What should I be sure to see and do in San Diego? (1 Viewer)

[Eric_E]

Hi everyone. Yep, yet another one of these "where to go in..." threads. My girlfriend and I are going to San Diego in a little over a week, and I'd like to know what you guys consider the "can't-miss" stuff in San Diego. Neither of us has ever been. If anyone has any recommendations for attractions and/or restaurants please fire away.

One note: We're not planning on renting a car while we're out there, so no recommendations for Disneyland or anything too far out of the way, please. Also, I don't think either of us is too interested in Sea World or the Zoo. Everything else is fair game, though.

TIA!

 

[Eman_Ramos]

Where are you staying? If you're downtown and if you're into bars and stuff, try the Gaslamp District. It's one of the more active places in SD.

Of course they're always the beach. La Jolla has probably the best scenery in the city. There's also Pacific Beach, don't know much about that one though.

If it's not too much of a drive, I suggest visiting North County (Del Mar,Carlsbad,Solana Beach). Just a beautiful part of SD.

If you're into Museums, Balboa Park has plenty.

And finally, you could always cross the border and party in Tijuana.

Just don't get in trouble.

 

[Eric_E]

Thanks Eman,

I'm going to be staying at the Ramada Plaza in "the Hotel Circle." http://www.the.ramada.com/sandiego00110

I'm not entirely sure where it is in relation to the rest of everything in San Diego, but there's a map on that site, too. Thanks again for your suggestions.

 

[Joel Mack]

Are you going to Comic Con?

Because if you are, I hate you.

 

[Eric_E]

Hey Joel,

Why yes I am. Sorry, you'll just have to hate me. Want me to bring you back anything?

 

[Joel Mack]

Eliza Dushku. Or a reasonable facsimile.

 

[Cary_H]

If it's up your alley, check out the Aerospace Museum adjacent the zoo. I seem to recall they've recently completed the re-development of a fair chunk of land near downtown into a hip shopping/entertainment/see and be seen zone.

 

[Cary_H]

Hotel Circle is real central, located pretty much at the hub of two main freeways.
You might want to take a boat tour of the harbour. SD is the main home port for the U.S Navy's WestPac fleet.
See if the Padres are on a homestand while you're there.

 

[Jacinto]

Eric,

Make sure you come by Artist's Alley when you're at the Con. I'm never sure if they're going to list me as Jacinto Hernandez or Chachi (really) Hernandez, but look me up in the program book to find where I'll be. It would be cool to meet a fellow HTFer out there.

As for your question, the really sad thing is that even though this will be my tenth year at the Comicon, I really don't know too much about San Diego. I'm usually at the show all day, go get some dinner, and then retire to the hotel room to do sketches for fans. Sometimes we catch a movie at Horton Plaza, which is easily the most confusing and disorienting outdoor mall in the world. I swear M.C. Esher designed the damn thing.

 

[Shawn C]

If you are staying at that Ramada, I would suggest renting a car. That is where we stayed last year. In that area, there are alot of malls, shops, and restaraunts. I'm just not sure what is around there for 'tourists'.

You would need to take a taxi, shuttle bus, or something to get to downtown, or to the beaches. I fully recommend renting a cheap car since you really can't walk to anything interesting from that Ramada.

Oh, and it's a good thing you aren't interested in Sea World. I was in San Diego last weekend and spent $45.00/per person to get in there. NOT WORTH IT.

 

[Chad Isaacs]

I spent a week there a little over a year ago.We stayed at a buddies house,he lives less than a mile from the border.We crossed and turned around and came back...not a place for little kids.

Anyway,a few things I remember...

Watching the sunset off the pier on imperial beach.Not the best beach in the world but there is(at least was) a nice little bar/cafe at the end of the peir with nice seats for your viewing pleasure.

my buddy is Navy and was coming in on his ship,the Nenits(sp?)so we sat out on a beach outside of the naval base and watched the ships.Granted this is a military beach,you can get pretty close and its one of the cleanest beaches I have ever been too,they even keep saweed off the beach there.

We did alot of windown shopping in COrnado.A very nice ritsy area but they did have a few nice parks for the kids to play.

The thing I remember most,liked it better than disney(which imho is overated) Was touring my buddies ship.I am not sure if the public can do this or not,but look into it.the worse they can say is no,but if theysay yes,you are in for a real treat!

 

[Henry Gale]

Since this is the Home Theater Forum, let me suggest the Hotel del Coronado a location for Some Like It Hot.
I visited San Diego for a summer back in 1964. All of my time was spent right next to the airport at an area called the Marine Corps Recruit Depot. :frowning:
Please reconsider the Zoo, I've heard they have a great one.

 

[Eric_E]

Thank you all for the suggestions and advice. I definitely have some more ideas and I'm sure that once we actually get there we will find so much to do that we'll be completely overwhelmed.

I think we're reconsidering the zoo, but we're definitely going to pass on Sea World considering the price and the fact that we've both been to one of the other locations.

Thanks again, everyone.

 

[Joel Mack]

Don't forget my Dushku!

 

[Chris Moe]

I lived in SD for 8 years. Staying on Hotel Circle you are going to want a car unless you don't mind taking cabs. Unless you like hanging out at the mall there really isn't anything to do on Hotel Circle.

The SD zoo is a really great zoo, so if you do reconsider you should have a good time. Coronado is always good, nice beaches, ritzy places, and the hotel is a tourist attraction. If you are into museums there are some good ones in Balboa park and in La Jolla. La Jolla is a cool city to check out as well. Pacific beach just south of La Jolla is more the party/surf area of town so if you go out for a night of drinks that would be a good place (so would the gaslamp district downtown, very different crowd though). Just south of Pacific beach is Mission beach where there is a big boardwalk that is always fun and there is also a roller coaster there. There is also Ocean Beach which is my favorite, but it isn't very touristy and a little dirty (which was why it was my favorite).

Tijuana can be a fun trip, go during the day if you want to go shopping and looking around, go at night if you want to party. Just don't end up in jail like I did once

If you want some good local restaurants to check out. Las Brasas in Old Town has the best grilled chicken burrito on the planet. Etnas has great pizza and calzones and they deliver until 3 or 4 in the morning.

The more I think about it you are going to miss not having a car, SD is pretty spread out.

Have fun, it is a great place.

 

[Eric_E]

Joel: I'll see what I can do.

Chris: Thanks - that was good advice! I've actually been looking around at rental car prices, but I think it's going to be cheaper to just get a taxi when we'll need one. Things aren't so far apart as to be ludicrously expensive by taxi, are they?

 

[Chris Moe]

How long are you going to be in San Diego for? I never traveled by cab while I was there and very rarely do so here so I can't really comment on costs. You are probably looking at a 15-20 minute ride from hotel circle to La Jolla (north) and a 10-15 minute ride from hotel circle to downtown (south). You could theoritically walk from mission beach to pacific beach and then up to La Jolla, it would be a lot of walking but you would get to see a lot of cool parts in San Diego and you could walk along the beach the whole way if you wanted to.

If you wanted to do a fancy restaraunt one night I highly recommend George's at the cove in La Jolla, very nice. They have a website http://www.georgesatthecove.com/

 

[Eric_E]

Chris: I'm going to be there the 17th through the 20th. That's probably a little more walking than I'd like to do, but thanks for the tip on the restaurant - I was thinking I might like to go someplace nice one of the nights we were there.

 

[Kyle-K]

San Diego is a very spread out place... I'd really suggest a car...

Some things I'd suggest...
- The Zoo... (it's cheap too)
Prefer the Wild Animal Park... but it's pretty far.

- Coronado

- Since you're going to the con...
Hit gaslamp and horton plaza

- La Jolla...

- North County beaches... Del Mar thru Carlsbad.

- Solana Beach/Cardiff/Encinitas are nice small-town
beach communites

--kyle

 

[NickSo]

Wasn't there a member here whose daugther was apparently a pretty good copy of Eliza?