Handpicked by Locals: 5 places to eat, drink and explore in and around San Carlos
When entertainer and inspirational street performer Joe Dreamz was a teenager growing up in San Carlos, he found a few things that led him to where he is today: music and bad influences.
One day, when Dreamz (legal name is Joseph Harrison) was around 16 years old, he was hanging out with his friends and one pulled out a laptop and a USB microphone. Dreamz started to play around with the equipment and creating some hip-hop music, based on freestyle rapping.
"When I made my first song, there was no plan; I just did it, and I fell in love with music and the creative process," Dreamz said. "I love the idea of coming up with something clever to say that gets people to react and being in a state of flow."
Now he has built a following of over 137,000 people on Instagram with videos that have earned millions of views of him performing on San Diego's sidewalks and streets with messages of love, inspiration and positivity. Some of these videos include two people getting Dreamz's name tattooed on their inner lip and even one family sharing about naming their child after him. He also posts videos working as an Uber driving and rapping along with his passengers.
"My dream is to live in a world where everyone is living their dreams," he said.
The passion and motivation he has for inspiring others are rooted in being around some bad influences as a teenager. He said he was hanging out with the wrong crowd and getting into trouble with people who eventually either ended up in jail or were shot and killed.
"I love San Carlos, and it’s an incredible environment to raise a family," Dreamz said. "But when I went to middle school and high school, the only people I really identified with were those who looked like me, who were coming from areas where they had challenges, let’s say. And the people I was hanging out with weren’t people who were striving to live their dreams, so I was getting in trouble a lot at school."
Dreamz said his citizenship grade fell so low that he wasn't allowed to go to his senior prom or walk across the stage at his high school graduation, but he did get his high school diploma. He knew he had to change his lifestyle. After high school, Dreamz received a text message from a friend who set him up to talk with his mentor and Dreamz learned about books that might inspire him.
"I love learning, so I would get books at Barnes and Noble in the self-help and personal development section," Dreamz said. "And then I thought to myself, ‘what if there was one of these in hip-hop as well?' Something that would help and inspire those who listen to hip-hop to follow their dreams."
So that idea, after getting an associate’s degree in communications and making some money selling life insurance, spawned Dreamz to eventually chase his dreams of making inspirational hip-hop music. Dreamz said he wanted to get away for a bit and reset his mind, so he took a road trip along the Pacific Ocean. He made it to Seattle, and then his car broke down.
He said it was a sign from the universe, so Dreamz took a leap of faith and bought a speaker and microphone and started performing hip-hop freestyles at Pier 58 in Seattle.
"I would ask people, ‘Hey, what is your dream?’ And I remember my first day doing those freestyle raps, I made a couple hundred dollars,” Dreamz said. “And sometimes somebody would pull out a $100 bill because their dream is that important to them, that freestyle might have taken me 30 seconds, but, you know, you speak to that person at the right time at the right place in the right moment where they needed to hear that motivation, that inspiration, so I decided to keep on chasing my dreams."
He eventually made it back to San Diego, where locals can find him performing in various parts of the city, such as Pacific Beach and around Petco Park, before and after Padres games. Dreamz admits he doesn't always have a permit to perform in public, and his equipment has been confiscated by law enforcement, as well as being cited from time to time. But that has not stopped him on his music and inspirational journey.
"Love goes a long way," Dreamz said. "When you spread love, doors open up for you."
Dreamz now gets paid to perform at private events and is finalizing a weeklong program to inspire students to show up on time for school, with the winner getting a free performance from him at their school.
When Dreamz is not performing or trying to inspire others, he is taking time for himself and visiting places in San Carlos where he has returned to live. Here are those recommendations.
Q: Where is your favorite dining option?
A: The Trails Eatery is delicious, nutritious and has 10 out of 10 customer service. I love their salads. I love the kombucha. I love getting food that's going to energize me so I can go out and continue living my dream.
Q: What is your favorite small retail business or pop-up vendor to support?
A: Pure Press. They're open early, delicious, nutritious and super fast in serving their smoothies and juices. My favorite thing is the Pure Power smoothie, which I have in my hand as we speak. It has banana, avocado, peanut butter, dates, coconut flakes and almond milk. It tastes really good.
Q: Where is your favorite open space?
A: Lake Murray is like The Shire from The Lord of the Rings. It’s laid back. It’s a place that looked exactly the same 50 years ago, and will probably look exactly the same 50 years from now. It is peaceful. It's calming. There are a lot of friendly people there. It's just a wonderful place to concentrate, exercise, create or take a date.
Q: Where is the best piece of artwork?
A: The water tower that is painted brown with clouds on it at the end of the 125 freeway. I remember all the way to school, growing up, seeing it all the time. It’s very iconic to me.
Q: Where is your favorite entertainment attraction or historic landmark?
A: Mission Trails Regional Park. There's lots of free space to explore and breathtaking views. I love Mission Trails because it’s a great place to exercise and a great place to create content. It’s a great place to think. That’s one of my favorite things. There aren’t many places you can go to think, relax and throw on some headphones and feed the ducks.
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This story was originally published June 2, 2026 at 6:16 AM.