Essentials for visiting San Diego go beyond beaches

The library and nearby Petco Park baseball stadium have revived the downtown neighborhood, bringing in shops and cafes.

Among them, Comun Kitchen & Tavern features Mexican food with a modern twist, like smoked ahi tuna and chicharron — or pork skin — with apples, pea and mint tostadas.

[...] it's a bit of a drive, albeit a gorgeous one, up the coast along Highway 101 to Encinitas, where the home town of professional skateboarder Tony Hawk inaugurated the mother lode of skate parks this year.

Museums are hosting concerts and special events throughout 2015, including a car symphony played by professional musicians on automobile parts.

Or grab a local craft beer and nachos at the WaveHouse on Mission Beach that hosts competitions of surfers flipping in the air off its machine-churned pool waves, with a view of the real thing in the Pacific.

Locals grab a bundle of wood at the grocery stores and roast hot dogs at one of the permanent fire pits set up along San Diego's bays.

Another popular, evening picnic spot from spring through fall is at the Velodrome in Balboa Park, where you can watch cyclists spin around the track while DJs often spin their own tracks.

The hilly, picturesque downtown neighborhood was where Italian fishermen and boat builders lived in the 19th century through the 1970s when San Diego was the hub of the tuna industry.