Eye on Travel

Radio Guest List–Omni San Diego Hotel in San Diego, California–January 26, 2019

Locations in this article:  San Diego, CA

This week, Eye on Travel broadcasts from the Omni San Diego Hotel in San Diego, California. Joining Peter is Colin Stowell, Fire Chief for San Diego Fire-Rescue Department, on California’s recent wildfires and responding to emergencies in a community that comprises 550 miles. Troy Johnson, Editor-at-large for San Diego Magazine, on the changing nature of restaurant design, the boom in Din Tai Fung places and whether or not the custom of tipping will survive at many restaurants. We’ll discuss well-known attractions, like the San Diego Zoo — the zoo’s Rick Schwartz talks about its mission to educate visitors and how it has designed its exhibits and the accessibility to animals to inspire us to think about — and act on — climate change and conservation. And then we’ll reveal a museum you’ve never heard about but need to experience– the Marine Corps Recruit Depot museum. Plus Maritime Historian Peter Knego, on his huge (and growing) collection of artifacts and historical pieces he’s collected from shipyards around the world. His entire house is an overflowing museum of ocean liner and cruise ship items including a particularly colorful one from….The Love Boat. There’s all this and more as Eye on Travel broadcasts from the Omni San Diego Hotel in San Diego, California.

 

Click here  to listen to the show streaming live from 10 a.m. until 1 p.m. ET on Saturday, January 26, 2019.

Have a travel question? Then ask Peter. E-mail him at peter@petergreenberg.com, or tweet your questions to @petersgreenberg (include #AskPeter).

 

Colin Stowell, Fire Chief for San Diego Fire-Rescue Department, talks about California’s wildfires and how his fire-rescue department handles mutual aid situations in the city with 550 linear miles to protect and educate. He also shares the fire rescue challenges in San Diego’s downtown area and its beaches as well as the percentage of calls that are medical in nature in the Gaslamp Quarter.

 

Robert Marks, the Chef Concierge at the Omni San Diego Hotel, discusses misconceptions about concierges. He says that “any question has value” and so you should ask a concierge anything, anywhere, and any topic. He describes his role as a little bit travel agent, therapist and magician. And you won’t believe the lengths he went to for a bride in need of her wedding dress at a closed dry cleaner!

 

Tamara Glenn, Assistant Director of the National Geographic Fine Art in La Jolla, describes the photographs in the La Jolla gallery. Photographers Beverly Joubert and David Doubilet are just a couple of featured photographers. While a lot of people dream of being a photographer for National Geographic, Tamara explains that the job involves a reality of being alone a lot and just waiting for the shot. Sometimes, she says they get lucky but the lucky are prepared.

 

Scott McGaugh, USS Midway Public Speaker, Best-Selling Historian and Author of USS Midway: America’s Shield, shares what you need to know about the USS Midway Museum. The museum has 1.4 million visitors a year. The Battle of Midway took place only 6 months after Pearl Harbor, and it’s in this museum that you will see how this history was forged by young, brave men who were an average age of 19. Scott also reveals the biggest surprise of the Midway.

 

Tommy Gomes, 5th-Generation Commercial Fisherman and Fishmonger at Catalina Offshore, stops by to talk about San Diego’s most popular fish, tuna. Tommy also talks about the tuna auctions in Japan and why a fish that sells for $25,000 is just a drop in the bucket. As a customer, he says you need to ask the right questions about your fish, including the country of origin. He offers advice and says that if your fish has more frequent flier miles than you, there’s a problem.

 

Joanie Schwarz-Wetter, Interim Director of the Marine Corps Recruit Depot San Diego, is a former marine and she explains what’s inside of the MCRD museum. Thanks to the donations of marines and their families, there are weapons, equipment, vehicles, photographs, Medal of Honor displays and personal stories.

 

Troy Johnson, Writer, Food Critic and Editor-at-large for San Diego Magazine, dishes on soup dumplings in San Diego and why they’re so hot. He also talks about the turnover rate in restaurants and how the increase in minimum wage has affected service. He also explains why restaurants have slowed down and shares his thoughts on restaurants that are being designed like Instagrams.

 

Rick Schwartz, San Diego Zoo Ambassador, discusses the diet of polar bears at the San Diego Zoo because here, they’re “summer bears.” And did you know that you can spend the night at the Safari Park? On the topic of climate change, Rick says that conservation is a marathon. At the San Diego Zoo, the aim is not only to educate about animals but also to inspire people to think about what they can do to help save species.

 

David Richards, Omni San Diego Assistant Director of Food and Beverage, reveals the most popular item on the hotel menu. Can you guess it? And David also talks about how food options like sliders, burgers and wings help make this hotel an exciting location before the Padres games.

 

Peter Knego, Cruise Journalist and Maritime Historian, stops by to reveal what’s in his house! For example, Peter goes to the shipyard and finds light fixtures, wood panels and builders’ plates. And one of the most interesting spaces in his home involves The Love Boat.