what to do with a few hours in San Diego?

[beckms]

I'm taking a road trip to San Diego to see my brother's band perform, and I plan to arrive mid-day so I can get some sight-seeing in. I've never been ANYWHERE in California--any suggestions for what to do for a few hours in SD?

thanks!:)

[Robyn1007]

I enjoyed my breakfast and walk around Hotel del Coronado when I was there a few years ago. In fact, I have a tumbled marble coaster with an image of The Del as they call it that is my coaster on my desk at work.

[DanaSD]

go to downtown La Jolla and take a walk along the cliffs (its a side walk path with raling that overlooks the beach) and along children's pool (where the seals live). Stop in a cafe for lunch - many have ocean views.

or go to Coronado and have a drink on the patio at the Hotel Del Coronado.

[MaryH]

Where is he performing? (i.e. what part of town)

[beckms]

Here's the show info; it looks like the club is in Ocean Beach:

Tuesday, October 23, 2007
9:30 PM

Winston's Beach Club
1921 Bacon St
San Diego, California 92107
(Yahoo! Maps, Google Maps)
Category
Music
Description
Giant Panda Guerilla Dub Squad makes original music for all to grip. They play reggae that's pure in its musicality and fresh in its originality. Panda is honored to have shared bills with reggae greats The Wailers and the Meditations and have graced the stages of colleges and clubs up and down the northeast. Giant Panda Guerilla Dub Squad is committed to connecting all people with great music.

[DanaSD]

yes thats Ocean Beach. They have an awesome dog beach there that we always like to stop by. La Jolla is just north of pacific beach/mission which is north of ocean beach. You could also go to point loma and drive up to the light house and there's a great view of the coast. Coronado is south of downtown which is just south of ocean beach so doable but a little farther away.

[Puppylove]

While Coronado is pretty, it is not so easy to get in and out of since you have to cross the bridge and suffer the traffic that goes with it. Traffic would also be my primary concern sending you to La Jolla since you would not want to be on the 5 freeway (headed in any direction at all) from 3:30 to 7pm, and you wouldn't want to drive the coast because directions get really fuzzy going between a couple of the beach towns. Pt. Loma has a cute little shopping/cafe area, other than that it has the lighthouse and the tidepools. With all of that in mind, I'd go to Balboa park if I were you. It has a botanical garden and several museums, some are free admission on certain days so google balboa park, museums, etc. Other than that - are you a Rachel Ray fan? She did a $40-a-day episode here.

[MinEaston]

I just got back from a week in San Diego and I'd agree that getting down to Coronado & back could be tricky, but isn't terrible. In fact I found it quite easy to get around town. Maybe Hammster will weigh in - he and I weren't able to catch up in IRL while I was there but he did have some great suggestions. You can stroll along the beach at Ocean Beach and the doggy beach is neat - my 2.5 year old DD had a ball watching dogs and tossing a tennis ball to my SIL's dog.

Balboa Park is also very nice and while I wasn't able to visit the museums, DD and I did walk around a bit. The zoo is worth the trip and the admission fees, and with a few hours you could cover a lot of it - we spent 3 hours on Sunday morning and saw almost everything.

[Hammster]

A weekday afternoon. Traffic starts to be an issue around 3 pm til around 6-7 pm depending on the day. Ocean Beach can be particularly heavy in the evening. La Jolla isn't too bad of a suggestion as you can get to OB without going back to a freeway and stay within side streets. Point Loma is another option. Seeing the lighthouse is one idea. Balboa Park/Zoo could be doable, but traffic out of downtown at the time the zoo closes (an hour after sunset if I recall correctly) could be rough. But you'd have a couple hours to get over to OB before the band starts. You can also get over to OB from the Zoo area without getting on a freeway.
Does your brother live in San Diego? I mean, will you have a base of operations you'll be working from? Or will you just be driving in and hoping to find parking in OB and whatnot on your own?
Get very detailed directions to the venue as OB can get tricky to drive around in.

[beckms]

Thanks everyone! I'm excited to check out the beach and maybe the zoo or a museum...plus my great-uncle lives in SD, so I might try to have lunch with him.

My brother lives in Rochester, NY. His band is touring across the country right now, and they're going to turn around in CA and start heading back east. They're really good; they play reggae. If anyone's in the area and wants to check out a fun show, go see Giant Panda!

Now that I'm the representative family member on the west coast, I thought it was important to make the drive over to SD for the show.

:cool:

[Hammster]

Where does great uncle live in San Diego? He might be able to help with ideas too. Even help you get to OB ok.

[MaryH]

When you said Winston's I immediately thought reggae. It has been a mainstay for the local reggae scene for years. And OB is a neighborhood that supports a reggae vibe (along with all sorts of other mellow vibes, I might add :cool: ). Keeping in mind that I am probably showing if not my age, at least how many years it is since I've lived in SD (>10), there was a cool restaurant with window views of the beach that was upstairs and was right in downtown OB - food was okay, but it's a great place to have a drink at sunset - I am sure it is still there, I just have no idea what it's called now. There was also a really cool retro bar - okay "hole in the wall" - that was on the main drag (there is basically one main street in downtown OB) and once again memory cells have long since faded as to the name but it had a seashell theme.

As for what to do - I like the La Jolla suggestion because (1) you can get to OB without getting on a freeway and (2) you get two total opposite ends of the spectrum in terms of neighborhoods and it will show you just how diverse SD neighborhoods can be. La Jolla is stunning, but pricey. If you like to drive around million dollar homes and check out various architecture the neighborhood is great for that. The cove is beautiful and there are nice shops to walk around (too expensive for me but hey window shopping costs nothing :) ) The museum of modern art there is pretty cool.

OB on the other hand is a funky retro neighborhood, stuck in the 50-60s in a cool mellow type of way. Vintage shops, local bars, and small 1950s Craftsman beach style cottage bungalows (read: really small houses on long narrow lots).

HTH and if I remember the name of either the restaurant or the bar, I'll let you know (or maybe someone else here knows what I'm talking about.)

[Puppylove]

La Jolla also has great art galleries and some great cafes, plus a really beautiful coastine, but I've lived in SD for almost 10 years and I would not want to drive the coast from La Jolla to OB. Just throwing that out there one more time. Of course, if you have all day, if you have a GPS, don't mind beach city traffic, and are aware that if you want to pull over and grab a bite or stop at the beach you must have change for the meter and look diligently for a parking space, than it could be a perfectly lovely day trip.

Hammster - I'm thinking that if she does balboa in the day and hangs out in the gaslamp till 8pm she shouldn't have much trouble getting into OB, then again, I don't hang out downtown till 8pm very often! I think you are closer to downtown than I am (north county), so am I wrong?

[Hammster]

Hammster - I'm thinking that if she does balboa in the day and hangs out in the gaslamp till 8pm she shouldn't have much trouble getting into OB, then again, I don't hang out downtown till 8pm very often! I think you are closer to downtown than I am (north county), so am I wrong?

At 8 pm she wouldn't have much trouble getting into OB. But she might have trouble finding a place to park in OB if she waits that late to go to OB. There are plenty of things to do in OB that she could get into OB a little earlier and do some things in OB before the concert.

[DanaSD]

unless the traffic has gotten way worse since I left a year ago, its not that bad. Its rush hour traffic like in any city. But if you wait until 6 or 630 to leave La Jolla I think it would at most take 30 minutes (45 on a really bad day) to get to OB. If you've never been anywhere in CA, the coastline is what you should see.

I used to drive from Mira Mesa to Pacific Beach and 1 time per week from Mira Mesa to the airport so I've done it many times but its no worse than traffic here in Phoenix. Its the 5/805 merge up north that I hated.

[MaryH]

You can either go down 5S or take La Jolla Blvd south and go along the beach cities - Pacific Beach, etc. Either way, mileage wise we're only talking about 10 miles or so - that's freeway or off freeway. With no traffic Google maps estimates it'd take you 20 minutes going non freeway (and less than that if you get on the freeway)

Here are the directions for non freeway from la Jolla to OB. (Courtesy of Google maps.)

1. Head southwest on Torrey Pines Rd toward Virginia Way - 318 ft
2. Turn left at Girard Ave - 0.1 mi
3. Turn right at Pearl St - 0.4 mi
4. Turn left at La Jolla Blvd - 2.0 mi
5. At the traffic circle, take the 2nd exit and stay on La Jolla Blvd- 0.1 mi
6. At the traffic circle, take the 1st exit and stay on La Jolla Blvd- 0.4 mi
7. Turn left at Wrelton Dr - 430 ft
8. Head south on Wrelton Dr toward La Jolla Blvd - 430 ft
9. Turn left at La Jolla Blvd - 0.3 mi
10. Turn right at Mission Blvd - 2.3 mi
11. Turn left at W Mission Bay Dr - 1.1 mi
12. Take the Sunset Cliffs Blvd ramp - 0.3 mi
13. Keep left at the fork to continue toward Sunset Cliffs Blvd and merge onto Sunset Cliffs Blvd - 0.5 mi
14. Slight right to stay on Sunset Cliffs Blvd (signs for Sunset Cliffs Blvd)- 0.5 mi