# Seeking suggestions for a week in San Diego **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [April 27, 2015, 3:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/seeking-suggestions-for-a-week-in-san-diego/718648 "2015-04-27T15:45:14Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 17\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Greg\_Charles](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/839c29/32.png) [@Greg\_Charles](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Greg_Charles)\ **Post date:** [April 28, 2015, 9:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/seeking-suggestions-for-a-week-in-san-diego/718648/21 "2015-04-28T21:59:35Z")
> [@Balance](#): > > Thanks for the suggestions, folks. I’m taking notes to pass on to the planning types. Petco is probably out. Balboa Park sounds promising, as does the Maritime Museum. La Jolla to see pinnipeds, whether we swim there or not. Cool beans. Let me know if you’ll be in La Jolla on a Monday or Thursday. I work right by the Cove on those days, and I’ll take you to the Public House for a beer. (Or if you don’t like beer, they also have a great selection of ales!) @guizot – to each his own I guess. I grew up in Los Angeles, and find the whole place to be a festering hellhole. And you list your location as East Hollywood? What, was Compton full up? 😉 ---
**Author:** ![fjs1fs](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/9e8a1a/32.png) [@fjs1fs](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/fjs1fs)\ **Post date:** [April 29, 2015, 8:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/seeking-suggestions-for-a-week-in-san-diego/718648/22 "2015-04-29T20:02:09Z")
If you like horse racing, Delmar is a really beautiful racetrack. ---
**Author:** ![Smapti](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/smapti/32/17938_2.png) [@Smapti](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Smapti)\ **Post date:** [April 29, 2015, 8:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/seeking-suggestions-for-a-week-in-san-diego/718648/23 "2015-04-29T20:11:51Z")
> [@snowthx](#): > > There is a Mexican restaurant in Old Town, where they are making tortillas by hand on a stove in the front window. Go there. Don’t go there. You don’t want “authentic” Mexican food when you’re in San Diego. You want San Diego style. Drive around until you find a building that’s red and yellow and has a drive-up window and its name is a Mexican man’s first name, preferably one ending in -Berto’s. It doesn’t matter which way you drive. You’ll find one eventually. It’ll be open, because they always are. Go there. ---
**Author:** ![Trinopus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/2bfe46/32.png) [@Trinopus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Trinopus)\ **Post date:** [April 29, 2015, 9:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/seeking-suggestions-for-a-week-in-san-diego/718648/24 "2015-04-29T21:03:18Z")
Abierto’s or Alimento’s. Personally, I’d go just a bit upscale on this, and go to a Mexican restaurant in a strip mall, with actual indoor seating, although not necessarily one where a waiter takes your order. The cuisine will be pretty much the same, but you won’t get jacaranda blooms dropping on your burrito. (I both love and hate jacaranda season!) ---
**Author:** ![DrForrester](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/8edcca/32.png) [@DrForrester](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrForrester)\ **Post date:** [May 9, 2015, 2:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/seeking-suggestions-for-a-week-in-san-diego/718648/26 "2015-05-09T02:23:27Z")
> **[36 Cool and Unusual Things to Do in San Diego](https://www.atlasobscura.com/things-to-do/san-diego-california)** > > Discover 36 hidden attractions, cool sights, and unusual things to do in San Diego from Sunny Jim Cave Store to Zoro Garden. ---
**Author:** ![Bullitt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bullitt/32/5725_2.png) [@Bullitt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bullitt)\ **Post date:** [May 9, 2015, 2:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/seeking-suggestions-for-a-week-in-san-diego/718648/27 "2015-05-09T02:33:17Z")
Some good ideas here. I like MB / OB / PB but get there not late. Nice beach areas that some have already suggested. The OP may want to try the City Data forums. [San Diego Forum - Relocation, Moving, General and Local City Discussions - City-Data Forum](http://www.city-data.com/forum/san-diego/) ---
**Author:** ![Gatopescado](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gatopescado/32/5711_2.png) [@Gatopescado](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gatopescado)\ **Post date:** [May 9, 2015, 5:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/seeking-suggestions-for-a-week-in-san-diego/718648/28 "2015-05-09T17:26:07Z")
Avoid LEGOLAND like The Clap. ---
**Author:** ![Trinopus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/2bfe46/32.png) [@Trinopus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Trinopus)\ **Post date:** [May 9, 2015, 7:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/seeking-suggestions-for-a-week-in-san-diego/718648/29 "2015-05-09T19:54:20Z")
**Gatopescado** : how come? I’ve never been (shame on me, as I live close by!) but it seems like it would be a pleasant enough place to visit. What do they do wrong? ---
**Author:** ![SeldomSeen](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/7ba0ec/32.png) [@SeldomSeen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SeldomSeen)\ **Post date:** [May 9, 2015, 11:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/seeking-suggestions-for-a-week-in-san-diego/718648/30 "2015-05-09T23:43:44Z")
> [@DrForrester](#): > > [43 Cool and Unusual Things to Do in San Diego - Atlas Obscura](http://www.atlasobscura.com/destinations/san-diego) Not really germane to the thread, but [this topic](http://http://www.atlasobscura.com/places/uss-recruit)in your link to local attractions caught my eye. The US Navy’s only surviving landship, decommissioned and apparently abandoned. The site of the former Navy Recruit Training Center has been redeveloped and no one has been able to find an adaptive reuse for this strange neither-fish-nor-fowl object. There are a number of present and former Navy types on this board - anyone else remember the _Recruit_? I trained “aboard” in 1984… SS eta; For some reason the link I posted doesn’t take you directly there. Instead, click on **Dr Forrester’s** link and scroll down to the bit about the _Recruit._ ---
**Author:** ![zbuzz](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/e19b73/32.png) [@zbuzz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/zbuzz)\ **Post date:** [May 9, 2015, 11:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/seeking-suggestions-for-a-week-in-san-diego/718648/31 "2015-05-09T23:49:54Z")
> [@Trinopus](#): > > **Gatopescado** : how come? I’ve never been (shame on me, as I live close by!) but it seems like it would be a pleasant enough place to visit. > > What do they do wrong? I’ve never been there either, but what I’ve heard is that unless you’re in the 10-and-under age range or a Lego maniac, there isn’t a whole lot to hold your interest because the rides and attractions are geared mainly towards children. It’s all Tea Cups, no Space Mountain. I don’t know if that puts it in the venereal disease category but… ---
**Author:** ![zbuzz](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/e19b73/32.png) [@zbuzz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/zbuzz)\ **Post date:** [May 10, 2015, 12:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/seeking-suggestions-for-a-week-in-san-diego/718648/32 "2015-05-10T00:43:30Z")
> [@SeldomSeen](#): > > Not really germane to the thread, but [this topic](http://http://www.atlasobscura.com/places/uss-recruit)in your link to local attractions caught my eye. > > The US Navy’s only surviving landship, decommissioned and apparently abandoned. The site of the former Navy Recruit Training Center has been redeveloped and no one has been able to find an adaptive reuse for this strange neither-fish-nor-fowl object. It hasn’t been abandoned, it is in fact being [restored](http://www.nbcsandiego.com/news/local/USS-Recruit-Gets-Into-Shipshape--282349301.html). It’s also on the California Historical Landmarks list, as well as the National Register of Historic Places list due to it being part of the NTC (I think this is the case, anyway, but I might be wrong), so I don’t think it’s going anywhere soon (I see what I did there). ---
**Author:** ![Trinopus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/2bfe46/32.png) [@Trinopus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Trinopus)\ **Post date:** [May 10, 2015, 12:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/seeking-suggestions-for-a-week-in-san-diego/718648/33 "2015-05-10T00:46:02Z")
> [@SeldomSeen](#): > > . . . The US Navy’s only surviving landship, decommissioned and apparently abandoned. The site of the former Navy Recruit Training Center has been redeveloped and no one has been able to find an adaptive reuse for this strange neither-fish-nor-fowl object. . . . Lovely old piece of history. Alas, while you can walk around it, you can’t get aboard it or on it or in it. And they’re not taking as good care of it as they might; paint’s peeling and the surface is chipping. What was it like inside, in the days when you trained? Corridors and hatches and a bridge and engine room? Or just a solid mass, good only for deck training? I keep hoping some day they’ll take a tour through! (I was once on a tour of the USS Kitty Hawk…and my group got separated from our guide. We were lost…on an aircraft carrier! We ended up stumbling out onto the hangar deck. A nice sailor led us back to where we ought to be. We were wondering how close we were to getting arrested or shot!) ---
**Author:** ![SeldomSeen](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/7ba0ec/32.png) [@SeldomSeen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SeldomSeen)\ **Post date:** [May 10, 2015, 4:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/seeking-suggestions-for-a-week-in-san-diego/718648/34 "2015-05-10T04:06:33Z")
> [@Trinopus](#): > > What was it like inside, in the days when you trained? Corridors and hatches and a bridge and engine room? Or just a solid mass, good only for deck training? I keep hoping some day they’ll take a tour through! Thirty-some years on, I don’t remember a lot of detail. At least part of the interior was complete… corridors, hatches, ladderways, bridge, but no engine room. The radio room was complete, although I doubt any of the equipment was operational, ISTR that the internal comm. system was at least partly functional. There was classroom space of some sort I think, possibly corresponding to the location of the crew’s mess room. I remember the belowdecks spaces were pretty cramped, possibly because the whole thing was built to 2/3 scale. We did some deck training; I’d joined the Navy with the specific intent of becoming a Seabee, so all this sailor stuff didn’t hold much interest. I do remember a class in line handling, taught by a diminutive petty officer from the Bronx… he had the heaviest “New Yawk” squawk I’ve ever heard, which caused some confusion, esp. the transposing of “coil” and “curl”. He was an effective teacher, though. Oddly, I can still remember several things I learned that day which I’ve never had any call to use. I blew off most of the knot-tying, but I still know the proper way to secure a line to a cleat and the three different ways to curl…err, _coil_ a line. The _Recruit_ is indeed a fine piece of history. Hopefully the listing on the Nat’l Register will allow it to be restored and opened to the public as a museum. ---
**Author:** ![Trinopus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/2bfe46/32.png) [@Trinopus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Trinopus)\ **Post date:** [May 10, 2015, 4:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/seeking-suggestions-for-a-week-in-san-diego/718648/35 "2015-05-10T04:41:39Z")
**SeldomSeen** : Thank you for the memories! I’ve been driving past the Recruit for years and years now, and have always wondered if it were just solid concrete or if it had an interior. You’ve relieved me of many decades of curiosity! I dare to hope they can find funding to fix up the exterior, and maybe to refurb the interior and open it to the public. It’s a charming bit of history, and deserves saving. ---
**Author:** ![Morgenstern](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f9ae1b/32.png) [@Morgenstern](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Morgenstern)\ **Post date:** [May 10, 2015, 5:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/seeking-suggestions-for-a-week-in-san-diego/718648/36 "2015-05-10T05:26:00Z")
About 30, 35 miles east of San Diego is a county park called Potrero. It is the home of the ferocious, yet elusive, Potrero monster. The Potrero monster has [del]reportedly[/del] eaten several Boy Scouts, tourists, campers and others who were brave enough to try and spend the night in that park. Even a band of armed men went missing while hunting the Potrero monster. Their screams for help can still be heard on quiet, moonless nights in the park. No trip to San Diego would be complete without a night in Potrero park - in a thin walled tent - alone. It’s like going to Pamplona and running with the bulls. ---
**Author:** ![Gatopescado](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gatopescado/32/5711_2.png) [@Gatopescado](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gatopescado)\ **Post date:** [May 10, 2015, 6:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/seeking-suggestions-for-a-week-in-san-diego/718648/37 "2015-05-10T18:39:42Z")
> [@Trinopus](#): > > **Gatopescado** : how come? I’ve never been (shame on me, as I live close by!) but it seems like it would be a pleasant enough place to visit. > > What do they do wrong? Its expensive. Like someone else said its hard to get in and out. Not a lot of good rides. Either stuff for little kids or adults, nothing in between. Crappy food. But the worst part is, like most public theme parks, it is a petri dish of filth and disease. They kindly provide places for kids to play with legos while waiting in lines. Filthy, snot-nosed kids, grubbing in piles of legos, sticking them in their mouths and such, then, _back in the pile!_ Ready for the next group! It just seemed so wrong! My kid was sick before we left for the day. My wife got such a severe respiratory infection she has lost her sense of smell (been two years now). I was the sickest I’ve ever been. Seriously. Avoid like The Clap! ---
**Author:** ![Trinopus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/2bfe46/32.png) [@Trinopus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Trinopus)\ **Post date:** [May 10, 2015, 7:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/seeking-suggestions-for-a-week-in-san-diego/718648/38 "2015-05-10T19:53:09Z")
> [@Morgenstern](#): > > About 30, 35 miles east of San Diego is a county park called Potrero. It is the home of the ferocious, yet elusive, Potrero monster. . . I’ve lived here all my life, even been to SCA wars in Portrero, and never heard of the Portrero Monster. COOL! I do know about the “White Lady of Pamo Valley” and the “Proctor Valley Monster.” I love this kind of stuff! > [@Gatopescado](#): > > . . . They kindly provide places for kids to play with legos while waiting in lines. Filthy, snot-nosed kids, grubbing in piles of legos, sticking them in their mouths and such, then, _back in the pile!_ Ready for the next group! It just seemed so wrong! . . . Holy Hannah! That sounds insane! Thank you for the warning about that detail! [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/seeking-suggestions-for-a-week-in-san-diego/718648.md?page=1)