Check out the Padres at Petco Park. Beautiful stadium built in 2004. I was there the year before it opened 
. It’s across the street from the beach and accessible by train.
Does San Diego zoo still have that awesome gorilla exhibit?
Rent a car for the flexibility. Take a GPS so it can help you drive back to your hotel. Though many of these places will be on bus routes, San Diego’s bus/light rail system is extremely extensive and rather complex. It spans an area bigger than many of the New England states and schedules and transfers are commensurately complex as well.
Note that most of the Avenues around that area will be one-way only.
Odd-numbered avenues go North
Even-numbered avenues go South
We’ll be staying at the Grand Hyatt near the Convention Center.
Good! You’ll be pretty close to the types of things you two like.
Stuff we like:
[ul]
[li]Reading books on the beach[/li][/ul]
Mission Beach is nearby, as is Ocean Beach (if you don’t mind the music of commercial jets overhead.
Better than those are La Jolla Shores (mentioned above) and either Del Mar State Beach or Pacific Beach.
Those, however, are rather distant.
OH! And Horton Plaza probably still has a bookstore or two for modern stuff and there used to be a couple antiquarian bookstores scattered around downtown and the artsy stores (see below).
[ul]
[li]Record, book, and vintage stores[/li][/ul]
Head North along the odd-numbered avenues (3rd, 5th, even 1st and 7th) and get to the small retailer regions around University Avenue and El Cajon Boulevard (Hillcrest neighborhood).
[ul]
[li]Punk/Indie bars with good jukeboxes[/li][/ul]
Stay downtown in the Gaslamp areas or head north (see above)
[ul]
[li]Eating local delicacies sold by street vendors[/li][/ul]
Sorry. It’s been too long since I’ve been in the area to know which street vendors are still in business.
[ul]
[li]Art museums[/li][/ul]
Head North along 5th and head east on Laurel.
That will take you into Balboa Park and there’s a big parking lot in the middle of the museum cluster.
Check on-line for deals and free admission days.
[ul]
[li]Twee little neighborhoods with cafes and art galleries[/li][/ul]
Head North (see above) to the artsy regions, then east along University or El Cajon. Get yourself into North Park, Kensington, and the (ab)Normal Heights areas.
Note that you will also be lodging near the baseball stadium, Seaport Village tourist shoppes, the harbor/embarcadero, a sports arena/concert arena, several live theaters for plays and other performances, and the best zoo on the planet is part of the Balboa Park complex (it’s a museum, of sorts). Oh, and I guess there’s some kind of a convention center around there, too! 
[Actually, there’s two of them.]
–G!
Hey, La Jolla Shores made the news this week!
Massive school of anchovies swarms off La Jolla
When the camera angle changes at about 0:35, look closely at the “hole” in the swarm and you can see what appears to be a leopard shark.
A better view of the shark at 1:56. :eek::eek::eek:
Thanks for sharing!
:D:D:D That would have been even funnier if they got the real Mayor Saunders to do the voiceover.