With Big Sister San Diego just 35 miles to the south, the young and developing Carlsbad probably always will be hidden a bit in her sister's shadow ' but vacationers from all over California are now beginning to discover Carlsbad's many charms.

It's a trade-off, of course. Come to Carlsbad and you eliminate the traffic and congestion of the city, the freeways, the constant "be-on-alert" driving and hassle you always experience in a big city. But then you also eliminate the Gaslamp District, Old Town, the Zoo, Coronado and the sites for which San Diego is famous.

The answer for many people now is to enjoy the best of both. Base your operations in Carlsbad ' which all by itself offers a host of activities -- and then take the short drive down Interstate 5 when you're ready to spend the day and/or evening enjoying the city.

About 4,000 hotel rooms have been built in Carlsbad ' second only to San Diego in San Diego County ' and a tourism infrastructure has sprouted right along with the accommodations. Beginning in the 90's, the city began adding attractions like Legoland theme park, big-time shopping at Carlsbad Company Stores and major new resorts such as the Grand Pacific Palisades Resort and Hotel.

Oh, and let's not forget the water: "We've got a great little North Coast up here," says Frankie Laney, public relations director for the Carlsbad Convention and Visitors Bureau. "The San Diego North Coast is probably the premiere destination in San Diego County."

An endless blue horizon awaits the visitor to Carlsbad ' a stretch of beach that allows you to walk unobstructed from Oceanside to well south of Carlsbad. It's not the heavy-duty surfing scene of Orange County, but there are plenty of surfers, families and young people enjoying the Carlsbad sunshine on just about any given day.

Years ago when we lived in Seattle, our realtor gave us our first clue that Carlsbad was up-and-coming. When she learned we were moving to California she happily recounted the previous month she had spent in a beach house in Carlsbad ' a place we had never even heard about. She told us to be on the lookout for a good buy on a beach house because, she said, she was planning on coming to Carlsbad to stay.

Well, as most real estate buyers would suspect, that "good buy" proved pretty hard to find in the real estate run-up of the past few years, and our realtor friend now must be content just to visit Carlsbad. But content she is ' which also describes the feeling most people get when they plan a weekend or vacation in Carlsbad.

Our recent stay began with a check-in at the Grand Pacific Palisades Resort and Hotel, a combination hotel and timeshare property that is situated on a bluff overlooking the city of Carlsbad and its coastline. During spring months there are massive flower fields on the hillside just below the resort, and the palette of colors are simply awe-inspiring.

But the hotel's setting is gorgeous any time of the year and when it was built, the architects perched the Olympic-sized pool on a ledge with views far down the coastline. Many rooms and condo units at the hotel offer spectacular views because the hotel's property is a higher elevation than most in the Carlsbad area.

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