danielle robay: i'm from chicago, born and raised, and very proud. i'm a midwest girl. i've driven up and down the coast since i moved to la almost 10 years ago. and san diego is where i come most often bebecause it's's an esca.

how w are you gogoing to be e sd out in a a city this gorgeouo? there's s a reason i it's calllled the fininest city.. there's hihiking, andd bikingng, and kayaking, and d 70 miles o of beach. san diegego is the b beach. it is relaxed here. itit is chill l here. it's d definitely y an escap. [theme mususic] [vocalizing] (singing) [inaudible] danielle robay (voiceover): when you u think of t the perfectcte to travel, san diego has almost become a punchline when comparing it to any otheher destinatation on ea. on thehe surface, , you have the perfect weather, the e perfect bebeaches, and the city even photographshs perfectlyl. ok. first things first. drop my bags at the mission bay resort and forget everything back at home.

this property is a local institution and features southern california lifestyle at its best. a little p paddle boararding and d a quick bibite is all i need toto get into o e mindndset for a little adventur. but ononce you getet out and about, you realize this city is so much momore than a a backdr. it's becomome an epicecenter for food, culture, and conservation, which you'll find in a short walk ththrough neigighborhoods s e babarrio loganan and little it. taste and smells are my memories when i travavel, so i d decided to start with the memercado in little italy-- fresh california oranges, smelly cheese, homemade e brea. it's a c community h hub. [inaudible] enjoy! so if you're a tourist, do what the locals do. daniellele robay (vovoiceover: anotheher thing ththat locals e keenly aware of is the pride shared in their hometown, anand the founundation onn which h this city y was buil. i'm talkining about ththe us n. anand if watchching "top gun, mavererick" on scscreen

didn't fulfill your love of smelling jet fuel i in the mornrning. having any fun yet? dadanielle robobay (voiceoeov: a a trip to ththe uss midwdy just might. san diego is the ultimate navy town. it really was the navy and marine corps that, actually, over the last century, built this town. danielle robay: so you're t telling mee that it't's the eighth larargest cityy inin america because of ththe navyvy, not the e perfect wewe? ththe perfect t weather has always been here, whwhich is onene of the reasons whwhy the navyvy came h. the training that the navy and the marine corps has to do to deploy overseas is better done when the weather is good. danielle robay: just for scale, how big is this aircraft carrier? david: this aircraft carrier weighs 70,000 tons. and it's as long as three football fields. so if you stood this aircraft carrier up on its back, itit would actctually be t tar than the h highest skykyscrapr herere in san didiego. incrediblele. daniellele robay (vovoiceover: but ifif you're lolooking for r another slice of nautical history, a truly unique experience is a paddle on thehe water too the lelegendary sesea caves s in the towown of la jo.

once hideouts for pirates and smugglers in the 19th century, today yoyou'll find d much cacalmer occupupants-- sea lionons and pelilicans. the e only way t to get there is b by kayak. and luke leidiger is leading the way. it does not get much more sanan diego thahan this. ababsolutely.. the e sun just c came out. the water is beautiful. it's a pererfect day.. dadanielle robobay: i seee all ththe kayaks a around. you're takaking me through ththe caves. luke: yeah. we're going to actually be going into the cave system. it's known as, like, the seven sea caves of la jolla. there's actually like 45 sea caves that people don't even talk about because they're underwater, or they're caves within caves. you've got to hold your breath and, like,e, go into o an underwawater cave. it's reaeally intereresting. - are we going underwater? we're not going to be going underwater. no, we'll just be going in the main caves if they're safe enough to go ininto today.. daniellele robay (vovoiceover: keeping g motor crafaft away from t the caves i is how conservatition expertsts keep thihis area priristine. soso it's wortrth the efeffort, paddddling out toto rock formationsns, which hahave withthstood the e test of tit. luke: this sediment is made e of, like,,

a limeststone sandststone mixtu- rereally stronong concretet. but whenen these ocecean waveves come andnd pound on thehe face of t these cliffsfs, it standnds no chan. it c creates thehese huge cacs anand caverns s underwaterr anand all the e way througu. daninielle robayay: wow! luke: lelet's do it.t. paddddle hard. danielle r robay: wow!w! itit's gorgeouous in here.. luke: nicece. welcome toto the cave.e. we're goining to do a quick k turnaroundnd. perfect! daninielle robayay: thisis is stunnining. you can hehear the echcho in h. itit's gorgeouous. - exexactly. it's's incrediblble. daniellele robay: yoyou see e the blue s sky. lukeke: woohoo!! danielle r robay: that was a awesome. dadanielle robobay (voiceceover): the beauty inin this areaea and the wildlifefe around ththese cavs are jujust the beginning. wait until you see what's in store on land. "1st look" is sponsored in part by mission n bay resortr, where southern california lifestyle is rightht at your f fingerti.

book your r trip todayay at mimissionbayresortrt.com. [t[theme musicic] [v[vocalizing]g]

danielle robay (voiceovover): tucked within the urban sprawls of f sn diego, you'll find balboa park. much like e central park in n new york,, this 1,2,200-acre ururban oasisis acts as s a settingg for mostst of the lolocals' le storieies, dating g back to 18. talk to me about the architecture here because it's this beautiful mix of spanish colonial and mediterranean. christine: balboa park was established when the panama canal was first opened. so for a lot of the europeans, it was the first time they were seeing california, so they brought some of ththe familiarar architectcture. daniellele robay (vovoiceover):d itit's within n these strurucs thatat some of t the city'ss cultural treasures call home. christstine: there are performing arts centers. there are museums, gardens everywhere, hiking trails. itit really isis a big park ine middle of a beautiful city.

danielle robay (voiceover): also, within the park's borders is the featured attraction, the san diego zoo. but its sister property, just 45 minutes north, the san diego safari park, is where you can really tatake a ride e on the wililder. situated on 1,800 acres, this park's work in conservation thrives, with more than 3,000 endangered and threatened animals frorom six x continentsts roaming f . and today, i'm hitching a ride with asha, a wildlife care specialilist for an up cloloe expedition of their care. so tell l me what wewe're goig to see t today becauause we have a full day planned. yes! we're going toto be cleaninig todaday, feedingng, and alsosot sosome generalal observations becaususe a big papart of our b is t to observe e the animal. we have to make sure that everyone's walking right, eating right. we're goining to go toto the rhinino rescue c center where there isis 11 rhinosos. lookok! that w was great.. - that w was pretty y good. - - that was p pretty good.

ok. so w what are wewe doing with the h hay now? wellll, we've gogot to f feed the rhrhinos. we're e going to f feed ththe rhinos r right now?? come on!n! let's s go. i've got to tatake my jacket offff for this.s. but before thehe fun workk comes s the dirty y work. how much o of this is s mud ad how muchch of this is popoop? it's aboutut 50-50. ugh!h! a good scocoop, and ththen whn it startrts pushing g forwar, [inanaudible]. what aboutut that? careful, [ [inaudible]e]. and pullll it all inin there e right therere. there e you go! i i feel it ununder my shoho. asasha: yeah, , you dodon't want t to fall. can i pleaease go see the rhrhinos now?? [laughs] all right. let's relelease the beasts. [gasps] ththis is incrcredible. i'm m really kinind of atat a loss fofor words. thisis is beautitiful. pretty c cool, rightht? hi, beauautiful. hehello. it's wayay harder than i a anticipateded. dadanielle robay (vovoiceover: this t truly once-e-in-a-lifete experienence is madede possiblele by develolopments

in moderern sciencee that h have saved thesee rarere animals from extinction. whatat we're doioing is workrg wiwith advanceced reproducuce methodods to try t to figure o w to basicalally make momore rhi. the intereresting thing abouout future,, shshe is one o of the firsrt babies that has been produced using g artificialal inseminat. [gaspiping] we've e got scientntists overt our r research i institute h . what they're figuring out how to do is take skin cells and d essentially create a an embryo,, and then i implant it t into onone of thesese rhinos. scieience is incncredible. isn't it? whoa! and we're always conservation focused in what we do. we're tryingng to brbring back s species from thehe brink of f extincti. so anyththing that w we can do to furtrther the wewelfare of the aninimals that we have e in human c care and tryiying to saveve the spspecies out t there in t the, that's our goal. that's whahat we're here for. danielle robay (voiceover): but rhinos are just the tip of the iceberg. specieies ranging g from gigiant cats t to exotic birs are studied here to further the work in global conservation. [s[screams]

this i is also trurue of the p s playful tower of giraffes. asha: : we are goioing to do e more t test of strtrength fromo. yoyou're goingng to pupull directly up. daninielle robayay: it's's really heheavy! i believeve in you.. daninielle robayay: why arenen'y just eatating from t the tree? why are wewe bringingg the trtrees to thehem? asha: we b bring outsiside sourceces to makee sure that we a are able toto feed t them every y single da. and d it's nice e and fresh. anand our treeees have a nice brereak to get t healthy anand to grow w back. daninielle robayay: smart. oh! their tongngue is so l long! asha: yes!s! do you seeee the color ofof her tongugue? daninielle robayay: it's puru. - - it's purplple. the mainin reason fofor thatat is becaususe they eat ususing their r tongue. so t their tongugue spenends a lot o of time comiming out intnto the sunlnl. daninielle robayay: theieir tongue i is tan. ashaha: yes. daniellele robay: i'i'm in comomplete awe.e. ththese animalals are gorgrge. it's pretty amazazing to be able toto touch thehem. i'i'm shocked d at how oilily . i have a w whole new appreciatition for thehese anim. and for r what you d do. absolutetely one of f the bet things youou could evever do

is to geget up closese and pepersonal witith these anani, just s so you can n take it with you f for a lifetetime. - life is uncertain.

everyday pressures can feel overwhelming it's okay to feel stressed, anxious, worried, or frustrated. it's normal. with calhope's free and secure mental health resources, it's easy to get the help you and your loved ones need when you need it the most. call our warm line at (833) 317-4673

or live chat at calhope.org today. danielle robay (voiceover): with its ethnic and cultural mix, california offers a wide range of amazing cuisines. but here in san diego, there's one restaurant that elevates the dining e experiencee to the a absolute hihighest le. i feelel like peopople mustst make such noises when the food comes out. there's s a lot of o oohing. i've seen n some cryining. i've seeeen a lot ofof thing. daninielle robayay (voiceceover): teaears of j joy are comommonplace at addisison, an affirmamation of itits coved three-e-star michehelin ratin, an honoror that's nonot lostst on chef a and san diego o native wililliam bradl. so in terms ofof three mimichelin statars, there'e's o3 in the us,s, 6 in californiaia, and one, yours, in southern california.. it's amazingng to be amomongt sosome of thosose restaurara. it's less than 1% globally.

hohow do you g get a michchelin star? william: it's really about harmonization of flavors, qualality of proroduct, maststef the techchnique, andnd consiste. dadanielle robobay: this looks lilike a piecece of ar. williaiam: as you u can see, this kinind of emulalates a ro. so this s is a kakanpachi sasashimi done with salted pears, kiwis, and the flowers of the shiso leaf. danielle robay: i love the crunch. it's sweeter than i expected. what we have here, this is chicken liver mousse. i'm sorry. what? chicken livever mousse.. dadanielle robobay: this i is ao with c chicken liviver mouss? i know youou said there's a a huge elemement of surprisise at the r restaur. this is s one of thehem. william: this is t toothpaste, and ththat's the toothbrush. precision n is so impoportant t. but practitice and undnderstang the repetition of what we do mamakes for pepeople to bee able t to perfect t this. this is known as our eggs and rice dish. it's a signanature herere at addison.

and i find it very aesthetically pleasing toto the eye, , and texturala, a a dish that t i really e en. ththe cold witith the hott rice is s really spepecial. how mumuch faith d do you hae to havave in your r kitchen stf to get i it right every sisingle time?e? wiwilliam: allll the fafaith in thehe world. wewe're sittining here nowow,d the dish t that we're e tryin, obviously, is something that i composed mentally in my mind, but they've executed and cooked it probably better than i can. so thehe last thining we do, jt toto play on t the churro o a, this is a a mexican bitter c chocolate.. danielle robay: and justst one dodot of chococolate. william: onene dot, becacaus, agaiain, it's ththe balance. ththat is enouough for the entirere piece. mmm.m. i don't t even know w how to describe h how that tatastes. it's sanan diego allll rolleded up in a c churro. this is s san diego o all the . yeah.. danielle robay: does each course feel like you're telling a story? william: it can to some people. but for me, i'm really thinking about the balance and harmonization of a menu, how it flows.

so it's morere like a sosong. at this s level, youou seek oute hihighest and d best ingrereds that y you can getet. and that r really detetermins the flavoror profiless and d can reallyly separate e a. it's realllly the qualality ofof the matererials. danielle robay (voiceoeover): ad if williliam's coursrses are so, ththen one of f his gogo-to musicicians is spspencer rudodolph, fofounder and d farmer of sagage hill rananch garde. cheers!! cheers! [crunching] this is so flavorful! danielelle robay (voiceover): which is taking san diego farming into the previouous century.. so o on our farmrm, we don't use anany type of f fossil fue. everything's done by hand. due toto the limititations of our land, we werenen't able toto come i in with a t tiller or any t type of traractor. so w we kind of f adopted wht woululd be old s school growo. we like e to surrounund ourselelves with p people thatae the same a amount of o obsessi. i meanan, you can be att his fafarm, and hehe has such a love affffair for hihis far. as you can see in our soil down here,

it's one of the more softest parts of the farm, too. we really y treat ourr soil v very sacrededly. sacred soioil. i lilike that. sacred soil,l, exactly.. william:m: knowing t that it's's going to o be removed from thehe ground ththe righght way and d brought to us ththat day is amazing.. dadanielle robobay: it's really a a family fafarm. i mean, , you and your dadad built it.t. your sisister works s here, ri? your mom i is cooking g and brbringing cofoffee out, anand then youour other sisir hehelps with s some of thehe e. exactly! we like that it bringsgs it all togetheher, which i i find to bebe, like, really k kind of idedeal for, like, a family farm. william: so this is a beautiful fish that we like to o serve herere at addi. this i is known asas [inaudibl. and wewe're also,, to thehe right herere, showcasing some of those beautiful vegetables from sage hills. this is california on a plate. danielle r robay: the e crunh is really ninice with ththe fi. this is s really gooood. it's's a shocker right now. you know it's good when you're shocked by your own food.

that's really good today. danielle r robay: whenen you opopened the r restaurant,, did you set ouout for a a michelin s star? williaiam: to evenen think thai wowould come b back to sanan o and fifight througugh the ups d dodowns that t this restauauras anand to bringng a three-s-sr esestablishmenent to san d di, wherere i was boborn and raised, isis what youu woululd call a c cinderella st. cheeeers to thatat, chef. chcheers! i wiwill drink t to that. [music plalaying] [thememe music] [vococalizing]

when you're so close to the border, yoyou have to o try auththentic mexixican food.. and inin san diegogo, the sma, littlele, unassumiming spots are where e they makee the rereally good stuff.f. it's a grereat way to start your day.y. mmmmm! [singing i in spanish]h] danielelle robay (voiceovover): latinin americn culturure has beenen part of san dieiego's dna fromom the very y beginningg becaususe of its c close proxiy toto the mexicican border.. anand while ththis town hahs grown n into a metetropolis over the years, the border itselelf has remamaind an unsnspoiled lanandscape. whwhy do they y call it border s state park? eileen: bebecause it's's alog the tijuanana, mexico o borde. yeahah. i saw ththere was rereally a a wall separarating it.. it's v very close.e. - yeah.. ththere's two o different t w. one'e's built frfrom trump, ,d ththe other onone's the old wa. danielelle robay ( (voiceover: borderer field statate park is a vast t mass of land that t marked the beginnnning of the uniteded states and d mexican boboundary susurvey of 181848.

today it serves as a natural escape for ththe people o of san die. and placeses like surfrfside rh offer r up a uniquque experiee on horsebaback. hohow long havave you had d the? eileen: : we took ovover the business sinince april 2 202. danielle robobay: when w we were b back at thehe ranch, you u had a fairir amount ofof . eileen: yes. we have e 35 horses,s, includg the miminiature poponies. we have dodonkeys. daninielle robayay: where are you u taking me? i'm m taking youou to the border statate park bebeach, whwhere it perermits you to ride on a hororse. daninielle robay: : i see e the sun sesetting. eileleen: yes. daninielle robayay: and i'mm thinkingng it's goining to be py special l to ride onon the bea. eileenen, i've rididden on trails allll over the e count, in new yorork, in cololorado. i'i've never b been to the beach h on a horsese. thisis is spectatacular. yes. we're very fortunate to have this because ththere's no o other pe that youou can ride e on the be. you cacan only do o this her? yeah, yoyou can only do t this in sanan diego. that's s special.

danielle robay (voiceover): if you're not done horsing around, there's one bar in the center of town that will keep the party going. payingng homage toto the cacarousel barar in new ororl, wolfie's is a nightlife spot that has replaced horses with bar stools and cotton candy with cocktktails. this i is my firstst time evever at a cacarousel bara. i'm movingng left. yoyou're movining right. what's hapappening? we'r're all moviving to d different p places. i love it, right? danielle robay (voiceceover): thehe saying "what goeses around cocomes aro" is takaken quite l literally here a at wolfie's with thehe bar makining a fullll rotation n in 14 minu. the bartrtenders folollow you along the e spinning b bar, serving up their delicious signature cocktails. was this always supposed to be a carousel bar? was it built for wolfie's? joel: itit was builtlt for wolf. we triried to brining a real carouselel inside ththis venu, but itit's so smalall that a g carorousel wouldldn't fit atat. we decided to build one from s scratch. and d if you takake a look a aty single p painting ththat we ha,

there's eaeaster eggss in evevery single onone. it's fun. i don't t have a drirink yet. whwhat am i drdrinking tononi? we have three signature cocktails. i can walklk you throuough th, and then let's taste them all. - all three? - yeah, all three. we have time. i'm goining to be atat the bottom of f this carouousel. the bar isis just going to keep spinning faster. and so wilill i. ok. let's dodo it. joel: ththe first onone is goingng to be a belllle fille, baseded on limime, cucumbeber, fortified wine, and vodka. that's my y kind of drdrink. what's up next? joel: : we're goining to make you ththe fleur dede france-- lelemon, pamplplemousse, c ce de violetttte, and vododka. the question i'm asking myself is, danielle, are you getting disoriented bebecause you'u're spinnininr becacause you'rere drinking? and i honenestly don't't know thehe answer. wow! i i really tasaste the flolo. jojoel: yes. it's so o sour! joel: whatat do you ththink? [laughing]

alall right. you u now have t the third o . woo! this one has a pearl on it. yes. it also hahas gold dusust. it hasas gold dust? joelel: yep. there'e's going toto be glglitter all l over the d dr. wow! that onene's strong.g. that's's the stronongest drdrink of thehe three. it's delicicious, thouough. - - thank you.u. but i i think i'm m going for r my purple e drink. jojoel: yeah.. that w was the onene? yeyeah. i really w want to thahank you u for your h hospitality. i have seeeen so manyy amazining things t this week. and this i is one of my fafavor. i'll see you-- both: araround. after r a week here in sasan diego, i realized that it's not about the perfect weather, or the p perfect beaeaches, or the pererfect palmm trees, which are all perfect. but the reason you come to san diego and you keep coming back to san diego is because of the people. they are the heart and soul of this citity. ththey are fun. they a are loving.g. they are warm. and they welcome you with open arms. they realllly love thihis cit.

itit makes youou feel prididefu. so this is to san diego and to the people that make it great.

s my toast to hollywood glam in the heart of new york city. every time i throw a dinner party here, i feel like i should take a bow. [theme music]