San Diego: A Great Vacation on a Tank of Gas : Sewage spill was a setback, but the city is showing a fresh face.

SAN DIEGO — Most visitors’ conversations with residents of this town begin with the latter’s mournful lament on the usual urban ills: traffic, smog and city politics. But once the requisite grumblings are intoned, an endless litany of San Diego’s joys and virtues begins to flow with gusto and poetic fervor.

San Diego, they insist, has the finest year-round weather (averaging 65 to 75 degrees) anywhere in the contiguous United States. Just ask the National Weather Service. And who would dare say that any zoo in the world is superior to the local one? Or that San Diego doesn’t have one of the finest theater scenes any city could hope for (particularly in the quality of productions by its Old Globe, often acclaimed by national critics)?

Tourism has been slow to recover from the jolt it received Feb. 2, when the Pt. Loma undersea pipeline burst and began dumping 180 million gallons of sewage water daily into the ocean, a few hundred feet from shore. The pipeline was finally fixed April 4. “Since the repair, all public beaches are again safe for swimming, surfing, sailing and any other family activities. Fishing off public piers and from commercial fishing boats is also perfectly safe,” said Gary Stephany, director of environmental health for San Diego County.

And now that the downtown areas around the Gaslamp Quarter and Horton Plaza have been largely cleansed of rowdy sailors’ bars and girlie shows (though a large homeless population regularly panhandles passers-by), San Diego’s mid-city includes a joyful enclave of beautifully restored Victorian, neoclassic and other assorted buildings. International restaurants are chockablock, from Argentine to Portuguese to Seville’s tapas and Sibyl’s Sundowner Bar, a lively Aussie spot.

Every time we drive into town via Interstate 5, or make the dicey final approach to the harbor-side airport, we’re struck again by the town’s beauty and appeal. How can it possibly be the country’s sixth-largest city? Everything is so compact around the lively harbor, or easily reachable by an excellent transportation system. Even Mexico is accessible on the Tijuana Trolley, from the heart of downtown for $1.50.

We sat outside at a Mexican restaurant in Old Town and listened as a retired naval officer put it as succinctly as he could: “Anyone not living here full-time is a sad victim of circumstances.” A little strong, perhaps, but since we were having a frosty margarita under the blazing sun of a cobalt sky in late December, who was to argue? Where else can one reach such a great vacation spot on a tank of gas?

How long/how much? Give the city and its attractions a full two days, but set aside another one or two for the delightful towns and beaches up the coast or across the bay in Coronado. Lodging and dining costs are extremely moderate by big-city standards.

Getting settled in: The Horton Grand, built in 1886 and the town’s best repository of authentic Victoriana, once charged everyone from the King of Hawaii to Wyatt Earp 50 cents a night for their rooms. The facade alone is busy enough to satiate any Victorian buff, and the bedrooms, all with fireplaces, are ornate and charming studies of the period.

But the bar is the Horton Grand’s piece de resistance, replete with soaring mirrors in gilt frames, spidery brass chandeliers and numerous paintings of nubile nymphs cavorting in bosky glens. Ida Bailey’s restaurant (named for the madame who also served food in her turn-of-the-century bawdy house near here) is just off the lobby, where one finds down-to-earth American fare in a very pleasant setting.

Capture the feeling of colonial Mexico, albeit somewhat modernized, at Best Western’s Hacienda Hotel in Old Town. Every unit in this all-suite place has a fridge, microwave oven, coffee brewer and VCR player. The Hacienda also has a pool, workout room and an elevator to reach those rooms that climb the hill. It’s just a step from Old Town restaurants and shops.

Pacific Terrace Inn, just up the coast beyond Mission Bay on Pacific Beach, is our seaside selection in the moderate range. Standard rooms are huge, all with balconies overlooking the ocean, and luxuriously furnished in contemporary style. Breakfasts and garage parking are included in room rates, and there’s a beachside pool and whirlpool.

Good local dining: One of the great delights of a visit to the San Diego area is a luncheon at Hotel La Valencia’s Mediterranean Room (1132 Prospect St., La Jolla), once the hangout of Hollywood stars of the 1920s and ‘30s. Chef Claude Poissonniez’s food here and in the hotel’s lovely patio is absolutely superb, the ambience serene, and views over the pool and ocean beyond are enough to make one hope the meal stretches to three hours.

Appetizers included a magnificent ravioli of buffalo mozzarella with a red pepper coulis ($4.75), or mozzarella with red and yellow roma tomatoes, basil and roasted pine nuts for the same price. Lunchtime entrees of filet of sole with a leek fondue, pan-roasted sea bass on sauteed endive with a tarragon-Pinot noir sauce, and grilled shrimp and lobster with a chile pesto are all about $11.50. The extensive wine book is very much in keeping with the excellence of the food and service.

Anthony’s Fish Grotto (1360 N. Harbor Drive) is a town fixture right on the water, always crowded with locals and visitors and noted for the freshest seafood and brisk service. Nothing fancy here, and moderate prices begin with fish and chips, fried squid cutlets or seafood crepes, all in the $7 range.

Anthony’s mixed seafood plate, fried scampi and abalone sandwich can climb up to $11.75. Seasonal specialties (nothing is frozen here) include halibut, orange roughy, rex sole, swordfish and tuna. House wine is served by the bottle or glass.

Casa de Bandini in Old Town, the 1829 adobe home of Juan Bandini and once the town’s social center, still gets our nod as surely one of San Diego’s best Mexican restaurants. Whether the choice is one of the usual combination plates or a dozen or so house specialties, everything is colorful and crisp on the plate. Two may dine very well at Bandini’s for under $20.

Going first-class: Just opened in October, Loews Coronado Bay hotel is really an exquisite mini-resort on a private 15-acre peninsula, all of its 440 waterfront rooms with balconies and views of San Diego Bay or the ocean and Loews’ 80-slip marina. Five bay-side tennis courts, several pools, a fitness center and a number of upscale boutiques add up to one of the most luxurious yet affordable resort hotels we’ve seen anywhere.

Bedrooms are a delight, with large, overstuffed lounging chairs and every possible amenity. The Azzura Point dining room, while a bit noisy (they’re working on it), has a spectacular view of the Coronado Bay Bridge and city skyline. The truly imaginative food, service and wine list are all formidable indeed.

Hotel Del Coronado, a massive white wooden structure in flamboyant Victorian style, has been the Grand Dame of the region’s hotels since opening in 1888. Bedrooms in the original building (there is also a newer wing) are all furnished in styles of the 19th Century. The Prince of Wales restaurant has a cozy English-inn ambience, while the gigantic and regal Crown Room’s barrel-vaulted ceiling of wood gives it the distinct feeling of a train station, the architect’s former specialty. The traditional Sunday brunch at “The Del” can generate enormous crowds and waiting lines.

Fancy seafood restaurants in San Diego come and go, but Anthony’s Star of the Sea Room, in the same harbor-side building as the Fish Grotto, continues to attract throngs. Hand-wrought copper serving plates accept such delights as shellfish cioppino, petrale sole stuffed with lobster, shrimp and crab, whole abalone and, the house specialty, a best-cut loin of swordfish that maitre d’ Mario says draws customers back time after time.

Harbor activity and the lighted 1863 clipper, Star of India, are just beyond the picture windows. Marvelous copper chandeliers hang above tables and the service is faultless. Expect to pay anywhere from about $20 for most main courses right up to $45 for the loin of swordfish for two.

On your own: Any first-timer should definitely visit the world-renowned San Diego Zoo, as well as Balboa Park for its museums, art galleries, theaters and the marvelous architecture of its Spanish-revival buildings. A free tram will take you around.

Beach devotees might select a spot along the 27 miles of sand around Mission Bay, or pop into its Sea World to check on 6-month-old Baby Shamu. Other beaches fan south from Coronado, a charming throwback to the ‘30s with its manicured gardens, parks and village band shell.

The old adobes, lively Mexican restaurants and shopping bazaars of Old Town draw us back on every visit. And if large shopping malls give you a bad case of the fantods, browse awhile among the colorful shops of downtown’s Horton Plaza and get over the feeling.

With all the hoopla and world attention focused on the America’s Cup, don’t miss a visit to the new America’s Cup Museum on the harbor. Models, photos and memorabilia from every challenger and defender since 1851 are here and it’s fascinating. The International America’s Cup Center near the train station is a nice spot to view the races on TV, and there are shops, food and free admission.

GUIDEBOOK

Seeing

San Diego

Getting there: From Los Angeles, fly Delta, USAir, United Express, Alaska or others to San Diego for a round-trip cost of $130. Amtrak will get you here in 2 1/2 hours and back for $31, right to the mid-town train station.

Where to stay: The Horton Grand Hotel (311 Island Ave.; $109 double); Hacienda Hotel (4041 Hamey St.; $109 double); Pacific Terrace Inn (610 Diamond St.; $110-$120); Loews Coronado Bay (4000 Coronado Bay Road; $200 double, bayside villa $375), and Del Coronado (1500 Orange Ave.; $149-$199 double).

For more information: Call the San Diego Visitors Bureau at (619) 232-3101, or write (1200 Third Ave., San Diego 92101-4190) for brochures on accommodations, dining, sights and activities with maps, upcoming events and schedules, plus costs of viewing the America’s Cup races from shipboard.