Kathy H
|
There are so many things to do in San Diego...you can't do them all in 2 days. You need to decide a handful of things you really want to do and enjoy.
Possibilities include:
relax on a beach, go to the zoo, wild animal park, or sea world, visit museums, see a play, take a bay cruise, bike along the coast, kayak through the La Jolla Caves (make reservation for a morning trip), scuba or snorkel at La Jolla Cove, go to the races at Del Mar, wine tasting, Padres game, theater or concert....and more. |
Chimichanga to go please!!
 |
San Diego Zoo is world famous and a must see, as is the San Diego Wild Animal Park in Escondido (San Pasqual), which is about 35 miles north of San Diego. The cool thing about the Wild Animal Park is that all the animals roam free in surroundings much like their natural habitat. Well, the gorillas are still in a gorilla enclosure, and the lions are in a lion enclosure, but they try to make things as natural as possible. You can see gazelles, elephants and giraffes, as well as mountain goats, just roaming the landscape, which resembles parts of Africa and East Asia.
There's also the world famous Sea World, and some of the finest museums around. Go to Balboa Park to see the museums. The architecture of the buildings alone is worth the trip. The museums and Balboa Park are close to where the Zoo is.
There is also Seaport Village, which is downtown by the harbor. You can shop, enjoy the food, take a horse and carriage ride around Seaport Village (don't know the cost) or ride the Carousel. Then, you could go down the road a tiny way to the harbor, where you can take a harbor cruise, or you could look into taking a tour of one of the military ships in the harbor if they allow tours (they used to years ago). The Star of India is an ancient sailing vessel docked in San Diego Harbor and it offers tours as well.
I would take a trip across the Coronado Bay Bridge (can be seen from the harbor, in downtown San Diego & the bridge is built over the San Diego Bay) and enjoy a day at the beach, after touring the historic Hotel Del Coronado. Heck, if you have a lot of money to spend, you could stay a night at that hotel. Very expensive, but very classy. Movie stars, celebrities and dignitaries have stayed there. If you recall the movie "Somewhere in Time" with Jane Seymour and Christopher Reeve, it is based upon THAT hotel, though the hotel in the movie is located on the east coast. There are scenes from that movie located on the walls of the hotel because the storyline of the movie was "supposedly" based on the life of someone who stayed in that hotel.
Mexican food places? - Any Mexican food stand ending in "ertos" - ie - Roberto's, Albertos, also places such as Rudolfo's etc. El Torito is a nice sit-down Mexican food place with moderate prices ($8-15.00 range). Good beverages on a hot day can be found at Jamba Juice, which is located in many malls and strip malls. Don't forget Cold Stone ice cream - a MUST have. Expensive, but very yummy. You can get a variety of ice cream flavors with an assortment of actual candy bar chunks (not small crumblies, but chunks/pieces) for toppings.
If you want a fine meal or a nice atmosphere for the nightlife, try the Gaslamp Quarter downtown. Parking is hard to come by, but find a centrally located place to park and then walk. Everyone else does. There is jazz, blues, rock, you name it. There are quaint restaurants with sidewalk seating, and there are very expensive restaurants with extensive wait times. While opera season is over, there are many productions coming out this time of year at the Civic Theater, which is located downtown at the Civic Center.
The cool thing about San Diego is you can go to the beach, the Zoo, Sea World, you can see museums, have fine dining or quaint, you can drive 45 minutes or so to historic Julian (in the mountains east of San Diego - take Highway 8 East) and you can drive a little farther to the desert. About 20 minutes south of downtown San Diego, you can cross the border into Mexico, but beware - the border crossing itself can take 1-2 hours to get across if the traffic is heavy. One more thing I forgot to mention is Belmont Park at Mission Beach. There are rides, and probably the oldest, still-operating wooden roller coaster still in existence (it's quite bumpy, so it's not for the person with back problems or a nervous disposition). One can buy souvenirs, eat yummy food and then walk along the boardwalk next to the ocean and hang out at the beach for the day. There are homeless people who use the public restrooms by the beach, so if that makes you uncomfortable, then use the ones in the restaurants or at Belmont Park itself.
There is Legoland, which is an amusement park located in Carlsbad, which is about 30 miles north of San Diego. Everything is made out of legos, and is fun for the younger kids. Also, Knotts Soak City is a great place to go if you want to cool off. It is located in Chula Vista, which is just south of San Diego. Haven't been there myself, but heard it's fun.
Whatever you do in San Diego, I am sure you will have a great time. Remember that the freeways get very busy (all of them - there are many) until around 9:30 am, then again around 3 pm, until around 6:30 or 7pm. If you don't like rush hour, bumper-to-bumper driving and the occasional California aggressive driver, then drive outside of those time-frames. The weather? It is around the 60's in the winter here and upper 80's to 90's or higher in the summer. At night during the winter, it can drop to 30's or lower overnight while being 60's during the day. Any other time of the year, it can drop 20 degrees or more at night, and we have more humidity here, so it can feel very cool at night, compared to the day. Bring a light jacket and you'll be fine.
Want good deals? Check with your hotel for tourist packages which include discounts if you combine tourist spots. You can also get these tourist packages through your airlines, car rental agency etc. |
Travel
Forum 
United States 
No Spam
Adult 
Gambling
Unfinished
Deception
Plagiarism
Not English
