Fodor's Travel Talk Forums - San Diego trip report

Just got back from a 2 night trip to San Diego with DS (age 13). Thanks for the help in planning the trip!
Day 1: We arrived in the early morning(8:30am) after an uneventful flight (my favorite kind) and proceeded on the shuttle to Alamo to pick up our car. I had the Entertainment card coupons for a discount rate. The Alamo guy was pretty pushy, trying to get me to upgrade, accept insurance, etc. Then he tried to give me a 2 door car - midsize - and told me that my rate was so cheap that this is what is offered. It wasn't that cheap! Anyway, after some arguement I gave up and took it, but then he said he would give me the 4 door anyway. What?! I've had a similar problem with the San Diego Alamo in the past, but the rates were far better than their competitors so I put up with it.

Our 1st stop was out to the Rosecrans Military Cemetary to visit my parents gravesite. We stopped at a grocery store near the cemetary to pick up flowers, the grocery store was gone! We drove towards Shelter Island and finally found a small florist shop (after stopping in another grocery store that had truly pathetic flowers) and the florist put together a wonderful small bouquet for only $7!! Off to the gravesite, finally. If you haven't been there, it is a beautiful site, overlooking the ocean, worth a stop. After that we went to the Cabrillo National Monument, just a mile or two up the road. Although it was a June gloom sort of day, it was just beautiful looking out over the ocean, the light house and imagining what it must have been like for the Spaniards as they first set into this bay and met the Native Americans living here. The museum was closed for renovations, but we went to the visitor center and DS tried on the chain mail and vestments used by the Spaniards. We got a very detailed description of battles and the protection that the chain mail offered by a docent there. Apparently they do battle reenactments on Sundays at the site.

Our next stop was food! One of our goals was to sample as much Mexican food as we wanted. So it was off to Old Town Mexican Cafe for our favorite --carnitas! They were as good as we remembered although the service wasn't too great. DS also ordered a churro. Don't bother - it was no better than what you might get at a ballpark. After that incredibly filling meal we left for SD ZOO, another favorite spot!

We took the bus tour - highly recommended although this was the only time I can remember where we had a very boring, barely audible bus driver. She was terrible. Most are very entertaining. The only time we could hear her clearly was when she was scolding people who were walking around the zoo "take your wheels out of your shoes little boy" and "do not pick those flowers! Stop that right, now!!" Whoa! We had one of the best times ever at the zoo, though, in the Panda enclosure. There is a toddler panda there who normally is napping at our visit time. His mama was sound asleep on a tree and this little guy was doing somersaults, climbing on branches, tumbling out of them, giving mom some playful bites, just having a ball! We walked through the enclosure 3 times! I forgot my camera, but took a few pics on my cell phone. Cutest little guy, ever!!

Late afternoon, we head over to Coronado and check into the Glorietta Bay Inn. It's our 1st time there. All of the staff is exceptionally nice and it is very well maintained. They do charge $10 for parking, which I find annoying. Our room is right smack in front of the pool and parking lot, ground floor, absolutely no privacy. The desk clerk agrees to change my room immediately and gives me one directly upstairs. It is small but nicely decorated and quite clean with a small balcony. I thought that the hotel was right on the bay. It is not, it is on a corner of Orange Ave (very busy). That night we had dinner at the Brigantine a block away(appetizers for dinner - ok, not great), but nice service. Later we rented a movie from the hotel - they have a nice selection for $5 each. We also walked over to the Del and explored the beach and shops there. Very lovely.

Day 2: We started the morning with the continental breakfast, included with the room. Seating is both indoors and out. Lovely breakfast with oatmeal, cereal, yogurt, fruits, pastries, bagels, juice, coffee and tea. Very nice!

After that we walked to the Coronado Beach in front of the Del for about an hour, admiring the beach and the homes nearby. We looked into bike rentals, surfboard and boogie board rentals. These are offered in front of the Del out by the beach. We found much cheaper rentals across the street in a shop near Miguel's restaurant. We ended up renting nothing and just laying on the beach, reading, napping. It was overcast, but I got a little sunburn anyway. Lunch was at Miguels -- fresh lobster tacos. So great!! DS had a fish taco and an enchilda. Loved their fresh warm chips and that cheese sauce. The food is pretty mild, but I enjoyed it. Later in the day, DS had a chocolate mousse and berries in a chocolate cup with chocolate straws - a work of art -- he got it at the Del in a little bakery shop. That evening I had some business to take care of in SD for a few hours. Afterwards we decided that we needed a late nosh, but didn't want to go to a restaurant and DS really wanted to rent another movie. So it sounded like a drive through Roberto's was in order! We got a sampling of things - an enchilada, some carne asada tacos a few other goodies and took them back to the hotel. We rented our movie, ate our fabulous Mexican food and were very happy campers!

Day 3: We wanted to hang around the hotel a bit longer so I called Alamo car rental to ask about keeping the car an extra 1.5 hrs - their return grace period is only 29 minutes. They said that it would only cost me $6.00 more - with the grace period included. I double checked it and wrote down the name of the person that I spoke with - the rate seemed too good to be true. We had a leisurely breakfast outside and packed up. Sure enough, I turned in the car and they charged me an extra $23. Luckily I had time to go dispute it at customer service. The gal that I spoke with was there and said yes that she had mistakenly told me that it would cost $6. She was very gracious and offered to take the extra amount off of my bill. She actually credited the entire amount back, so I didn't even pay $6. Still it was a hassle and got me a little worried about getting to the plane on time.

I shouldn't have worried. We were there for hours - our plane had mechanical difficulty, we had to leave it, they cancelled the flight and we all spent a loooong time in line re-booking. There was a small altercation on the plane with someone loudly chitchatting on her cell phone while we waited/de-planed. Someone asked her to tone it down and she got pretty obnoxious about it.We were in very close quarters on a small commuter jet and you could hear every word of her conversation whether you wanted to or not. She countered that phone use in public places was common and that everyone would just have to put up with it. Takes all kinds!
They told us to wait while they re-booked us and would call us up when they were ready. I knew that this was not to be trusted and went up and stood in line. After about 3 people they abandoned that plan and I was about 4th in line. Still it took nearly an hour for them to wait on me. We were lucky and got out 2.5 hrs later with a connecting flight through LA. Some people were still in line as we left. Even with that setback, the trip was great.