San Diego, CA I'm visiting San Diego!

hey all, i'm the CR from phoenix, sideshow212 (hi sistine )!
my fiancé and i are taking a little vacation to your cool city from the 20th to the 23rd of december!
unfortunately, i've never been to SD, and i was wondering what we should see or do during our trip!
anything going on? any cool places that i can't miss? any cool SW things to see?
i know i sound like a total tourist, but if you guys could help me out, it would be really cool!

 

COOL! Perhaps some of us can get together during that time and show you around. We have the zoo and Sea World of course, Balboa Park which has lots of museums and such, my favorites being the Aerospace Museum and the Ruben H. Fleet Space and Science Center. There is also Legoland, Harbor island boat tours, Torrey Pines State Beach... I always take visitors up to Mt. Soledad where they can see most of the City from up there. Coronado Island is also very nice to take people to. There is sooooo much to see, of course you will just have to pick and choose a few things based on your interests.

 

cool! yeah, i think the zoo would be cool, and legoland too! the hotel were staying at is pretty close to those places (i just checked )

if you guys are doing anything that weekend, maybe i could get together with you all! i would love to hang with my fellow SW fans for awhile!

 

Better check with your hotel again. The zoo is in Balboa Park, which is near downtown San Diego, and Legoland is in Carlsbad, about 40 minutes north of downtown San Diego.

Unless you're talking about the Wild Animal Park and not the zoo. The Wild Animal Park is near Escondido in north San Diego county.

 

What hotel is it Sideshow? I was born in San Diego and have lived here 35 out of my 37 years, so I know my way around pretty well... I had better!

 

it's in mission bay, on waring rd...the goodnight inn.

i guess they have discount tickets for those places at my hotel...
heh, in phoenix, 40 minutes away isn't that far our city sprawls so much, it takes about an hour and a half to get from one side to the other, on the freeway!

 

Mission bay is a good place to stay, it is pretty central to just about everywhere.

EDIT: On second thought, if the Mission Bay one is the one on Greenwood street off of Rosecrans street... it is across the street from a Strip club and in kind of a seedy area. But... it is still central to everything.

 

uh lets see

Julian is a good place to visit
The Mud Caves in Borrego (hard to find though)
Balboa Park (Japanese Garden, Whaley House, lots of stuff to do)
Downtown boasts some nice shopping and really great old buildings
LegoLand
The Zoo Wild Animal Park and Sea World
The Mystery Cafe (dinner theather show)

theres a new light show up at Viejas Casino supposedly pretty good

theres a bunch of stuff usually

 

naw, its mission valley, were at waring and adobe falls, not greenwood and rosecrans...

 

Mission valley is where Qualcomm Stadium is (home of the Padres and Chargers).

 

Seaport Village is nice during the daytime... you can stroll on the Embarcadero (a nice park on the water), check out lots of SD themed touristy shops, and eat at a charming little waterside Greek restaurant, where a certain Vice Chancellor of the SDSWS is the senior chef and works during the day a few days a week (inbetween ministry calls)

 

I used to work the front desk and was a concierge at a downtown hotel...if you need any restruant reccomadations or sight seeing tips, I can help you out. Welcome and have a good stay!

 

mission valley in the days before christmas... eeeee! a traffic nightmare.

still, here's my picks of things to do:
*go to the beach - it will be cold, but empty... good for walking and photos.
*Chula Vista Nature Center - take the trolley down to the Chula Vista Nature Center -- learn about wetlands in the South Bay.
*spend a morning walking around downtown La Jolla and the cliffs (even take a tour of the caves, and then the afternoon hiking around Torrey Pines State Reserve (north of La Jolla) then have dinner in Del Mar.
*visit the museums of Balboa Park - the Museum of Art's current exhibitions are on "Painting Women" and 1950's American art and design (including a Corvette on a turntable). the Mingei art museum has pre-columbian artifacts. C-3PO can be found in the Museum of Man.

 

^ C3P0 is in the Museum of MAN? Um... shouldn't he be in the Museum of Droids?

 

he's a man man, baby!

 

nice! thanks guys! wow, were going to have ALOT to do!

 

The Phoenix fanforce is invading our city tonight - they are going to a concert at 4th and B. I am excited because I get to babysit Kreleia's son. His name is Jacob and he just learned to crawl yet is a Star Wars fan already. It will be great to have a little one in the house again, I am sure that between all of Collin's toys, and all of Lauren's love and affection, he will be spoiled by the time his parents come to pick him up.

 

yea, jacob's a great kid, he was the youngest person in our line to see episode II!

 

An "out-of-towners" advice:


Change your reservations and stay at the U.S. Grant in the heart of downtown. Close to the gaslight, trolley, Con Center, etc., nice staff, great restaraunt. . .

Oh yeah. . .

I've stayed there.

Ask for the Allie Fox Suite.

 

Allie, when did you stay there. I used to work at the Grant. Perhaps I saw you and didn't know it

[face_shocked]

The Grant is nice, but I have issues with it. It used to be this great independant hotel and then was bought by Wyndham International about a year and a half ago. They turned it way more corporate than I liked.

Sideshow, if you like that turn of the century feel and don't want to pay for the Hotel Del, then do the Grant. It's still a beautiful old hotel and cheaper than the Del by far. If you go there, ask for Nevelyn. She's the best concierge in the city.

 

My wife spoke at an Oncology Convention there a few years ago. I'm pretty sure it was in May. I know it was pretty cold while we were there.

If I ever return to SD, I'll likely stay there again.

 

^Yes return! July will be a good month to return, much warmer and the Comic Con will be going on.

 

And the US grant is now a Con hotel so it's on the bus route! Come, stay!

 

whoa! actually, the reservations were made by the missus, so it's up to her where we stay! i'm just along for the ride


leaving tomorrow morning! thanks for all the tips guys! i'm sure we'll have a killer time!!!

 

woohoo! just got back to phoenix! we had a great time!

lets see, we went to the gaslamp quarter, the san diego zoo, legoland (kinda out there, heh) and a few of the museums in balboa park! we also went to the cabrillo monument. on the way back, we stopped at the imperial dunes (it's the dune sea! i had to!!! )
man your city is cool! the roads and traffic are a little wild, but hey, it's california! ( j/k)
sorry i missed you party MJF i tried to call but couldn't get an answer...
i want to meet you guys next time, because i will be coming down for the next ComiCon! (yea, we went to the convention center too! )

thanks san diego!!!