Jim Dardeen has been roping since he was 16 years old. The Spring Valley native fell in love with horses at an early age and, once he launched his career in real estate, returned to the hobby as a much-needed stress reliever. He bought his Ramona ranch in 2013—home to horses, cows, goats, and dogs—and built his family’s home on the property shortly after. This is where he spends most of his days, raising his daughters to learn ranching and training them for team roping events, also called heading and heeling, where two mounted riders work together to rope a steer. He and others in the community compete in high-stakes jackpot events all across the Southwest.
Roping and ranching is a way of life that’s fading out in Southern California, but Dardeen says those who live the lifestyle are welcomed into an intimate community that always offers a helping hand. There are no debts, no egos, just mutual respect and hard work. Days start early here—around 4 a.m., to feed, water, and check up on all the animals—and end at sundown. The job is attuned to them, Dardeen explains, and it never gets old. Whether it’s going for a simple ride around the property or competing, he says it’s an incredible reward to work with animals every day and—as best as humans can—connect with them and with the land on a spiritual level.
Ramona sounds like a country song come to life: dusty backroads winding through mountain hollows, feed stores and barns dotting the hillsides, the steady hum of tractors, and a thriving population of beefy pickup trucks. Nestled in the foothills of the Laguna Mountains, where Route 67 meets Highway 78 about 35 miles northeast of San Diego, the town takes its name from the black-haired heroine of Helen Hunt Jackson’s 1884 novel RamonaForever.
Once just a pit stop on the way to Julian or Anza-Borrego, Ramona has reinvented itself as a wine country gem. More than 40 boutique wineries now freckle the hills, many producing award-winning varietals and offering sun-drenched tasting rooms with vineyard views. But it’s not all vino and barns. The country, rock, and public art scenes here are thriving. Ramona is home to nine live music venues and a growing collection of vibrant murals—31 and counting—brightening downtown for the last decade-plus.
Photo Credit: Ariana Drehsler Tamara Denton has bartended at the Turkey Inn in Ramona for a decade.
You’ll know you’ve arrived when you pass a clutch of antique shops and spot the beloved poultry-shaped marquee of the Turkey Inn, pouring since 1926, when Ramona proudly wore the title “Turkey Capital of the World.” The turkeys may be long gone, but agriculture still thrives—think hogs, chickens, citrus few blocks of Main Street, but Ramona is no one-horse town. With a population of around 21,500 and some 10,000 horses, it’s an equestrian stronghold, home to a grand rodeo, sprawling ranches, and state-of-the-art training facilities. Longtime Turkey Inn bartender Tamara Denton remembers riding her steed through town as a kid—and yes, the horse-height crosswalk button still exists at Highland Valley and Dye Road. In Ramona, some traditions really do ride on.
“The vibe is different from San Diego,” Denton says. “It’s dirt bikes instead of beach bikes.” groves, rows of grapes, organic veggies, and seasonal farm stands beckoning weekenders to linger.
Photo Credit: Ariana Drehsler
Facts About Ramona, CA
Boxer Archie Moore founded Salt Mine Training Camp at the foot of Mount Woodson in the 1960s. Muhammad Ali and George Foreman trained there.
Stunt horseman and rodeo champion Casey Tibbs lived in Ramona from 1976 to 1990.
Before the renowned Battle of the Sexes between Billie Jean King and Bobby Riggs, Riggs played a practice “she versus he” Mother’s Day match against Margaret Court at San Vicente Country Club in Ramona. He won that face-off before losing to King.
Ramona Airport, built in 1943 by the Army and established in 1957 as a fire-fighting base, is the oldest Cal Fire air attack base in the state.
Photo Credit: Ariana Drehsler Country artists and tribute bands pack the lineup at the nearly 80-year-old venue Ramona Mainstage.
Things to Do in Ramona
Denton Has Worked at the Turkey Inn for 10 years, and she drives a pick-up, so you know she can be trusted to give the dirt on what’s happening in her town. She works the day shift now, but on her first night, she met the bar’s ghost, Dutch. She might tell you the story if you stop by for her grapefruit kamikaze—Deep Eddy Ruby Red Grapefruit Vodka, triple sec, and sweet and sour. Ask her about the old map painted on the wall, too.
Since the Turkey Inn doesn’t serve food, if you’re hungry, she’ll send you to Way Point Saloon for a good jalapeño burger or what she says are “melt-in-your-mouth” steak kebabs from its attached restaurant, Up the Hill Grill. When Denton was a little girl, Way Point was Molly Malone’s (locals still call it that); it transformed with the help of Bar Rescue in 2015.
Photo Credit: Ariana Drehsler
Ramona Cafe is one of Denton’s lifetime favorites, and its new owner is a former server keeping the establishment’s legacy alive. The recipes haven’t changed: chicken-fried steak with house gravy and homemade hashbrowns is still her favorite meal, and the giant cinnamon roll made Guy Fieri’s list.
Ramona Family Naturals Market on 6th Street is the place to find local produce and eggs or grab a fresh-made sandwich (honor Ramona’s past and try the turkey melt!) for your drive to the mountains or desert. Do as Ramonans do and park in the market’s lot on a Thursday night in April through September to catch American Graffiti Cruise Night, a weekly show-out of classic cars along Main Street (check Facebook for themes and special routes), along with outdoor seating, food, and live music.
Denton likes Main Street Coffee for her caffeine fix—in true small town-fashion, it’s within a block of her workplace. A cute cottage with an outside space to sit and watch Ramona go by, it also serves local wines.
Photo Credit: Ariana Drehsler
What’s Next for Ramona
Ramona may be rooted in tradition, but it’s also evolving. While adults have new pastimes to enjoy— such as wine tasting, live music, and cannabis dispensaries—there’s still a noticeable gap for teens and young people, Denton says. But she’s hoping that changes soon. After years of promises, a permanent skate park may finally become reality: the Ramona Community Planning Group recently earmarked $2.2 million and moved the project to the top of its to-do list.
Progress is happening in other corners, too. One of Ramona’s oldest civic groups, the Ramona Grange (founded in 1915), is behind a new attraction in town: the Ramona Grange Growers Exchange & Certified Farmers Market, launched in April 2025. The market features local-only produce, crafts, and handmade goods, offering a fresh outlet for the area’s agricultural roots. More farm-focused events are sprouting up, too, like farm-to-table dinners at Thompson Heritage Ranch and Happy Hens that showcase Ramona’s deep bench of local growers.
Photo Credit: Ariana Drehsler El Michoacan, a cozy spot serving familiar Mexican plates.
Growth is also reshaping the town’s housing landscape. Creekside Crossing, a suburban-style development of 54 homes near Ramona Airport, is slated for completion by late 2025. Meanwhile, Paseo Norte on Main Street, a new 100-unit senior housing complex, anchors the recently opened Ramona Intergenerational Community Campus—a $15 million public hub that was 25 years in the making and now delivers long-promised county services to the community.
Another long-awaited project is the restoration of Ramona Town Hall, a beloved 1894 building designed by William Hebbard, the architectural partner of Irving Gill. One of the oldest town halls in California, it’s slowly returning to its former glory, thanks to about $500,000 in donations and a newly unveiled 3D rendering that offers a glimpse of its future.
Perhaps the most buzzed-about comeback? The long-shuttered Kmart on Main Street, empty and boarded up since 2020. But now, after years of speculation and grumbling, the property is getting new life: four retail stores are on their way. For Ramonans, it’s a long-awaited sign that Main Street’s next chapter is finally underway.
Photo Credit: Ariana Drehsler The steak kabobs at Up the Hill Grill.
On February 28, 1926, the Fine Arts Gallery of San Diego (now called the San Diego Museum of Art) opened its Plateresque doors to 3,000 guests for opening day. Over the next century, the museum changed with the times—even once functioning as a naval hospital after Pearl Harbor. This year, the museum is celebrating its 100th birthday with an exhibit (open through January 24, 2027) featuring photographs, ephemera, and film footage spanning the museum’s history.
Courtesy of Tim Novara
Free Concerts at Spreckels Organ Pavilion
Every Sunday from 2 to 3 p.m., stop by the historic Spreckels Organ Pavilion for a free concert presented by the City of San Diego on the largest outdoor organ in the world (more than 5,000 pipes). The pavilion seats 2,400 for performances by the civic organist or guest artists.
Some think natural history museums are just cemeteries for dioramas that haven’t received an update since the Reagan administration. When it comes to The Nat, which just finished a $7.5 million rejuvenation, they’re totally wrong. The museum debuted a new rooftop that replaces its 25-year-old atrium. The old roof created a greenhouse effect that steamed up some exhibits, so the new one—which includes 200 solar panels and better temperature control—will help preserve the artifacts inside. Each Friday in the summer, The Nat also becomes one of the season’s vibiest hotspots during Nat at Night, with food from places like Wolf in the Woods and The Craft Taco, bars and signature cocktails on several floors, and a rooftop DJ.
Fleet Science Theater Remodel
The Fleet Science Center just received its most significant update since the 1990s. It expanded its exhibit space by 20 percent and introduced a newly designed entrance gallery (formerly the IMAX theater lobby) that includes free exhibits for visitors who want a taste of the science without paying an admission fee. The former ticketing area now houses the Mindbender Mansion exhibit, and there’s a new café, Element 8, that will, of course, sell the center’s famous soft serve.
Boredom's not an option. These are a few of the top events in the city each year, including a rodeo, free summertime music festival, and a chili cook-off
Meet some rodeo queens (or be crowned as one yourself) in R-Town’s annual celebration of the Wild West. Three days of mutton bustin’, tie-down roping, and barrel racing are all doing the community some good: Proceeds from the event funnel into local organizations like Ramona Town Hall and the Guy B. Woodward Museum. This month marks the 45th annual Ramona Rodeo, which takes place in the Fred Grand Arena and draws more than 12,000 attendees each year.
For nearly half a century, OB has hosted a chili cooking competition that has drawn thousands of hungry locals. (Buzz Cannabis presented this year’s event, so taste testers could have been under the influence of munchies-enhancing drugs.) Non-chili-related street fair festivities include beachfront live music, Fun Zone family-friendly play areas, and a Dirty Birds wing-eating contest.
Photo Credit: Cole Novak
Chicano Park Day
In 1970, Chicano Park was set to become a California Highway Patrol station. The problem: The city had promised a community park in that area. After decades of development fractured Barrio Logan and displaced thousands of families, Chicano locals were tapped out. So, for 12 days, locals occupied the area under the Coronado Bridge, blocking bulldozers and planting cacti. It worked. Construction stopped, and that area is now Chicano Park. Each year, locals celebrate the successful preservation of Chicano Park and the resilience of the Chicano Movement.
Solana Beach gathers at Fletcher Cove Park at the start of each summer for two days of live music ranging from country to pop to Chicano rock, plus an arts and crafts fair, an international food court, a beer and wine garden, and the Solana Beach Firefighters Association’s pancake breakfast. The event is free, but if you want an elevated experience, grab Seaside Pavilion ($75) or VIP Deck ($160) tickets for reserved seating, private cash bars, exclusive restrooms, and discounted swag.
Courtesy of North Park Music Fest
North Park Music Fest
The entire North Park neighborhood hosts an annual music festival, meaning a dozen venues—from Queen Bee’s to Bacari to North Park Community Park—become live music spaces each June. Some locations are open to the public, but if you’d prefer lounge access at Granada House and line-skipping privileges, check out the $65 VIP passes. General admission otherwise starts at $25.
Lemon Festival
It’s weird if you don’t wear a lemon-themed outfit at Chula Vista’s annual Lemon Festival. For one day each August, Third Avenue pays tribute to the city’s former “Lemon Capital of the World” status with live music, citrus-themed photo ops, arts and crafts vendors, a lemon cook-off competition, and plenty of other food that doesn’t include the famed hesperidium. But who would want that at Lemon Fest?
Inspired by the effortless charm of French cafés, this taste of France on Orange Avenue invites guests to embrace the simple pleasure of taking their time.
Strolling down Orange Avenue on a sunny afternoon, you’ll hear the hum of beach cruisers rolling by and visitors making their way toward the Hotel del Coronado. Dogs pause to greet one another on the sidewalk, palm trees sway overhead, and for a moment, you’re convinced you’re living inside the postcard from the gift shop you just passed.
Then the scene shifts. Towering white columns, black café awnings and gold-trimmed windows frame Little Frenchie, where woven bistro chairs spill onto the sidewalk and servers deliver bubbling crocks of French onion soup. The scent of caramelized onions and melted Gruyère is practically an invitation to ask, “How long for a table for two?”
That feeling of pulling up a chair and staying awhile is exactly what inspired Little Frenchie. French cuisine has a reputation for feeling a little intimidating, but the restaurant is rewriting that narrative with food and wine that feels approachable.
“Sometimes when you read a French menu, you come across words you can’t even pronounce,” David Spatafore, the owner of Little Frenchie, says. “We wanted to create a restaurant where people felt comfortable.”
Little Frenchie was designed to capture the spirit of the French sidewalk cafés that inspired it. Dating back to 1917, the space already carried the charm of a Parisian bistro, with architectural details that felt more at home on a European street corner than in Coronado. The team saw an opportunity to create a restaurant that matched the character of the space while filling a gap in the neighborhood.
The result is a French restaurant that honors tradition without taking itself too seriously.
At Little Frenchie, classic French techniques are at the heart of the menu, but there is always room for creativity. A cassoulet featuring Toulouse sausage and duck confit pays homage to the recipes and regions that inspired it, while a rich hot chocolate made with ingredients imported from France brings a taste of French café culture to Coronado.
The team loves finding unexpected ways to make familiar dishes feel new. A burger becomes a showstopper when it is finished tableside with melted raclette, while a French Dip gets elevated with prime beef and Wagyu makes its way into the burgers. Even Eggs Benedict gets a French twist, swapping the traditional English muffin for a buttery croissant. The GB&J, Little Frenchie’s take on a grilled cheese, brings that same playful approach with seasonal jam and French Brie layered into a comforting classic.
Nearly everything at Little Frenchie is made from scratch, with ingredients carefully chosen to match the restaurant’s standards. Even the bread receives special attention. Each morning, the team sends a car to Prager Brothers Artisan Bread to pick up freshly baked loaves, ensuring every element of the meal reflects the restaurant’s commitment to quality.
Wine is woven into the experience just as naturally as the food. Inspired by the effortless pairings found in French cafés and bistros, Little Frenchie’s by-the-glass selection invites guests to sip their way through different regions and discover new favorites without the pressure of knowing all the rules.
If magazines are like the adultier eldest daughters who know exactly how much anarchy they can get away with, zines are the far less predictable younger siblings going on whim and instinct. Those who draw on the walls around the house, DIY their own piercings, and experiment with different emo/straight-edge/back to emo phases (or not-phases). Boundaries and routines are what zines were created to rail against.
Walk into Verbatim Books’ zine corner, and this rebellion is immediately clear. Zines have no singular form, no clean category or definition. Vintage magazine scraps are collaged into new meaning alongside mini fandom zines. Single sheets of plain white printer paper are covered in nothing but black ballpoint pen. Repurposed hardback book covers are folded into something entirely new. Some are duct-taped together, others stapled. Some glossy, others matte. There are guides to anything and everything, comic panels, photography, hand-drawn cartoons, poetry, recipes, diaries, and ramblings that only make sense to the person who made them—and that’s on purpose.
Zines are creative magic. And with no rules, they’re incredibly accessible. Anyone can zine and have a voice, regardless of artistic training or work life experience.
You are your own Anna Wintour, Graydon Carter, Ruth Whitney.
San Diego–based zine creator Lyssette Williams specializes in mini zines—often limited to eight pages, they’re meditations in abbreviation. Outlining, thumbnailing, and revision all move quickly from idea to page. Larger projects, including Williams’ long-form graphic novel thesis, move at a slower pace. For those, she often returns to pen and ink, a choice that resists the over-editability of digital work.
Raised by a single mother and navigating mixed-race identity in a predominantly white town, she finds a home for processing it all in zines. Her work deals in identity, belonging, self-definition, and punk-rock childhood. But it isn’t always heavy; Williams creates a mini duck-themed zine called Backyard Duck Propaganda that’s hard not to love. “When I create, I think about what would have helped me find the words back then, what my younger self would’ve needed,” Williams says. “[Zines] put the tools in your hands and democratize art. They’re translations of memories and identities.”
Courtesy of Lyssette Williams
For Williams, a big reason she keeps creating is being surrounded by other creatives—a scene that extends across the border. She points to Verbatim and Comicbook Artists of San Diego, plus events like Zine Fest (October 17–18 this year at Woo in Barrio Logan) and Black Comix Day at the WorldBeat Cultural Center.
Zines have always been a road for subcultures. During the Harlem Renaissance, Black creatives like Langston Hughes and Zora Neale Hurston self-published one issue of Fire!!, which inspired other Black authors. In the 1930s, zines (then called fanzines) were hubs for sci-fi nerds to write fanfiction, address the fandom, and create new characters. Superman actually made his public debut in a fanzine called Science Fiction (he was originally cast as a villain with a fully receded hairline). A couple decades later, zines about feminism and riot grrrl became subculture de rigueur.
The internet nearly killed zines, of course. But now, people tired of the algorithm’s firehose are finding comfort and renewed inspiration in analog. Zines, a salve for digital fatigue.
Courtesy of Duophobia
A giant figure in San Diego zine culture is Burn All Books. Founded by Amanda and Nick Bernal, BAB started as a risograph (digital screen printing) studio and turned into one of those places that keeps expanding the whole scene around it, even forming its own archive group, SCANNNERS. Since opening in January 2023, it has published over 35 works and collaborated with more than 100 artists, writers, and zinesters.
For Duophobia, the pseudonym for local twin sisters Alora and Kiani Dotson (affectionately known as the “possum twins”), zines make room for experimentation and play that doesn’t fit anywhere else. Room for eclectic cartoons and dirty jokes. For sticker-covered sketchbooks.
It’s that same brand of nostalgia you might feel when, say, you walk past the carcass of an abandoned mall and see a faded cartoon mural. Their work lives somewhere between childhood and adulthood, where being unserious is taken very, very seriously.
“We’re born and raised in San Diego, and the community of artists here is a main reason we started publishing,” Kiani Dotson says. “There are people here like Trixxie Land who run open art gatherings. Show up, and you’re part of it.”
Land, a zinester herself (she made 250 single-page zines during 2020’s lockdown), is all about storytelling over hierarchy. Art shouldn’t be about gatekeeping or intimidation, she says. So she holds open-invite arts shows at Subterranean Coffee.
Courtesy of Lyssette Williams
Duophobia regularly share their work at local galleries like Subterranean, filling that lowbrow space with pieces that answer: “What would’ve made us laugh as kids?” Children are often the first to pick up their zines, unfolding them in every direction while parents briefly panic at the impulsive destruction. The twins always step in. “No, no, it’s okay,” they say, before showing how one sheet of paper folds into an entire little book. “It’s like magic.” More often than not, the kids leave with a tiny zine tucked under a tiny arm, future San Diego zinesters in the making.
When asked what a zine really is, Alora Dotson’s response was simple: “It’s anything. Literally anything. The more genuine you are, the more people are going to hear what you have to say. Your voice matters, even if it’s just a silly joke or story. People want to hear about it.”
Not a perfect definition? Exactly. Zines inherently resist categories. Want to turn a single playing card into a storybook? Do it. What about your favorite graffiti artist’s signature tag at Prince Memorial Skatepark? Turn it into a zine.
Isabella Dallas is a freelance writer for San Diego Magazine and the Arts and Culture Editor at The Daily Aztec in her final year at San Diego State University. She previously worked as an editorial intern for SDM, but when she’s not writing, you can find her trying the best coffee spots in SD, devouring the latest rom-coms, and indulging in anything and everything pop culture.
Growing up, Laika Nur, MD, Scripps Clinic sports medicine specialist, loved watching beach volleyball when the Association of Volleyball Professionals tour came to her hometown of Chicago. A talented volleyball player herself, she remembers sitting in the stands all day, and once, even got a couple autographs. Years later, Dr. Nur was attending a professional event focused on women’s sports, and the discussion turned to a new professional women’s volleyball league. The general manager and coaching staff for San Diego’s team, the Mojo, happened to be in attendance, and Dr. Nur took the opportunity to ask them if they needed a team doctor. Flash forward to the Mojo’s inaugural 2024 season, when Dr. Nur officially became the team physician. Click here to read more about Dr. Nur and how she incorporates lessons she learned on the court into her practice.
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