I'll Have a Few Extra Hours To Kill in San Diego. Any Must See's?

[SwampYankee]

I've got to go to San Diego next Wed. through Fri. on business. Thursday is booked up until 10/11 pm. I've got Wed. open after 7:30pm and Fri. I'm done at 3:00 but I have a red-eye leaving at 8:10pm because of prior commitments on Sat. (arrives in CT at 5:35 am local time ) so I've got a few hours to kill.

I'm staying at the Horton Grand in the Gaslamp Quarter. Is just wandering around the district enough to keep me busy? I'm not into the club scene, but hitting cool bars to enjoy a local brew or four is right up my alley. Local history and museums are also interesting. If you only had a couple hours to kill, what spots would you hit? There is also the very likely possibility that a vendor or two might wish to go somewhere for lunch or a late dinner, on their dime, so a choice of good restaurants could be handy. Beside the Jack in the Box, which I will hit at one point

There will be about 40 fellow members of the Assoc. wandering around in amoeba-like fashion, whom I know quite well and am comfortable socializing with, but I'm not averse to taking off on my own if there's something of interest.

[R Leo]

Originally Posted by SwampYankee

Beside the Jack in the Box, which I will hit at one point

Jack in the Box when you're in the heart of In-N-Out land? Make mine an Animal.

With just a few hours to spend, I'd definitely look into a Hornblower Harbor Tour. They are a great way to see the bay, the city and the naval facilities.

The USS Midway if you're into military museum ships. The Star of India and other vessels of the San Diego Maritime Museum are fun to see.

The San Diego Air and Space Museum is decent but would be low on my list of things to do...they have an exact reproduction of the Spirit of St Louis (remember, the original was built in SD).

[SwampYankee]

Cool, thanks R! Some great choices of stuff I'm interested in.

I forgot about In-N-Out. One of my college buddies was from Huntington Beach and always used to rave about the 4x4's. I'll have to put that on my list, too

Thanks to national broadcasts of regional shows I've got a list of places I want to hit whenever I'm in the area where there is one to at least try them out. Sonic is another one that gets me with their commercials but the closest is in PA a few hundred miles away. Some day, some day...

[Jim B.]

Take the bridge across to Coronado, and visit the Hotel del Coronado, unforgettable. Movie star and honeymoon famous. One of Marilyn Monroe's movies from 1958 was filmed there.

The San Diego zoo in Balboa Park is one of the very best in the world, and it is worth it, but if you see it there is so much to see there it would use up all your time.

You would need to borrow or rent a car for those things.

[cmac2012]

Next to the zoo are some stately looking old Spanish style buildings and a bit of courtyard. Not sure what it's called. I was there in '92 and saw the best group of street performers I'd ever seen. Some Indian guys doing an Aztec fire dance that was incredible and a really likeable magician.

Shopping malls are ususally not much of a tourist attraction but Horton Plaza is one of -- no, THE most attractive one I've ever seen. So if you need some clothes, or whatever, it would be worth a visit.

[hdexpert]

I've been to San Diego twice now for business and loved it!!! There is an Irish pub with incredible food and drink called The Fields that is a must see http://www.thefield.com/cgi-bin/WebObjects/events.woa . Also, Larry Flint has a Hustler store that is fun to visit. Also, there is an auto museum where all the cars are for sale. And if none of those interest you, just sit on any patio that has a street view and watch the endless line of lovely ladies parade by! Have a great time!!!

[kip Foss]

The air museum in Balboa Park is good.

[sd300td]

Originally Posted by SwampYankee

I've got to go to San Diego next Wed. through Fri. on business. Thursday is booked up until 10/11 pm. I've got Wed. open after 7:30pm and Fri. I'm done at 3:00 but I have a red-eye leaving at 8:10pm because of prior commitments on Sat. (arrives in CT at 5:35 am local time ) so I've got a few hours to kill.

I'm staying at the Horton Grand in the Gaslamp Quarter. Is just wandering around the district enough to keep me busy? I'm not into the club scene, but hitting cool bars to enjoy a local brew or four is right up my alley. Local history and museums are also interesting. If you only had a couple hours to kill, what spots would you hit? There is also the very likely possibility that a vendor or two might wish to go somewhere for lunch or a late dinner, on their dime, so a choice of good restaurants could be handy. Beside the Jack in the Box, which I will hit at one point

There will be about 40 fellow members of the Assoc. wandering around in amoeba-like fashion, whom I know quite well and am comfortable socializing with, but I'm not averse to taking off on my own if there's something of interest.

THese are the local free mags:

www.sdreader.com

www.sdcitybeat.com

You should find something to do...If not you can come look at my TD and help fix it up.

[SwampYankee]

Originally Posted by sd300td

THese are the local free mags:

www.sdreader.com

www.sdcitybeat.com

You should find something to do...If not you can come look at my TD and help fix it up.

Awesome guys, thanks for all of the leads. Now I've got to narrow them down and prioritize my list. Our grass seed vendor has booked us for dinner on Wed. so I'll have to check out some local eateries and make it worth our while

Jordan G-Don't be surprised when I take you up on your offer!

sd300td-Would you be terribly disappointed if I didn't jump on your offer? If you're up for a drink or two however...

[Chad300tdt]

When my wife and I were in San Diego, we ate at Ruth's Chris and Anthony's Fish Grotto (this was recommended to us) on harbor drive. Anthony's was great and had a huge selection of seafood. We also went to the San Diego Zoo which is very cool. We had drinks at a jazz club in the Gaslight District and the guy from the Jay Leno show was playing (Marcellus I think I can't remember his name?). We were there to review a trade show booth setup for a big automotive industry show and got dinner as the booth company's guests. The Hotel Coronado is huge and all wood and worth seeing. If you like just driving, my favorite thing was driving the scenic route along the ocean. The roads are all labeled logically also, like harbor drive is right along the harbor and take coronado blvd. to go to Coronado. They have great open air restaurants for lunch in Coronado too. Have fun.

[Medmech]

You can go see the America's Cup boats. They have a pretty cool thing at the SD Yatch Club or at least when America had the Cup and Stars and Stripes was winning.

[SwampYankee]

Originally Posted by Chad300tdt

When my wife and I were in San Diego, we ate at Ruth's Chris and Anthony's Fish Grotto (this was recommended to us) on harbor drive. Anthony's was great and had a huge selection of seafood. We also went to the San Diego Zoo which is very cool. We had drinks at a jazz club in the Gaslight District and the guy from the Jay Leno show was playing (Marcellus I think I can't remember his name?). We were there to review a trade show booth setup for a big automotive industry show and got dinner as the booth company's guests. The Hotel Coronado is huge and all wood and worth seeing. If you like just driving, my favorite thing was driving the scenic route along the ocean. The roads are all labeled logically also, like harbor drive is right along the harbor and take coronado blvd. to go to Coronado. They have great open air restaurants for lunch in Coronado too. Have fun.

Thanks, Chad. I'll put Anthony's on our list! I'd love to just drive along the coast. Unfortunately for this trip I probably won't get to.

Howi-I could definitely spend an hour or two wandering the docks and checking out the boats. I'll have to see if I can get over to the SDYC, might even be able to get some reciprocity benefits with my club's card.

I wish I had more time to spend out there. My brother spent a semester at SDSU, or should I say spent a semester seeing everything there is to see in SD and playing beach volleyball all day instead, and had a blast.

[cmac2012]

This one is way off the wall, but you never know. If you or anyone in your family has a serious health problem that is not yet terminal, one place that is not too expensive and has a history of semi-regularly inducing remarkable recoveries is the San Diego Optimum Health Institute, actually located in nearby Lemon Grove, my birthplace coincidentally.

A lot of people would consider it woo-woo and no way would I want to adhere to the diet they put you on year round, but I've seen some remarkable things there. They put you on diet of raw foods, with a 3 day fast (well, watermelon juice, vegetable juice, and wheatgrass juice) during the first week. I was a guest there in '86 and '87 before going down to work there for just under a year in '88.

The weather is great, and I saw numerous people come in looking sallow and listless and then leave after 2 or 3 weeks with rosy cheeks and a bounce to their step. Many of us, myself included, tend to eat repititious diets of too much, particularly combinations that lead to congestion of various sorts, of which I will say no more.

[ImBroke]

Sammy's Woodfired Pizza, on 4th and F. Then to the brewery just down the street, on G. Sounds like a good time to me.
I'm leaving here tomorrow morning, headed back to VA.

[SwampYankee]

Originally Posted by ImBroke

Sammy's Woodfired Pizza, on 4th and F. Then to the brewery just down the street, on G. Sounds like a good time to me.
I'm leaving here tomorrow morning, headed back to VA.

I had a good time. Ended up being "booked" by vendors more than I thought, but I still got to see a fair amount.

Some of the guys in our group did head over to Coronado but I figured since it was my first time in SD that I'd try to see as much as I could.

We spend a lot of time at the Dublin Square pub since it was right around the corner from the hotel. It made it easy to slip out for a pint of Guiness or three between meetings. Consequently, I got the impression that there's a neat Irish bar on every block or two. Several of us went to the Whiskey Girl on Thursday night and they had a great band playing. I was kind of surprised that the city shuts down at 2:00ish, last call was 1:30 at a couple places we were at.

Wednesday night my boss and I were taken to Lou & Mickey's. Great seafood and steaks! It ain't cheap, but the appetizers, raw oysters and food were excellent and cooked exactly as asked for.

I had most of Friday afternoon to kill since we got out of the meetings at 1:30 and my flight wasn't until 8:20. That's when most of the guys took off to Coronado. I did the touristy thing and took a Seal Tour (similar to the duck boats) and went for a tour of the aircraft carrier USS Midway. That is a must see for anyone who has a couple hours to devote. I also did the SD Maritime Museum. The Star of India was a definite highlight.

I had lunch at the Harbor House overlooking the harbor and had the seafood chowder and a couple pints of Sierra Nevada. Pretty tasty. I really wanted to get to Anthony's but time was getting short at that point and I didn't want to push it.

I flew back on Frontier and it was pretty good. Dish Network at the seatbacks ($5.00) and with no first class the seats have an extra inch or two legroom which was greatly appreciated. I flew the redeye, SD to DEN and then DEN to Hartford. Got in at 5:20 am. My first, and last , redeye.

Fun trip. I look forward to the Golf Show there in a couple years to see more of what I missed.