This Saturday the month of August will descend on us. Have you had a vacation this summer? Maybe you haven’t thought of a vacation to an exotic place for many reasons, not the least being there is more month at the end of the money. Airlines are raising rates. Trains cost almost as much as planes and take longer to get to vacation destinations. Driving with two or three kids in the car may be stressful. Even the Pope, after having dinner with three kids under age 10 for four nights, wanted birth control to be a sacrament. Check it out on SNOPES. Seriously, the best kind of vacation in the summer of 2009 is a “staycation.” Just look where you live. San Diego is the playground of millions of vacationers from all over the world. Think of last week’s Comic-Con visitors — more than 125,000 costumed consumers on vacation spending real bucks. A staycation in San Diego can involve the regular tourist attractions: a visit to the incredible zoo, SeaWorld, Legoland or the Wild Animal Park but these attractions cost a lot of money. Why not plan events that don’t press the pocketbook so much? Don’t even look beyond your own backyard. University City is the perfect place for a low cost/almost no cost staycation with a couple of short side trips to Del Mar and La Jolla Shores. With kids, you have to start out with some wild ideas. Here are suggestions for a fun family vacation in your own neighborhood. On Friday night you put up a tent in the backyard. Eating dinner outdoors is a must. No cell phones, no TV, no iPods, no answering the phone inside your house because you are on vacation. The only writing you can do is penning postcards of San Diego to your friends and family. “We’re having a great camping experience here in San Diego.” OK, you can go in the house to use the bathroom facilities, but you can’t check your e-mail. Saturday you get up for a free breakfast at Del Mar Racetrack. It is free on Aug. 1 — coffee, orange juice and doughnuts. During the morning workouts from 8 to 10 a.m. you can have your questions about horses and training answered by the experts. Jockeys and trainers will be there, as well as face painting, caricatures and free prizes for the kids. It all takes place in the Seaside Terrace area west of the Grandstand. Enter the main parking lot off Jimmy Durante Boulevard. Saturday afternoon you head to Standley Park at 3585 Governor Drive, where you listen to the zydeco, R&B tunes of the popular band The Bayou Brothers. Besides that you get more free food, the biggest banana split in the country. Bring a banana, a reusable bowl and join in the fun provided by the Heimburger family, which donates tons of ice cream, and the rec center that provides syrups, whipped cream and cherries. A free concert and free ice cream are part of your staycation. Life is good. Bayou Brothers play from 1:30 to 3:30 p.m. Banana split activities begin at 2 p.m. At night you have to time this right, but you want to be heading to La Jolla Shores around 7 p.m. when most folks are leaving. You will see a spectacular sunset at 7:47 p.m. Besides that, you will get a parking place. The Shores is the perfect place for people-watching and dog studies. Do dogs look like their masters? Bring dinner, pick out a bench and watch the sun slip down into the Pacific. Sunday, you get up after a night of great rest in the tent and head to Rose Canyon in University City for a back-to nature experience. Park your car at the south side on Regents Road and walk into the canyon. Follow the path and a couple of well-made bridges until you see a fence. Take a left at the fence and continue to walk until you come to the train tracks, which you should cross carefully. Go right and follow the path to the exit on Genesee. Turn right and go back into the canyon and walk to the fence and then exit left to Regents. You will experience an inner peace after being in Rose Canyon. Check out [email protected]. Fido deserves some fun too, so head up to Nobel Park at 8810 Judicial Drive. There’s a dog park available and lots of space for you to walk off yesterday’s doughnuts and banana split. Call the rec center to see what activities are available, 552-1626. Bring some softballs and gloves and get a family game going at one of the fields. Sunday night you have another free concert at Standley Park when Will Faeber Band plays some tunes at Green Concerts Under Blue Skies from 5 to 7 p.m. The green topic will be organic foods and products. By this time you will be craving healthful, organic food. Of course, you will want to bring a healthful picnic. After the concert, you can head home and pack up the tent. It’s back to your own bed and all those high-tech gadgets that keep us connected. Don’t forget to mail your postcards. The post office needs the business. I’ll be waiting for my postcard. Happy staycation this weekend.