vacation to san diego

I have not been to Tijuana in decades, but it is not "really" Mexico. I would not go there. If you want to see Mexico, I recommend Guadalajara.

When I was in SD I went to Sea World. It was a mistake all in all. Dull, crowded, nearly impossible to get a drink of water as there were too few concessions and few if any water fountains. So this is more warning than a recommendation. However, the Shamu show was cool. They have several orkas, and all are named Shamu. I liked the bit where the girl stands on the whale's forehead; the whale dives down with the girl, and then a few moments later the whale comes flying up out of the water to nearly its full length, with the girl still standing on its forehead, and at the top of the arc, she dives off, into the water, as the whale comes splashing down. That was very cool. The first 20 (?) rows are the splash zone. Swim suit highly recommended. I imagine it's fun for the wee tots.

I didn't like San Diego.

Godiva could probably give you some very helpful info. She'll probably find this thread, but if she does not, you might PM her.

 

Don't miss the ZOO it's fantastic!

 

There are some nice restaurants in the P.B. area. If you are staying with people, they can advise you.

For seafood, I'd go to Anthony's downtown on the wharf. They sit on the water and have big windows facing west. Pretty good food. You can get calamari there. (Fried). They also have a bucket of mussels or clams or oysters or something equally squishy, slimey and gritty. (I'm obviously not into buckets of seashells with tiny bits of flesh that taste like rubber bands that have dropped on the floor.) They have excellent fish and other seafood.

Another nice restaurant on the water is John Tarantino's but it's pricey. Italian food.

Another is at Seaport Village. Can't remember the name but you can't miss it.

There are restaurants all around the bay and none of them are bad.

For vegetarian there's Govinda's in North Park and Kung Food on 5th Ave.

Two other nice restaurants in the Balboa Park area that have vegetarian dishes on their menus are the Crest Cafe and the City Delicatessen. Both good.

San Diego has representatives of every cuisine in the world due to our diverse immigrant population. Whatever you're looking for, we've got it and it's good.

For site seeing I recommend either the San Diego Zoo or the Wild Animal Park (in north county) or both. Both are run by the Zoological Society are are both great in different ways. The fires did NOT affect the Wild Animal Park.

There is Balboa Park. The organ pavilion is open on Sundays but not sure if there are concerts this time of year. The Museums are good. The Natural History Museum has the Dead Sea Scrolls on exhibit until December so plan on that. There is a car museum there, the Aerospace museum and if you can find it, the model railroad museum. I don't know what the hours are but I recommend walking through the botanical garden building overlooking the reflection pool. Balboa park is right next to the Zoo.

Off season for Belmont Park. The have the oldest wood roller coaster still in service.

Seaport Village is nice for shopping. And the Star of India is down there on the wharf. The Maritime Museum is down there too.

If the sun is out, go to La Jolla Cove and walk along the water. Very nice walk. Many fine restaurants there too, but pricey given the real estate location.

I wouldn't bother with Tijuana. But if you want to take a drive down to Rosarita Beach they have some a nice restaurant at the Rosarita Beach hotel. It's going to be in the mid to low 60s and a bit overcast this weekend. If I only had a weekend, I wouldn't bother with Rosarita this time around. Save it for a nicer time of year.

 

My sister lives in San Diego so I've been there a few times.

I really enjoyed Balboa park. There is also a small park across the road (Park Blvd) from it. Kind of a "botanical gardens". Lots of desert plantings (cacti, etc) there. There is a foot bridge over that road between the two.

There are boat tours of the harbor. That was neat. They take you around the harbor (North and/or South). All kinds of Navy ships. Even subs.

On the waterfront there are also some boat tours. Old sailing vessels you can tour. There is also a cold-war era Soviet submarine that you can actually walk (crawl!) through. That was neat.

One time we went drove out to a small mountain town (Julian). On the way out there we drove through a state park. Just the year before fires went through the park. It was really interesting to see how the forests and landscape recover from fires.

The most interesting things for me were the difference in "native" plants and trees. The mountains too. Quite different from the midwest.

 

The zoo is one of the best in the world, with many large, natural style enclosures. It is well worth a day trip. I love Balboa Park; the architecture is stunning, as it was built for a World's Fair (something like that).

Sea World is good if you have kids ... it is primarily a theme park of animal shows, dumbed down for entertainment and not too much education. I did think it was neat that the penguins are in an enclosure on Mission Bay that you can sail pretty close to; it was great seeing them from the boat.

 

I had forgotten about the zoo. Yes, it's excellent. Very big.

 

We went to the Zoo and the Wild Animal Park earlier this year. I recommend both if you like critters. Bring a long lens for the camera.


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Probably too late to do any good, but just in case...

For yummy organic / veggie food, I highly recommend Rancho's Cocina (two locations: ocean beach at 1830 Sunset Cliffs Blvd, and in north park at 3090 30th, just north of University). There's also the Ocean Beach People's Co-Op (4765 Voltaire) which has a deli section as well as the typical hippie supermarket bits.

While in Ocean Beach, I also recommend South Beach Bar and Grill; they have the best fish tacos in all of SD. (I'm sure others have different opinions, but hey...)

Hah. I halfway forgot that I'm actually back in SD this weekend; if the O.P. does make it to Ocean Beach on Saturday, we might cross paths.

And while the Zoo is nice, and has the giant pandas, the Wild Animal Park is (IMHO) far superior, and much less depressing.

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(tkil @ Nov 9 2007, 10:53 PM) [snapback]537628[/snapback]</div>

I second the depressing part. However, I grew up with Disney's Animal Kingdom, so my perspective on zoos is different. If you've never been to DAK, the San Diego Zoo is definitely worth a visit. (The polar bear exhibit was the best.)

The lighthouse at the tip of Point Loma also makes for an interesting day trip. I only had time to see the lighthouse, but there are some interesting tidal zones to walk through if you're up to it. You also can't beat the views of North Island and downtown from the lighthouse.

Even though it might be slightly roasted, Julian is an interesting town to go through. There's a really good BBQ place up there, but it is pretty expensive for BBQ.

The children's pool in La Jolla is worth a visit, unless you don't like seals. There's a nice park nearby and some good restaurants. (Remember, it's La Jolla, so things are expensive.) Same thing goes for Del Mar; plenty of nice places to eat but parking is difficult.

Finally, if you want to have a REALLY good (but expensive) dinner, Peohe's on Coronado is the place to go (don't quote me on the spelling). The view of the bay is almost as nice as the one from the lighthouse. And as long as you're on Coronado, take a look at the sand on Silver Strand beach, it's pretty unusual.

One word of caution, if you see a silver Prius with a Florida plate leaving San Diego State, keep your distance. That guy can get pretty aggravated after staring at Pro/E files for 5 hours. <_<
(I just realized that I gave some pretty pricey recommendations. Sorry about that. There's always In n' Out burger if you want some good/cheap food.)

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(dogfriend @ Nov 9 2007, 10:49 PM) [snapback]537626[/snapback]</div>

Here kitty, kitty.

 

Another BBQ place is Kansas City Barbeque, as seen in the movie Top Gun. If you're a movie buff, several movies and TV shows have been shot in San Diego. For example, there are several shots of Balboa Park in the newsreel footage at the beginning of Citizen Kane (as well as the movie Scavenger Hunt). If you liked the movie Some Like It Hot you can go over to the Hotel Del Coronado. Downtown and Hillcrest is where the T-Rex attacked in the second Jurassic Park movie.

 

There is a fantastic Thai restaurant in the Gaslamp district called Rama. Incredible food and ambiance.

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(hv74656 @ Nov 10 2007, 03:35 AM) [snapback]537654[/snapback]</div>

I was at the Children's Pool last week and no seals. There was one in the water and that was it. There were a few sea lions on some rocks by the cove but the entire walk we saw mostly cormorants, sea gulls and pelicans. But the view is still spectacular.

 

Visited San Diego a couple of times a while back. I got addicted to the fish tacos from the roadside stands. They were the best! Also, fond memories of Nati's Mexican Restaurant and Balboa Park.

Have a nice vacation!