Happy Thursday, Encinitas!
It’s been hot this week. Like it got up to the mid-seventies and there was a bit of humidity. How we all hanging in? I’ve got like a six degree comfort window. Anything below 68 or higher than 74 and I’m OUT. This weekend could hit 76. Stay cool out there, Encinitas.
This weekend's got a genuinely good spread: a full-moon on Friday, 70s covers in a garden, and Sundays got three great events the 101. Let's goooo!
Weather. Genuinely flawless (if not a bit hot!). Thursday and Friday both top out around 74°, Saturday and Sunday nudge up to 75–76°, overnight lows in the high 60s. Rain chance is 5% today and Friday and flat zero over the weekend. No marine layer drama in the forecast.
Surf. We're on a full moon this week, which means spring tides and a bigger swing than usual between high and low — expect conditions to change character faster than they have been, and time your session around the push rather than the clock. You probably saw the amazing video of the lifeguard rescue in Santa Cruz. Stay safe out there! Get the latest from Surfline.
Tides. Afternoon lows will be around 4:30pm on Friday and a full moon means the lows go low. Should be great tidepooling at Cardiff Reef on Friday and Saturday afternoons. Full chart here.
Sunset. Saturday 7:49. Sunday 7:48. On Saturday, catch the Padres game at Duckfoot then walk down to Beacons for the sunset.
🎡 Featured
21st Annual Cardiff Dog Days of Summer Sunday. Woof! The biggest pet party in North County turns 21, and this year they've added corgi and dachshund races — which is the best idea anyone's had all summer. Find a sausage dog and cheer ‘em on! Beyond the racing there are 100+ dog vendors, Rescue Row with Rancho Coastal Humane Society, a Maker's Market of regional artisans, dog contests (they’re all good dogs), live music, food trucks, and dog yoga. Contest registration opens at 9 AM and spots are limited, so if your dog has a talent, get there early. 📍 Encinitas Community Park, 425 Santa Fe Dr · Sunday 10 AM – 3 PM 💵 Free to attend; dog contests $10 each; VIP tent and libation lounge ticketed 🚌 Free shuttles run 8 AM – 4 PM from the Encinitas Community Center, Oak Crest Middle School and Scripps. Take the bus, parking will be…wait for it…ruff.
First Sunday Concert: Double Knot This is the one I'd clear space for. Double Knot is siblings Anna Lee and Wili Fleming, multi-instrumentalists out of San Diego, and their own description of where their sound comes from is hard to beat: sneaking into Irish pubs, playing in marching bands, discovering punk rock, and singing a little gospel on Sundays. Originals mixed with American standards and their own readings of traditional folk, with their dad Bill sitting in sometimes. San Diego Music Award nominee. The First Sunday series is funded by the Friends of the Encinitas Library and it is one of the great free things the city does. 📍 Encinitas Library Community Room, 540 Cornish Dr · Sunday 2 – 3 PM 💵 Free — but the room holds 160 and these fill. Free tickets go out at 1 PM at the Community Room door, doors around 1:30, first come first served. Extra parking at City Hall just west of the library.
Culture Brewing's 9-Year Anniversary Breakfast Happy ENCiversary, Culture Brewing! Nine years on the 101, and they're capping the anniversary weekend with their first-ever breakfast service — opening at 10 AM with a New Wave Bagel pop-up, the debut of their Beermosas and Micheladas, and…coffee. Celebrate Culture with a morning happy hour on Sunday morning! 📍 Culture Brewing Co., 629 S Coast Hwy 101 · Sunday from 10 AM 💵 Free entry — food and drinks for purchase
🗓️ Day by day
Thursday, July 30 (tonight)
Summer Nights: 70s/80s with Cool Rush at San Diego Botanic Garden, music 5:30–7:15 PM. Cool Rush is a Southern California band doing high-energy covers from the 60s through the 2000s, fronted by a powerhouse vocalist. Admission opens at 4 PM and the grounds stay open until 8, so you can wander the 37 acres and catch the ocean from the Overlook Tower before the band starts. Bar on site, or pack a picnic. Last entry 6:45 PM. Free for members or with paid Garden admission; members $10 adult / $5 youth ages 3–17. This event often sells out so check before you head down.
Friday, July 31
Easy Wind — Jerry Garcia's Birthday Celebration at the Belly Up, 9 PM (doors 8:30). Happy Birthday, Jerry! If you ever run into me around Encinitas, make sure you have me tell you about the time I was a roadie for the Dead when I was in college. Easy Wind goes deep on the '70s-era Dead — full lineup, two drummers, a Donna Godchaux vocal part, founding members who caught more Garcia shows in the '80s than they can account for. 21+. $17 advance / $20 day of; Reserved Loft $30. Down in Solana Beach, and the Coaster stops a short walk from the door if you'd rather not drive home from a Dead show.
Saturday, August 1
Cardiff Farmers Market, 10 AM – 2 PM at the MiraCosta San Elijo campus. Free.
Owen Reilly at The Roxy, 5–7:30 PM. Country, acoustic and southern rock in the 1920s room on the 101 — an early set, which makes it the rare live music you can catch and still have a whole evening left. Reservations recommended. No cover; note the Roxy adds a 3.95% surcharge to checks, part of which funds the free music.
Padres happy hour at Duck Foot Leucadia, 5:30–8:30 PM. Game on the screens, BOGO pours, and they've just put a watermelon lime slushie on the menu. Also worth knowing year-round: Duck Foot is fully gluten-reduced and lab-tested, so it's one of the few taplists in town built for our gluten-sensitive friends.
Sunday, August 2 Sunday is gonna be rad. Culture’s Anniversary Breakfast, then Dog Days runs 10 to 3 and the library concert starts at 2, so you can absolutely do both if you leave the park by 1:30.
Cardiff Dog Days of Summer, 10 AM – 3 PM. See above.
Leucadia Farmers Market, 10 AM – 2 PM. Produce, a big food court, live music and a playground. Free.
Culture Brewing's anniversary breakfast, from 10 AM. See above.
Double Knot at the Encinitas Library, 2 PM. See above — and get there by 1 for a ticket.
👨👩👧👦 Family-friendly picks
Dog Days, obviously. Free, outdoors, and there is a non-zero chance your kid watches a dachshund win a footrace. Rescue Row is also a low-pressure way to let them meet adoptable dogs without anybody committing to anything.
Double Knot at the library. Free, an hour long, indoors and air-conditioned, and folk music with two drummers' worth of energy. The 1 PM ticket line is the whole trick — make it part of the outing rather than a thing you're late for.
Tide pools at Cardiff Reef. Full moon means the low tides run lower than usual this week, which is when the pools get really neat. Free, and the only planning required is checking the chart above.
🔜 On the horizon
Beach Blanket Movie Night: North Shore — Sat Aug 8, 6 PM at Fletcher Cove, Solana Beach. Free, hard to argue with a surf movie on the beach. There’s an opening band too! Refreshments inside the park are cash only.
Art Night Encinitas — Sat Aug 15, 6–8 PM across City Hall, the Community Center, the Library and Pacific View, with a free shuttle looping five stops. Starts at 5:30 with the presentation of Luminous Wave, a new sculpture by local artist Deanne Sabeck. Free.
Taste of Encinitas — Tue Aug 25, 5:30–8:30 PM downtown. $60, and it does sell out.
🤝 One ask
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See you out there, Encinitas! 🤙