphere was appropriately enthusiastic.

“Good weekend, huh?” Brad asked as we headed back to the Empress to pack our bags. And his team didn’t even win.

*

(BEGIN TEXT OF INFOBOX)

Sun, sea and an upscale air

GETTING THERE:

La Jolla is about 110 miles south of Los Angeles on Interstate 5. Exit on La Jolla Village Drive, exit 28. Allow two hours without traffic, four hours in heavy traffic.

WHERE TO STAY:

Empress Hotel of La Jolla, 7766 Fay Ave.; (858) 454-3001, www.empress-hotel.com. Tasteful rooms, and cookies in the lobby. Doubles from $169.

The Grande Colonial Hotel, 910 Prospect St.; (858) 454-2181, www.thegrandecolonial.com. High-end boutique property with 75 rooms and ocean views. Doubles $195-$425 in spring, higher in summer.

Best Western Inn by the Sea, 7830 Fay Ave.; (858) 459-4461, www.bestwestern.com. The 129 rooms are a few blocks from the water. Doubles from $129.

WHERE TO EAT:

The Cottage, 7702 Fay Ave.; (858) 454-8409, www.cottagelajolla.com. Breakfast $6.25-$15.95.

La Jolla Brew House, 7536 Fay Ave.; (858) 456-6279, www.lajollabrewhouse.com. Sandwiches $7.50-$10.50.

Museum Cafe, Museum of Contemporary Art, 700 Prospect St.; (858) 456-6427. Breakfast $7.95-$11.95.

Harry’s Coffee Shop, 7545 Girard Ave.; (858) 454-7381, www.harryscoffeeshop.com. Breakfast $4.75- $10.95.

The Crab Catcher, 1298 Prospect St.; (858) 454-9587. Main dishes $22-$40.

WHERE TO GO:

Birch Aquarium at Scripps, 2300 Expedition Way; (858) 534-3474, aquarium.ucsd.edu. $10 for adults, $6.50 for children 3 to 17.

Torrey Pines State Reserve, (858) 755-2063, www.torreypine.org. From Interstate 5, exit on Carmel Valley Road and drive west 1.5 miles to Coast Highway (U.S. 101). Turn left and proceed along the beach for about a mile. The park entrance is on your right. Open daily from 8 a.m. to sunset. Visitor center opens at 9 a.m. $6 parking fee. Free, docent-led tours on weekends and holidays at 10 a.m. and 2 p.m.

Museum of Contemporary Art San Diego, 700 Prospect St.; (858) 454-3541, www.mcasd.org. “La Dolce Vita: Selections From the Ruth and Murray A. Gribin Collection” exhibit on view until May 7. $6, $2 children over 12. 11 a.m.-5 p.m. daily except Wednesdays. Open until 7 p.m. Thursdays.

-- Liane Bonin