San Diego: What To Do & Where To Eat

[tarheelmjfan]

My DH & I will be in San Diego next month. We're arriving late on Wed, Apr 5th. We'll have all day on the 6th to tour, & will be going on a cruise on the 7th. We'll be returning to SD on the 17th, & will have the whole day to tour, before a red eye flight. We're staying at the Marriott Hotel & Marina, & only plan to rent a car on the 17th. (My DH doesn't like to drive on vacation, if he can avoid it.) This will be our 1st visit to SD.

We're not interested in the zoo, Wild Animal Park, or any amusement parks. While we enjoy browsing through quaint gift shops occasionally, we're definitely not power shoppers. We enjoy history & culture, among other things. I received a suggestion from another Diser (thanks again, marjie8230 ) to visit La Jolla & dine at Georges. This sounds like a perfect day for us. It's exactly the type of thing we enjoy. I'd love to have suggestions for other things to do, & recommendations on which day would be best to do them. Things that are specific to SD would be perfect!

Last but definitely not least, I'm in search of more restaurant suggestions. We enjoy good food & don't mind paying for it. Actually, we plan most of our trips around where we want to eat. Marjie3280 suggested we have lunch at Georges, so we still need recommendations for 1 lunch & 2 dinners. (We'll probably have room service or eat in the hotel our 1st night, since we'll be arriving fairly late.)

TIA for any help you can provide.

 

[ChrisnSteph]

I'm not familiar with all the restaurants, but try visiting the Gas Lamp quarter. It's downtown, and they have some great places to eat, and it's very artsy! They also have some great pubs - including Karl Strauss Brewery.

http://www.gaslamp.org/

 

[golfgal]

I was going to recommend the Sunday brunch at the Del Coronado but you won't be there on a Sunday. It would be worth having a meal there and taking the ghost tour tough. The hotel itself is beautiful!

 

[LukenDC]

I think that spending the day in La Jolla is a great idea. The La Jolla Cove is one of the prettiest places that I have ever seen and the village of La Jolla has lots of neat galleries and boutiques. If you go to La Jolla in the morning, try to have breakfast at Nine-Ten Restaurant located in the Grande Colonial Hotel, 910 Prospect Street. During the early evening, the terrace of the La Valencia Hotel (also on Prospect) is a great place to sit and have a cocktail while watching the sun set over the Pacific. I have never eaten at George's, but it is well-regarded.

Balboa Park, located in downtown San Diego, is one of the nation's premiere urban parks. The park and its gorgeous Spanish colonial buildings were created for the 1915 Panama Canal Exposition. Balboa Park has museums, an IMAX theatre, performing arts theatre (Old Globe) and is home to the zoo. While I have never dined there, I have heard many wonderful things about the Prado restaurant located in the House of Hospitality.

The Crown Room restaurant located in the Hotel Del Coronado is quite famous. Frank Baum, author of the Wizard of Oz, used to dine there regularly and designed the chandeliers. The Crown Room may serve only brunch, so call ahead if you are interested. The Hotel Del is also noteworthy as the site of the Marilyn Monroe film Some Like It Hot and was the setting for the introduction of King Edward to Wallace Simpson---an event that culminated in the abdication crisis twenty years later. When I last stayed at the Marriott Marina, there was water taxi service between the hotel and the Marriott resort located on Coronado. From there, you could either take a taxi to the Hotel Del or walk (between one and two miles).

San Diego is a fantastic place. Have a great time!

 

[AuntieM03]

I like to go eat mexican food in Old Town San Diego.

 

[Sandy V.]

Croce's is a great restaurant. It's owned and operated by Ingrid Croce, Jim Croce's widow. A little pricey, but wonderful food.

 

[JudicialTyranny]

I had dinner at Chez Loma on Coronado and it was excellent - Coronado is just over the bridge from the city.

http://www.chezloma.com/

 

[JoyG]

One thing I enjoyed about San Diego when I was there was the Old Town Trolley Tour. It gave me an overview of the major places in the city and I was able to get on and off the tour bus as I wished.

You'll probably like Balboa Park...very cultural.

This is a website I used to plan my trip to San Diego, by a local, and he lists some great places to eat.

www.localwally.com

 

[mickeysgal]

My DH & I will be in San Diego next month. We're arriving late on Wed, Apr 5th. We'll have all day on the 6th to tour, & will be going on a cruise on the 7th.

I don't have anything to add, but I'm very interested in the responses as we'll be traveling there soon also.

To the OP...have a great cruise! I'm envious!!

 

[QueenTriton]

Old Town is good for history and Mexican food.

In the Marina area, there is an aircraft carrier you can tour. We loved this, but we love that kind of thing. It is located in the same place as the cruise terminal.

The Gaslamp quarter is great for jazz and food.

 

[tarheelmjfan]

Thanks for all the great suggestions. I checked out all your links. I'm starting to get very excited! Now, I wish we had more time.

I'm thinking it may be best to spend the 17th in La Jolla, since it sounds like an all day thing. We could have a late breakfast, an early dinner, then cocktails w/ a view, before heading to the airport. How does that sound for a plan?

The 6th is a little more difficult to plan. There's too many things to see, & not enough time. It sounds like Coronado Island, Balboa Park, Gaslamp Qtr., & Old Town are all a "must". Did I read that one of them has an historical recreation?

We'd want to return to the hotel for a shower, before going out to a nice dinner. An after dinner drink, while listening to live music (Jazz, etc.) would be a perfect end to a great day. With this plan, it would probably be easier to have dinner & drinks closer to our hotel. Are any of those areas close to the Marriott Marina? I'd love suggestions for the best way to maximize our time?

BTW, we definitely would have liked dining in The Crown Room at the Del, but it isn't open when we're there.

 

[Brianne]

Another vote for Old Town. I haven't been there in years, but grew up going there to eat on many occasions. Great mexican food!

And I agree with the suggestions on Balboa Park. Another favorite of mine---the schools used to do a lot of field trips to the space & science center there, which was a blast.

 

[LoriKay]

Anthony's Star of the Sea restaurant is pretty close to your hotel and used to be great if you like seafood. Anybody from San Diego or a recent visitor that can confirm if it's still really yummy??

 

[piglet too]

Seaport Village is also a fun place to shop. http://www.spvillage.com/

I really like to eat at Anthony's Fish Grotto http://www.gofishanthonys.com/ which is located right next to the Star of India, another must see. http://www.sdmaritime.com/

 

[Brianne]

Seaport Village is also a fun place to shop. http://www.spvillage.com/

Seaport Village!! I'd totally forgotten about that until you mentioned it. I *loved* going there too! Ok, add that to my list of suggestions!

 

[LukenDC]

I'm thinking it may be best to spend the 17th in La Jolla, since it sounds like an all day thing. We could have a late breakfast, an early dinner, then cocktails w/ a view, before heading to the airport. How does that sound for a plan?
(

La Jolla is compact and there are not a lot of attractions there except for the galleries, boutiques, and Cove. It is, however, very pretty and appealing. Personally I spend hours at the Cove taking in the natural beauty of it all. Others might not be so inclined, in which case La Jolla would not be a day long excursion.

 

[piglet too]

I think going to Seaport Village was always one of the highlights of my visits. I am not a big shopper, but this place is just so neat. Plus, I love to sit on the grass and just enjoy the view of the bay.

 

[LukenDC]

We'd want to return to the hotel for a shower, before going out to a nice dinner. An after dinner drink, while listening to live music (Jazz, etc.) would be a perfect end to a great day. With this plan, it would probably be easier to have dinner & drinks closer to our hotel. Are any of those areas close to the Marriott Marina? I'd love suggestions for the best way to maximize our time?

The Gaslamp Quarter is in close proximity to the Marriott Marina. A neat place to go for drinks is the bar located at the top of Hyatt tower located next door to the Marriott. THe Hyatt now has two towers, so be sure to ask which one has the bar. It's especially spectacular during the sunset.

 

[ahutton]

A couple people have mentioned Anthony's (Star of the Sea is dinner only - Grotto also does lunch) and I loved going there. For a "downtown" day you could do the 1 or 2 hour harbor cruise in the morning and see San Diego from the water, have lunch at the Grotto (grilled crab and cheese was SO GOOD!) and then walk through the Star of India ship (assuming it is still there and open - really cool) and/or Seaport Village. Then head back to the hotel, get cleaned up and head to the Gaslamp district for dinner and evening fun. I miss San Diego - truly a city I love.

 

[tarheelmjfan]

Wow, now I'm even more confused. So, LJ isn't a full day. That's good to know. We'll plan to fit in something else for half the day. What is Seaport Village like? How's the atmosphere? I checked out their website, but couldn't really get a feel for it from there. As I mentioned in my OP, we don't really like to shop. Would we still enjoy a visit there? Also, would you consider Anthony's one of the top fine dining restaurants in the city? Thanks for your patience in tolerating all my questions. I usually spend months reading about a destination, but I'm running out of, before this trip.