On Sept 14-19.
Questions…
Do we need a rental car?
What hotels to staying in or avoid? (like Balboa Inn, Doubletree or the B&B Keating house) Others?
Besides the usual attractions (zoo, sea world) what is a must see?
Is it worth heading down to Mexico?
Input…need more input! 
Please ignore mistakes and the fact that this is the wrong forum…DRAT!
Sorry.
Yes, a car would probably be the best idea. There is public transportation, but it tends to be concentrated in the downtown area. Also, SD isn’t too crowded, yet, relative to some other cities, so having a car isn’t an inconvenience.
Hotels. I don’t know of any to avoid, but you might want to consider looking at downtown, rather than Mission Valley. It’s closer to a lot more cool things to do in the evenings.
Must sees. I would do Balboa Park (that’s also where the Zoo is, but there are many nice museums, etc., as well as generally prettiness.) La Jolla, Coronado, and downtown have the nicest restaurants and shops. They are also close to the harbor or the ocean. La Jolla also has a beautiful cove where sea lions hang out. If you are up for a fancy dinner with a great view, you might try either the Marine Room (La Jolla) or the Star of the Sea Room (Harbor).
I haven’t been to Mexico in a long time, so I’ll let someone else answer that question.
I would say any major chain is going to be a safe bet. So if a Doubletree is on your list, go for it. If the address of the hotels are Hotel Circle, that would be the Mission Valley area that cher3 refers to. It’s very central, but is in the midst of a retail and housing area. Downtown is definitely more lively within walking distance, especially for nightlife. But MV is just minutes from downtown, so it’s not a bad choice.
If you’ve got wee ones, there’s always Legoland in Carlsbad, which is about a 1/2 hour north on interstate 5.
Off to IMHO.
DrMatrix - GQ Moderator
This is southern California a car is pretty much needed if you want to travel anywhere. Besides the zoo there is the affiliated Wild Animal Park about an hour from San Diego. The park is really neat they have large open spaces with the big African herbivores roaming relatively free. I would try to go to this on a week day so the wait for the train is not so long. I would not stay in Mission Valley it is congested and not particularly near anything anymore than downtown is. The Holiday Inn on harbor drive is good. Accross the street from the bay and the Star of India which is famous for being the site of my wedding so you definitely want to check that out.
i recommend hotel la pensione http://www.lapensionehotel.com/
if you go to mexico try driving down to puerto nuevo and go to ortega’s for lobster. there might still be bullfights during the time you’ll be here. oh yeah, check out torrey pines state preserve and mission san diego.
There are a few topics on visiting SD on the board. Get a rental car online cause then its cheaper. The usual web places, hertz.com, enterprise.com Etc.
Barbacoa cabeza de vaca?
Dude, stay away from that stuff. It’s nasty!
Go for the combo plate or the Burrito as Big as Your Head[sup]TM[/sup]. Much, much better.
You need a car. Hotel? You didn’t mention your price range, but I’d recommend The Radisson La Jolla. Good location: easy on/off freeway, close to beach, walking distance to 2 movie theatres and lots of dining choices.
Mexico? Go to Old Town, then, if you feel you need a more authentic experience, drive to the border and walk across. It can be a bit of a wait to come back across sometimes. Balboa Park is a must, go on Tuesday when some of the museums will be free.
If you like to hike, Torrey Pines is a close choice, and the the mountains to the east have good options. The town of Julian is a good daytrip. If you want to see desert, Anza Borrego State Park is 1 1/2 hours away. I could go on…
Do we need a rental car?
Not if you are staying down town. Depends on what you want to see.
What hotels to staying in or avoid? (like Balboa Inn, Doubletree or the B&B Keating house) Others?
The Hotel Del Coronado is good. If you want to be downtown I’ve always liked the Sheraton Towers
Besides the usual attractions (zoo, sea world) what is a must see? Be sure to visit Seaport Village if you want to shop. The Pier is a great place to stop for some seafood. Finer dining is in the Gaslamp district. Mission beach is your best bet if you want to hang out in the sand.
Is it worth heading down to Mexico?
Yep. Take the trolley to TJ if you are staying downtown. Stay in the tourist areas and you’ll have a great time.
My 2 cents (I live in San Diego):
Car ? Yes. Definitely. Far too big of a city, and to be honest, the public transportation sucks.
Can’t give you much input on hotels. Really depends a lot on where you want to be (beach or downtown), and what you want to do. And, of course, your budget. The car decision plays into this.
Things to see:
The zoo is a great zoo. But I actually prefer and recommend the Wild Animal Park (about 45 minutes north). The difference is that the animals are out in these huge open areas together. Not just in their own little pens (although some of them are). So you get more of a “in the wild” setting for the various animals. You take this tram through the majority of the park, and you will get to see tons of animals.
I am not a real big fan of Sea World. Every time I go, I can’t get past the “overcommercialised, pseudo-conservation” feel of the place. There are some cool exhibits, though. If you do go, be sure to check out the shark exhibit.
Even if you decide not to stay there, I would recommend at least a visit to the Hotel Del Coronado. It is a beautiful Victorian hotel with a lot of class and character. Coronodo island is just a nice place to visit anyway (great beach, some shopping). The hotel has a great (but a bit pricey) Sunday brunch that is awesome. Just don’t eat anything Saturday night, and go in hungry !
Beaches. Essentially the closer to downtown you get, the more crowded the beaches will be. If you want a little less crowds and maybe some cliffs, head north (La Jolla, Torry Pines, Del Mar, Solana Beach).
History. Old Town is a cool little state park with a bunch of the original buildings. It is somewhat commercialized (lots of little shops), but not too bad. Outside the park are a couple streets with some cool little shops as well.
Mexico. For starters, most rental car companies won’t allow you to take your car into Mexico. So that would kind of limit you, and kind of leaves Tijuana (walk across) as the easiest option. That said, I’ve never been a fan of Tijuana. I see it as a really grungy, bizarre, swap-meet like shopping center. It is certainly not representative of Mexico on the whole. If it were me, I’d spend my time elsewhere.
Food. I’d highly recommend checking out the Gaslamp Quarter in downtown for a wide variety of restaurants. La Jolla also has a great selection. Also, don’t be afraid to try one of the numerous little taco shops all over town. They may not look like much, but you can get some great (big) burritos for really cheap.
That should get you started. Just so you know, we’ve been having an abnormally wet (humid) summer this year. Probably nothing like Minn. humidity, but more humid than normal.
Since cormac262 brought up the weather, let me fill you in a bit more. September is one of the hottest months in the San Diego area, usually. However, the humidity is, indeed, nothing like the humidity in MN. (I grew up near Chicago, so I know.)
The weather around the coast is pretty generally good. It rarely gets above 80 or much below 70 (at night) in the summer. You should be aware, though, that temperatures are going to rise rapidly as you move inland, even a few miles. It’s not at all unusual for it to be in the 70s on the coast and in the 90s or higher 10 or 15 miles inland.
Its a pretty good time to travel here. The busiest tourist season is over, but it’s still prime beach weather. Hope you have a great trip.
[minnesotan]
Thanks a bunch guys!
[/minnesotan]
I am printing this out to take with me before we leave.
My wife picked a hotel and I believe it was the Radisson. We will be getting a rental car because of the advice given here.
We will be heading there Sept 14 so if people have more to add, it will be appreciated.
Definitely will have to check out the Wild Animal Park.
Do others agree with the ‘do not go to Mexico’ advice?
I second the Marine Room in La Jolla. On the pricey side, but the food is fantastic. The location is unreal- the surf comes right up to the side of the restaurant. In fact, they’ve had to replace bay windows on several occasions due to breakage by waves.
-Apoptosis
Black’s Beach is great, its right in front of UCSD. I used to walk to it from La Jolla Shores.
Re:The zoo/wild animal park–I’d go to the zoo first, then the wild animal park if you need to see more. Go first thing in the morning when the animals will be most active, 'specially the hippos and polar bears. Also, consider buying a membership; for the price of a single membership, you get unlimited admission to the zoo and park, plus some free passes and discount tix which you can use for the other person.
Black’s Beach is a nice beach, but is “clothing optional”, and a huge majority of the crowd there are males. Just an FYI.
A few places for great views: Mt Soledad, Kate Sessions Park, and Cabrillo National Monument.
Yes. Unless you are going to take the time to go further than Tijuana. It is a city of almost one million and not a very nice one. And, if you drive an auto in Mexico YOU MUST HAVE MEXICAN INSURANCE because if you don’t and have even a minor fender bender you car will no doubt be impounded. As was said, many auto rentals will not allow you to take the car into Mexico.