2 Afternoons and One Full Day in San Diego

[foxyhorn]

I am headed to a conference in San Diego in October. My husband is joining me at the end and we will have 2 afternoons and a full Saturday in San Diego. Right now we plan on going to the zoo Thursday afternoon and sightseeing in La Jolla Friday afternoon. Any advice on those attractions would be great. We are staying on Coronado Island.

Right now we need advice on:

(1) Nightlife, we plan on heading to the Gas Lamp District but have no idea what to do there.

(2) Food, we are looking for inexpensive places. We eat all types so nothing is off limits. Would prefer to eat at scenic places but don't want to spend a ton of money.

(3) We have no idea what to do on our one full day there. Any ideas would be great. We are somewhat interested in doing a tour of the wine country there but don't know much about it.

Thanks!

 

[BigWill]

The zoo is a must.

I'm not much of a club guy, so I would probably go to the gaslamp and look around.

For cheap eats, get mexican in old town.The Link
Also, plenty of hole-in-the-wall places at the beach areas, Pacific Beach, Ocean Beach, etc.
If you're into military stuff, a tour of the USS Midway is cool.The Link

Maybe a fishing trip out of seaforth or H&M?The Link

Wine country is in Temecula, about 60 miles up I-15The Link

A few good casinos, inc. Pala, Barona, etc.The LinkThe Link

If you're inclined, a day trip to Tijuana for shopping/lunch/cerveza is easy. Take the trolley to San Ysidro and walk across the border.

 

[ladan]

The Ivy at night. People go out early there, 9/10ish. So get there early or get a table.

 

[Iantexas]

1-Nightlife- the W Hotel downtown has a beach bar on the roof which sounds pretty fun. The Westin Emerald Plaza (Westin San Diego) has a really good happy hour- their wine and beer is about $4, and they have a massive cheese cart where you can get a ton of stuff for about $5. Worth doing.

2-Food- There are a ton of Tex-Mex places in Old Town that are decent, and it's a fun area to walk around in.

3-sights- Tijuana is ok, but if you've ever been to a border town before, it's about the same. There are a few interesting historic buildings, but not too much.

I'd strongly recommend the zoo and Balboa Park. There are a lot of smallish museums throughout the park. The zoo was great- the orangutang enclosure is massive and you can watch whole families interacting and playing around. There's also a cable car thing that goes above the whole zoo.

One other cool thing is when the Padres aren't playing, there's a little urban park they open up in the outfield. You can walk all the way up to the outfield bleachers, and get a really good perspective on the stadium. It's only a couple blocks from the Gaslamp area.

 

[Jive_Turkey]

In the Marriot Gaslamp hotel (next to Petco Park), there is a bar at the top called Altitude. Very chill.

Go up to Pacific Beach and get a Fatburger.

 

[bandrew]

The mission beach boardwalk is always a super time.