DH is heading to San Diego and I’m tagging along. We’ll arrive Thursday afternoon, 5/1 and leave the afternoon of 5/4. We’ll be staying at The Inn at Rancho Santa Fe for 2 nights, then heading for the San Diego Marriott Del Mar for the final night.
I can switch to any Cat. 5 or lower Marriott in the area (because I have a free night), but I selected that one because it was the highest rated. We have a rental car.
Thursday, 5/1 we have the team dinner, etc., but Friday, 5/2 is completely free for me while DH attends the class. We have all day Saturday to do what we want.
Does anyone have any advice of where I should go. We like to hike and I wouldn’t mind visiting a nice park or a beach. I’ve also always wanted to visit the San Diego Zoo, though I’ve always pictured it as being more like a safari park, so I may be delusional.
Is Del Mar nice? I’d prefer a place near the beach that is safe and easily navigated on foot.
If you know of any nice non-chain restaurants near the hotels that would be great, too.
Finally, if we have a 1pm flight out from SAN, what time should we leave DelMar on a Sunday to get there without being stressed out. I’ve heard horror stories about traffic.
The Zoo closes at 4, so you might be able to sneak a visit when you come in and when you go out if you time it right, since it’s maybe ten minutes from the airport. I really recommend getting a family membership–it gets you into the Wild Animal Park (which is more what you are thinking anyway) and is a pretty short drive from Del Mar. Plus you get free passes to give to guests and a little magazine, it’s a really good deal compared to cost of each day each park admission.
I would allow 40 minutes from Del Mar to Downtown at that time.
Other cool things–museums at Balboa Park, and to eat at El Prado. Del Mar’s pretty close to La Jolla, and it’s great to visit the “Children’s Pool” (full of seals) and walk around La Jolla. There are good restaurants in the downtown area and also the Beach & Tennis Club area too. The Cheese Shop is a favorite for sandwiches.
You might seek out a surf shop and rentals and lessons, if you’re feeling adventurous. I remember Del Mar’s 8th st being awesome for longboarding.
Just so you know, the La Jolla Marriott is NOT in downtown La Jolla. It’s right near a mall and is in a place that is primarily full of businesses. It’s still a nice area, and if you have a car it’s no big deal, but don’t kid yourself that you’ll truly be “in La Jolla.”
If you have a car, I’d say no sense fussing with your reservations. You gotta drive everywhere anyway!
My favorite restaurant in this city is The Linkery, which is in North Park (not far from Balboa Park part of town). It’s where we take all of our out of town guests, and they are catering our wedding in two weeks. THEY MAKE THEIR OWN SAUSAGE PEOPLE.
Old Town is fun. There’s a couple of good restaurants and shops, some more tourist traplike than others. I also really enjoyed visiting Dog Beach. It’s a leash free beach, so people bring their dogs. They were all really friendly, as were the dogs.
Both my father and I felt like the zoo was overrated, and we like zoos. Also, everything is very spread out at the zoo, so you walk a lot.
And you can take the subway (I can’t remember what it’s called right now) to Tijuana.