OT - anyone on the board from San Diego?

[Eagles20]

Cabrillo national park is great.. The view is unreal. Old town has a lot of nice Mexican restaurants. Pacific beach area is also very nice. I went with my lady this past summer and loved it.

 

[sdhusky]

Cabrillo national park is great.. The view is unreal. Old town has a lot of nice Mexican restaurants. Pacific beach area is also very nice. I went with my lady this past summer and loved it.

I also like Cabrillo - great views and you can check out the tide pools below.

Hotel Del Coronado is like stepping back in time a hundred years and is right on the beach. Further north of Coronado is where the Navy Seals train and you can often see them.

I'm a big fan of the Zoo esp the polar bears, the road with all the cats, sea lion show, gorilla's & monkey. Definitely do the gondola - it'll take you to the polar bears.

The Safari park up north is also fantastic but in a different way. The lions are great and the unirail trip is very fun. It will be very, very hot in August so I would keep that in mind. There are a few "water play" stations. The condors are also pretty cool.

Mission Bay has a old wooden roller coaster and a small, cheesy little amusement park. Not so great but my son loved it when he was younger. It's fun to watch the people ride the artificial wave. The boardwalk in Pacific Beach is pretty fun - great place for people watching.

A favorite of my son was the model train museum in Balboa park. He loved going there. The Imax theatre is also fun and it has a great science museum that you can visit if you see a movie there. The gym in balboa park usually has some high quality bb games going on. Its near the Aerospace museum and San Diego Hall of Champions - Bill Walton, Ted Williams, Marcus Allen etc. etc. etc. Fun for a sports fan.

La Jolla is a great spot for walking - the children's pool CTO mentioned is great place to always be able to see sea lions up close. The Crab Catcher has a nice champagne breakfast on Sundays with spectacular views. Taking a kayak tour of the caves is great fun. La Jolla shores a good beach for younger children. Torrey Pines is a great beach too and you can do a hike up the hill, into the state park, down to the beach and come back to the car along the beach along the cliffs.

Lego Land is great fun but mostly for younger kids - say under 12 at the most. I would not take kids older than that there. Sea World is a better choice. It has a water park, some good rides and all the creatures. Getting is the water with dolphins is very popular.

I'm not a fan of Old Town. Kinda cheesey but a good place for a Mexican meal. The Presidio golf course is a pitch and putt and appropriate for younger kids.

Do NOT go toTJ. It's not safe and as soon as you get there, you will wonder why you even wanted to go.

Also, if you feel a need to watch a few hundred hours of recorded UCONN games -bb or football, you can ring me up.

 

[cto]

Marsh, sdhusky is a really good guy. Since he lives there, you might want to PM him if you have any detailed questions.

 

[Marsh01]

Marsh, sdhusky is a really good guy. Since he lives there, you might want to PM him if you have any detailed questions.

I plan on it. Thanks

 

[Eric15]

Marsh, sdhusky is a really good guy. Since he lives there, you might want to PM him if you have any detailed questions.

Wow - CTO bringing together Marsh and a UConn fan. This is as historically significant as when Bill Clinton brought together Yasser Arafat and Yitzhak Rabin.

 

[Phillymoose]

Let me try to hit a few spots that no one else has.
Del Mar - quaint little town North of La Jolla. Take the drive up Torrey Pines road.. some spectacular views. There is hiking there ... really nice.
For a resort type feel - stay at La Costa. Not terrific for the kids, but not bad either. Golf and Spa, but can be pricey.
Definitely worth spending a few hours in Old Town - (as others have said)
Balboa Park for museums - but honestly, just walking around Balboa is probably a better use of time.
Gas Lamp district - Downtown San Diego
Mission Bay is nice but generally crowded. There are resort type hotels there as well and lots of kids stuff.

Scripps has a great little aquarium that is cheap in an absolutely stunning location not far from UCSD in La Jolla. If you are going to do Del Mar - stop by aquarium first - then head up Torrey Pines road, pass TP golf course on your left, then enjoy spectacular views (and beach and hiking) before hitting Del Mar itself. Little past that is the Racetrack which would be an absolute must but racing season is long gone.

btw - I'm pretty sure it wasn't the Mexicans who ruined TJ.

 

[sdhusky]

Let me try to hit a few spots that no one else has.
Del Mar - quaint little town North of La Jolla. Take the drive up Torrey Pines road.. some spectacular views. There is hiking there ... really nice.
For a resort type feel - stay at La Costa. Not terrific for the kids, but not bad either. Golf and Spa, but can be pricey.
Definitely worth spending a few hours in Old Town - (as others have said)
Balboa Park for museums - but honestly, just walking around Balboa is probably a better use of time.
Gas Lamp district - Downtown San Diego
Mission Bay is nice but generally crowded. There are resort type hotels there as well and lots of kids stuff.

Scripps has a great little aquarium that is cheap in an absolutely stunning location not far from UCSD in La Jolla. If you are going to do Del Mar - stop by aquarium first - then head up Torrey Pines road, pass TP golf course on your left, then enjoy spectacular views (and beach and hiking) before hitting Del Mar itself. Little past that is the Racetrack which would be an absolute must but racing season is long gone.

btw - I'm pretty sure it wasn't the Mexicans who ruined TJ.

Great call on the aquarium - unbelievable location.

August is racing season at Del Mar. I would put it on a must list

 

[moqui]

For a resort type feel - stay at La Costa. Not terrific for the kids, but not bad either. Golf and Spa, but can be pricey.

:crazy: short of Disney, La Costa is one of the most kid family resorts around - we take our son there, usually with other families with kids, 2 or 3 times a year.

 

[jekelish]

I was there a few years ago, stayed at the Marriott attached to the convention center (I'll admit, I was disappointed that I was there a week before Comic Con, would have enjoyed seeing that insanity). Beautiful location and hotel. Right on the water, near a ton of stuff. Easy walking distance to Petco Park...went to a game there, got tickets easily. Nice ballpark.

Sadly the awesome BBQ joint that was used in Top Gun (where Goose is playing the piano) burned down a couple years ago. Shame, too, it had maybe the best sliced beef sandwich I've ever had, and was one of those awesome little hole in the wall dumps that was only known because it was used in the movie.

With kids it might be tough to really do Gaslamp, but there are some great bars and restaurants down there. There was an awesome Mexican place, cannot for the life of me remember what it was called, not far from Petco.

The shopping area right on the marina is beautiful, and also has some good restaurants. I will warn you, within about 20 minutes of getting off the plane I wanted to move there...but it's SUPER expensive.

 

[Phillymoose]

:crazy: short of Disney, La Costa is one of the most kid family resorts around - we take our son there, usually with other families with kids, 2 or 3 times a year.

It probably felt that way since you were with other families, but La Costa does not have all day kids programs like many resorts do. Disney is a weird comparison here - since we are talking about hotels/resorts, and there are about a gazillion disney ones - of all shapes and sizes..