If you head east out of insanediego and then turn north on highway 67, you head up into the foot hills of San Diego county on our way to Julian. You pass thru Santee and lakeside as you start the climb, the first town you hit will be Ramona. A small western town with a very colorful history, Ramona was considered the turkey capital of the world back in the 1930’s. At thanksgiving or anytime that you ate a turkey in America it probably came from Ramona California. Shortly after WW 2 the turkey farms went into sharp decline and now there aren’t any left. In the 1960s Archie Moore the Light-Heavyweight world champion boxer held a training camp in Ramona called “The Salt Mine”, which trained George Forman, Muhammad Ali and many others. In the early 70’s, 55-year-old Bobby Riggs former tennis great turned hustler challenged the women’s number one tennis player in the world Margaret Court and defeated her at San Diego Country Estates in Ramona. Today Ramona has a rapidly growing wine grape production because of its great year-round climate, cool moist mornings because of the on-shore breezes and the warm dry afternoons makes for great grapes. Today there are more than 30 wineries located in the Ramona valley area, good wine and beautiful vistas are the order of the day in the Ramona valley. The next stop on our way to Julian is the little community of Santa Ysabel with the Famous Dudley’s Bakery where I always stop to get a loaf of Squaw bread, best bread on the planet and The Julian pie Company for their tasty freshly made pies. A few more miles up highway 78 and you roll into Julian a late 1860’s gold rush town. Lots of history here in Julian starting with the mine tours and strolling down the main drag of the town checking out all the old buildings and great places to eat. Check out the Julian Pioneer Museum to see what life was like here back if the late 1800’s to the early 1900’s in this beautiful mountain community. My favorite haunts in Julian are the Julian Café and Bakery for breakfast and the Miners Diner for lunch.  If you want sandwiches to take on a hike for a picnic it’s Julian Market and deli. Julian is famous for its apple orchard with it’s many verities and of course it’s cider production. Julian Hard Cider company produces Americas premium hard ciders and every trip to Julian wouldn’t be complete without bringing a few bottles of there “Razzmatazz”, raspberry and apple cider, my favorite. Julian is a slice of old Americana with a western flair.