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What to do in San Diego. Flying in 3 days prior to cruise

patattack

By patattack,
in West Coast Departures

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CruiserBruce

CruiserBruce

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Posted
36 minutes ago, Northern Aurora said:

There are a  number of San Diego hotels which are convenient for cruises.

 

Regarding attractions -- we usually spend most of the day on the Midway.  The SD Maritime Museum is also very interesting.  And for baseball fans Petco Field is easy to reach.

The OP is going in early October. Baseball regular season will be over...but I agree, Petco is easy to get to from the port area, and a nice park.

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Northern Aurora

Northern Aurora

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38 minutes ago, CruiserBruce said:

The OP is going in early October. Baseball regular season will be over...but I agree, Petco is easy to get to from the port area, and a nice park.

 

I haven't looked at the 2023 season but the last home game in 2022 is the Padres versus the Giants on October 5th.

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ATSEAMYLIFE

ATSEAMYLIFE

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 If you can find the walking tour of the Gaslamp called, "Brothels, Bites, and Booze" do it.  Great way to spend a couple of hours in the early evening.  Take the ferry out to Coronado Island and walk around the landing area and have something to eat.  Zoo is great, but we like the Safari Park a little better.  

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psuboater

psuboater

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Spent a 4 day weekend in San Diego this past Spring. My husband and I are big fans of Zoos, but we felt disappointed in the San Diego Zoo. I felt that the sprawl of the zoo was more shops than animals (especially for $70pp)  and most habitats felt small. We were surprised as the zoo is touted as one of the first to fight for conservation for animals.

 

The park surrounding the zoo, Balboa park, is a must see. We really enjoyed the "Museum of Us", but you can spend a whole day enjoying the park and all the views that it has to offer.

 

La Jolla is a quick uber ride away and a beautiful way to spend the afternoon. We had brunch outside at Cody's and then walked the trail by the coast and admired the sea lions and otters.

 

Another way you can spend the day is taking the ferry to Coronado island and walking around (or taking a bike). We enjoyed a beer on the Pacific at the Hotel del Coronado and spent the day taking in the gorgeous houses and flowers. 

 

For food, we went back to J&Tony's Discount Negronis several times. It's a funky bar with fantastic drinks and food. We would go back to San Diego just for this bar. We enjoyed breakfast at Breakfast Republic (get there early!). For Mexican, Blind Burro did not disappoint. For a WOW dinner, Louisiana Purchase had a fantastic crab boil and lobster pasta. Not far for Lousiana Purchase was a family owned Greek restaurant called Olympic Cafe - if I could take back the spicy feta dip home with me I would have!

 

We stayed at the Westin Gaslamp. Nice pool and fitness center and in the middle of walking distance of everything.

 

One thing to keep in mind - wear sunscreen! The temperatures are a perfect 75-80 but with an ocean breeze, so the sunburn catches up with you quickly. One of my worst burns was the first day in San Diego where I didn't even feel I was burned until it was too late.

 

Enjoy! 

 

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OneSixtyToOne "Live from...." Rare

OneSixtyToOne

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Posted (edited)

As a resident of San Diego I highly recommend spending at least 2 days in Balboa Park. In addition to the zoo, it’s home to a dozen museums and numerous gardens. It’s the largest urban cultural park in the country. The facades on the buildings were used in the movie Citizen Kane to represent Kane’s fictional palatial estate of Xanadu. It’s worth a walk along The Prado, the park’s main walkway, just to experience the architecture.

 

Another hidden gem in the park is the San Diego Model Railroad Museum, one of the largest model train displays in the world. It’s 32,000 sq. ft. of world class models in a variety of scales many of which were constructed from the actual blueprints of local San Diego buildings. The Tehachapi Loop exhibit is two stories high and models almost turn by turn the train line from Mojave to Bakersfield. Quite a sight.

Edited by OneSixtyToOne
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CruiserBruce

CruiserBruce

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47 minutes ago, AnnieBelle said:

I’m going on a cruise out of San Diego in December and I will stay at the Hampton Inn downtown on the Pacific Highway. It’s close to Little Italy and the waterfront.

But it's stuck between a noisy rail line and a busy front street. Absolutely can't recommend it.

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patattack

patattack

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On 8/23/2022 at 10:15 PM, ATSEAMYLIFE said:

 If you can find the walking tour of the Gaslamp called, "Brothels, Bites, and Booze" do it.  Great way to spend a couple of hours in the early evening.  Take the ferry out to Coronado Island and walk around the landing area and have something to eat.  Zoo is great, but we like the Safari Park a little better.  

thanks!  Some great ideas.

 

Pat

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patattack

patattack

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On 8/25/2022 at 10:10 PM, OneSixtyToOne said:

As a resident of San Diego I highly recommend spending at least 2 days in Balboa Park. In addition to the zoo, it’s home to a dozen museums and numerous gardens. It’s the largest urban cultural park in the country. The facades on the buildings were used in the movie Citizen Kane to represent Kane’s fictional palatial estate of Xanadu. It’s worth a walk along The Prado, the park’s main walkway, just to experience the architecture.

 

Another hidden gem in the park is the San Diego Model Railroad Museum, one of the largest model train displays in the world. It’s 32,000 sq. ft. of world class models in a variety of scales many of which were constructed from the actual blueprints of local San Diego buildings. The Tehachapi Loop exhibit is two stories high and models almost turn by turn the train line from Mojave to Bakersfield. Quite a sight.

thanks for your recommendations.   Great information.  Looking forward to making my itinerary for pre cruise.

 

Pat

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patattack

patattack

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On 8/24/2022 at 1:13 PM, psuboater said:

Spent a 4 day weekend in San Diego this past Spring. My husband and I are big fans of Zoos, but we felt disappointed in the San Diego Zoo. I felt that the sprawl of the zoo was more shops than animals (especially for $70pp)  and most habitats felt small. We were surprised as the zoo is touted as one of the first to fight for conservation for animals.

 

The park surrounding the zoo, Balboa park, is a must see. We really enjoyed the "Museum of Us", but you can spend a whole day enjoying the park and all the views that it has to offer.

 

La Jolla is a quick uber ride away and a beautiful way to spend the afternoon. We had brunch outside at Cody's and then walked the trail by the coast and admired the sea lions and otters.

 

Another way you can spend the day is taking the ferry to Coronado island and walking around (or taking a bike). We enjoyed a beer on the Pacific at the Hotel del Coronado and spent the day taking in the gorgeous houses and flowers. 

 

For food, we went back to J&Tony's Discount Negronis several times. It's a funky bar with fantastic drinks and food. We would go back to San Diego just for this bar. We enjoyed breakfast at Breakfast Republic (get there early!). For Mexican, Blind Burro did not disappoint. For a WOW dinner, Louisiana Purchase had a fantastic crab boil and lobster pasta. Not far for Lousiana Purchase was a family owned Greek restaurant called Olympic Cafe - if I could take back the spicy feta dip home with me I would have!

 

We stayed at the Westin Gaslamp. Nice pool and fitness center and in the middle of walking distance of everything.

 

One thing to keep in mind - wear sunscreen! The temperatures are a perfect 75-80 but with an ocean breeze, so the sunburn catches up with you quickly. One of my worst burns was the first day in San Diego where I didn't even feel I was burned until it was too late.

 

Enjoy! 

 

thanks for such great information.  Looks like you had a busy and fun 4 days.  

 

Pat

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alicam

alicam

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Posted (edited)
On 8/23/2022 at 8:06 PM, Northern Aurora said:

 

I haven't looked at the 2023 season but the last home game in 2022 is the Padres versus the Giants on October 5th.

True.... but 2022 season was pushed back a week this year...won't happen next season 

Edited by alicam
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