California
 

I'm heading to California with some of the girls next month. We'll be in the San Diego / LA area for about a week. I've never been there before, but I heard San Diego is beautiful. Any places that are a must to check out?

Depends what you want to do, what you like to do and how old you are.

Just for fun, I'd say stop off in Long Beach and hit the Aquarium of the Pacific, it's really cool if you are into that sort of thing.

Sea World is cool, but way over priced now.

Pacific Beach in SD is nice, and the Gaslamp area in SD is nice too.

What do you like to do? I can give better suggestions based on your interests. =)

It will be our spring break so I definitely want lazy afternoons on the beach, good places to shop, yummy places to eat, just fun places in general to check out. And...when night time rolls around I want some places where we can dance, have some drinks, and a crazy, great time. I'm 22...if that helps. Thanks for the suggestions so far : )

Disneyland is obvious as well as Magic Mountain and Knotts Berry Farm. You can always check out the Irvine Spectrum and the Universal City Walk. Any of the beaches are good especially Venice Beach if you're into that kind of thing. Starving artists & street performers. Finally, you can always hang out in Hollywood & shop. PM me if you have any questions. I live in Long Beach & am definitely local.

San Diego Sights
 

I went to San Diego for the first time this past summer for a friend's wedding. SD is beautiful and a very outdoorsy town. We stayed at the Bahia Resort Hotel in Mission Bay where the wedding and reception were held --- http://www.bahiahotel.com/index_flash.html

I found this website to be very helpful:
http://www.entersandiego.com/

We were there mostly for the wedding but we also drove around alot, went to a mall downtown, to the beach, to the San Diego Zoo, and nearly drove down to Mexico but ended up not having enough time.

For shopping we spent a lot of time in the Gaslamp Quarter - http://www.entersandiego.com/Gaslamp.cfm

And we had great food in Old Town - http://www.entersandiego.com/old_town.cfm

Definitely go walk around the Hotel Del Coronado (when you're in the San Diego area, it's the hotel *everyone* knows about!) and the beach there is really nice (if they still do it, the Navy guys run the beach along there at times during the day)

Sea World is pretty overpriced, but if you ever think you're going to come back to San Diego this same year, you can buy the Fun Card which is approximately $5 more than the one-day admission price.

The Zoo is always fun (especially with the relatively new Baby Panda) as well as the Wild Animal Park (I think they have special packages for a reduced price to get to both places)

If you want to check out some of the "smaller" towns in San Diego, definitely go to Julian - a small historical mining town that serves the best pie around! ;)

The Gaslamp Quarter has a lot of places to check out and investigate, and Horton Plaza is right in the middle of it all (as well as the new baseball park that opened this past year!)

Maybe if you're in the area for a little while, we can get a So Cal GC get-together planned? :)

I didn't know that! :) Hello from a fellow native San Diegan (at least the area of San Diego, that is :D)

/hijack

Hey, I'm a San Diego native too!! :D :D We rock!


At any rate, my fellow San Diegans, and the SD fans, are all spot on with their suggestions. Again, I will reiterate that the Gaslamp quarter is a good place to go for nice historical sights and shopping by day and a hopping club scene at night. Another place worth mentioning is Pacific Beach. PB is a beach community with some interesting shops and a solid nightlife as well. Other good suggestions are: Balboa Park, the San Diego Zoo (which is next to/in Balboa Park), Horton Plaza, La Jolla, and Old Town. Pretty much the same stuff everyone else mentioned. :)

For food, you might want to visit the famous Corvette Diner in Hillcrest (which is also very interesting). Make sure to ask your waitress for lots of things like napkins and straws. ;)

http://www.cohnrestaurants.com/cohn/...tte/index.html


Also, you *have* to get some Mexican food and may I suggest an establishment owned by my friend? El Indio restaurant is located near to downtown on India Street at Washington St. You can get a good Mexican meal in Old Town as well, but the locals in the know go to El Indio. Just be careful, the lines get really long at lunchtime.

http://www.el-indio.com/

Speaking of Mexican food, you can catch a trolley out of downtown San Diego to San Ysidro and then walk across the border into Tijuana.

Have fun!

.....Kelly :)

Bumping--because I'm GOING TO DISNEYLAND!
 

I'm tagging along with DH on a business trip to San Diego, no kids! I've never ever been to California.

I'll have some solo time in SD for 1 1/2 days or so. Once he's finished working we'll be going to Disneyland for a couple of days!

Now, the bunches of questions:

1. We're thinking about staying somewhere midway between Disneyland and San Diego, if it makes sense. Is that worth it, driving-wise? Or should we just stay onsite and drive back to the San Diego airport on our departure day?

2. Just how bad is the I-5 between San Diego-Anaheim? Mapping sites say around 1 1/2 hours driving. What's realistic in the late afternoon/early evening? What about morning midweek going Anaheim to SD?

3. While in San Diego, we're at the Solamar Hotel. Thank heavens I'm not paying for that one! It looks like it's in the Gaslight area? Is there enough to do around there solo for a half day (afternoon and evening)? Any suggestions for safe walking sightseeing, shopping, dining in the general area of that hotel?

4. I'm going to the San Diego Zoo on my full solo day (you know I have to try to see the pandas!) Is there enough to do at the Zoo besides the pandas to fill a day? Any SD Zoo tips I should know?

5. Is it smarter to take a cab back and forth to the Zoo from the hotel, or are there other easy & safe options?

6. Anything else I should know about San Diego or Disneyland?

Re: Bumping--because I'm GOING TO DISNEYLAND!
 

1) Stay near Disneyland. There's really nothing in between except a pair of nuclear powered boobies (Unless you're from SD you won't get that)

2) The morning should be fine provided it's not when people are rushing to work (so I'd say by 10 am it's chill). That freeway isn't so much gridlocked as much as it's populated. So you're gonna go relatively fast, but be prepared for some defensive driving.

3) Around Gaslamp? Oh yeah, there's defintiely enough at the Gaslamp, and Horton Plaza, Seaport Village, and other touristy places aren't too far away either.

4) Oh God, yes, there's PLENTY at the World Famous SD Zoo to last an entire day. I suggest starting at Gorilla Tropics, walk along the road at the bottom of the hill to see the birds, pass the lions and jaguars, go through the bird aviary, go back up the other side of the hill to see the bears, see the koalas at the top of the hill, then circle to see the oxen and elephants. Come back to the entrance, then check out the reptile house and children's zoo. OH, make sure you swing around the reptile house and check out those giant tortoises, they're bomb.

5) Cabs aren't as commonplace as a city like Chicago or New York, but they do the job, so I would agree about the cab. It's just funny because in this city you NEED a car to enjoy life as a resident. People look down on you if you ride the bus past age 15.

6) Welcome to America's Finest City! I'm a lot more critical of my hometown, but since you're just visiting, you're going to have an awesome time.

Re: Bumping--because I'm GOING TO DISNEYLAND!
 

1. It really depends on the traffic. When my parents and I were at Disneyland we went down to San Diego to visit family and the ride down there was quick, but you could see the traffic from SD to Disneyland was HECTIC. If you stay by Disneyland I suggest the BEST WESTERN!! It is right across the street from the main gate, and we got it for a cheap price. All you do is call up Best Western directly (not the hotel itself, but the company headquarters). They will give you the best discount. We got our room (for 4 people...mind u this was at the PEAK of vacation time) for $79.

2. I guess I kinda answered this question in #1. We left Anaheim around noon, and we kinda did stops along the way, but we never had to stop for gridlock. From SD and Anaheim, I dont know...cant reallly say since I haven't observed. We went to Disneyland through San Bernadino and Riverside.

4. BRING COMFORTABLE SHOES!!! That is a big thing, since the SD zoo is HUGE! There is plenty to do and see--we've been to SD a couple times, and I remember going when I was younger and waiting HOURS to see the baby pandas...lol. If you have extra change and your feet start to kill you (or you really dont feel like walking the whole way) then you can take the little trolley/tour things they have. I dont know exactly how much they cost though.

5. Easiest and safe option? Rent a car. In all my time traveling to SD, I haven't seen a taxi (although I know they are there). I dont know exactly where your hotel is (the link will not work on my computer---darn cheap ass machine), but I know that when we stay with my aunt (who lives right up the way from Sea World) it took around 20-25 minutes to get to the Zoo...and it might just be easier to rent a car. Especially if you see a little shop, or restaurant that you wanna stop at, you can stop and not have to worry about running the meter or having to call for another taxi.

6. THE MATERHORN (sp?) ROCKS!!! Lol...try to do all the rides at least once, so you know that you aren't missing anything! My only regret from my time at Disneyland. I decided to stay with my cousin when she wanted to stay at Tomorrowland, and I wanted to try all the other rides (like Indiana Jones, and all the rides in that area). SD is a great city, I love visiting it whenever I can...it is just a relaxing place.



OTHER PLACES TO VISIT IN SD:
**If you love hiking or whatnot you can go to Torrey Pines...or even the beach around there.

**You can travel up to Del Mar...they have some nice shopping up there (although it is a tad bit expensive), plus the beach there is nice, and whever I go it is rarely crowded.

**Try staying away from Mission bay (the water part...you'll know ur there cause u can see Sea World across the water....the water is soooo dirty..lol---this is just a personal note).

**Of course Horton Plaza is great! And i dont know how accessible these are...but when I go visit family up in SD, I love going to watch waterpolo matches. We dont have that sport here, and it is just so interesting to watch.

**I dont remember the name of the restaurant. But off of Clairemont St. there is a pizza place. It is in the same area as the supermarket (dont remember the name though). The building is kinda woodish---dark shingly wood...lol. Like my description? Well I love the pizza there.

**Of course I love to go to stores like TJ Maxx (we dont have that here) and VONS (the supermarket...lol, i'm a dork).

Have fun in SD!!

Re: Bumping--because I'm GOING TO DISNEYLAND!
 

Just go to Disneyland for the day and drive back to your hotel in the evening. Disneyland is really for this kiddies. Sure you can have a nice time checkin' it out, but it's nothing like Disneyworld... It is the first place Disney was put on the map, so it pretty much remains that way... I haven't been to California Disney, but it is pretty much like Magic Mountain--a Six Flags place--so I've heard...

Think of it like this: folks live in San Diego, but work in LA--so they commute to work. It takes ~2 hours without bad traffic. And bad traffic is when someone's car breaks down, some tracker trailer jacked knifed, or someone tries to make a run for the border...

So, if you leave in the morning around 8ish, you'd think you'd get there around 10ish... NO... You will be getting there around 12ish, 'cuz you hit LA-traffic...

And the average speed limit on ALL SoCal freeways is ~75 mph--even though the posted is 65... NOBODY drives below 70 mph...

So the best time to leave San Diego to upto LA area is ~9:45AMish...

YOu are in probably the most safest cities in America. San Diego PD are pretty much ex-military. So they are not into lunacy and pounce the minute these think they see something. Then you will be in a military town, so you have Navy and the Marines.

It sounds like the Hotel will be near Horton Plaza a shopping center. And there is another across the street for high end kinds of things--like Tiffany's, etc.

Depending on what you want to do, if you want to stay near your hotel, you will be close to the San Diego bay and so take a bus tour that takes you around the city. Also, you will be near the trolley stations and you ought to visit Old Town. Old Town has EXCELLENT Mexican Food places... Some of the best Californian Mexican Food--like Cafe Bazaar Del Mundo... If you can get your husband to go there to and have a HUGE margarita...

The SD trolley takes you all over. It will take you to the Qualcomm Stadium in Mission Valley--where I use to live. It will take you La Mesa--another place I use to live... Up through Spring Valley and back down to the Gaslamp. It will take you to San Ysidro to the Mexican Border and let you cross it if the Border Patrol isn't hardcore that day... And many of the Shopping Outlets are nearby...

You are going to one of the best kept Zoos in the nation. There are animal "specimens" that aren't kept in any zoo that is in one place. The animal care is beyond comprehension.

The first thing you do is try to take a picture of the flamingos and the peacocks. Then you take the zoo bus to get a whole view of the property. Then you go see the pandas. Then you see a few shows. Then you go through the botanical gardens. See the giant tortoises. See the snake room and if you still not tired, see the chimps and orangutans and anything else you can think of. You won't see shamu (orcas) because those are at Sea World...

There are plenty of specific "trip buses" that look like trolleys that go back and forth from the zoo and Balboa Park. You will be nearby the Balboa Park area that has a lot of museums--Museum of Natural History, Museum of Man, Science Fleet Center and the Aerospace Museum. You will also be near the arts and crafts centers and the Prado. Balboa Park. There are other websites.

And if there is a San Diego city pass, I'd be about purchasing one with the Trolley/bus passes so transportation is not a big deal. Because parking is a bitch and gas prices in SoCal are ~$3.00 or higher. And you have to know where to park... Only locals know where to park and some of them are rather clueless.

Also the real Pacific Ocean visit a Belmont Park with the Rollercoaster is pretty good on the Boardwalk. And if you get over to Mission Beach there's this restaurant my mom loves that she swears by the serves the best hamburgers: World Famous at 711 Pacific Beach Drive, San Diego, CA 92109-5028 ph: (858) 272 3100. Make reservations for the early evening--like 4 PMish. You will need a car to get there.

Also go to SignOn San Diego for discounts and use your Entertainment book...

Oh and every evening, you can learn how to Salsa dance anywhere in the city. It's at any club before it starts jumping. Just search the websites to see when a class is held if you want to do that...

San Diego Ah! Go to Old Town, Mex Place is neat. and any frree stuff, Museums, Zoo, Japanese Gardens or Great.

Have a good time.

:D