La Jolla

Natural beauty of beach buttressed by commitment to innovation and scholarship

History: What started as a getaway spot for San Diegans looking for sea air and stunning views got its official start in 1887, when Frank T. Botsford and his partners Charles Dearborn and George Heald began subdividing the area. One-acre lots were auctioned off for $1,250. After moving to town in 1891, philanthropist Ellen Browning Scripps founded the Scripps Institution of Oceanographyand Scripps Hospital and built the La Jolla Library. Hollywood stars flocked to La Valencia Hotel in the 1920s and ’30s, and when the University of California San Diego came in the mid-1960s, professors and students established La Jolla as a hub for innovation and scholarship.

How it got its name: It could be from the Spanish word for “the jewel” (La Joya) or the Kumeyaay term for “hole in the mountains” (Woholle).

Things to do: Gawk at the daredevils at the Torrey Pines Gliderport, visit the seals and sea lions at the Children’s Pool and commune with the fish at Birch Aquarium at Scripps. Take in a reading at Warwick’s independent bookstore or a show at La Jolla Playhouse. Take a hike for the ages at the Torrey Pines State Natural Reserve and a stroll around La Jolla Cove. Or walk 145 harrowing steps to Sunny Jim Sea Cave from the Cave Store on Coast Boulevard.