We are planning to come to San Diego on June 4th thru the 9th. We have never been there. So where should we stay in what area. We want to go to the beach, zoo, casino, and anything else of interest. Do we need to rent a car? If we don't rent a car is there a place we could maybe get one for 1 day? I need your help. Any information would be appreciated. Thank You.

I hope you have your reservations already because the "Rock n' Roll Marathon" in on Sunday, June 5th and rooms are at a premium, ditto rental cars.

If you do, make sure you are off the roads that day because they will be closed from about 6:00 until ??? and I-5, feeder streets and detours and will be jammed for about a mile or 2.

Will you be here for the Rock 'n' Roll, Kal?

No...I'll be there for the beer!

By-passing the RnR this year.
My better but smaller half is training for the Chicago Marathon in October.

we were going to give you a shout as we were thinking of coming down 2 weeks earlier but apparently there is a BIG convention in town (est 15,000+ people per the SD Convention Bureau-so that's why I was warning francie) and we can't find a decent hotel room in the areas where we want to stay.....so onward to SLO, San Simeon, Big Sur, Carm/Mont/SC et al.

One of these days, a SD GTG at Cabrillio Natl Monument!

I am so happy to see this question as I will be visiting San Diego with my husband in August. it will be the first time for both of us.
We will only have 48 hours there so i need to know what the absolute can't miss sites are and what area is best to stay in. thanks for any info you may have.

you need to do a search for "san diego" on this forum. all your questions have been answered numerous times.

Loma Vista sea foods

Where is the Rock & Roll located? We were not going to that but sounds like fun. Let us know what all goes on? What do you think of the Mission Valley Resort? What about Pacific Terrace? Tell us what to do in San Diego. Thanks

Alohaaa francie,
It is a blast as long as you know how to get around the detours and traffic.

I grew up in SD and knew a lot of short cuts that panned out so we could see Mrs Kal and her other "Team in Training" members "BLAZE" on by.

Here is the website and course info: http://www.rnrmarathon.com/exec/rnrm...urse_Info.html

Looks like it will be even more jammin' as they swung the route farther south to go thru the Gaslamp Dist and Petco Park.

They have rock bands every few miles for the runners and the supporters.

If any of you out there know anyone running in a marathon for Leukemia/Lymphoma Society, it would be nice for you to contribute to their run.

Heck...I don't even like driving for 26.2 miles anymore!

BTW...are you any relation to packiestan?

one plan could be stay in one of the coastal towns - carlsbad/encinitas etc and take the coaster (train) into town -
very used friendly in my opinion and avoid driving hassle -
I take the coaster from Carlsbad to the airport whenever I am there( train takes yu downtown and then transfer to bus) and there are downtown trollies to get you around -
I'd rather stay in one of those places anyway than SD

Sounds like a great GTG, Kal, but will they let us bring wine (in sufficient quantity!)?

If we don't want to have a car, where would we stay???? Any comments on Catrarman Beach, Surfer Beach, Mission Valley Resort, Pacific Terrace. Please let us know where to stay to get easy public transportation?

you could stay in Carlsbad- and walk to the train station - there is a station in downtown Carlsbad - you can also get a day pass at the station - there are several hotels close by
The train also stops in Old Town if that area sounds appealing to you

What does anyone think of the Town And Country Resort- 500 Hotel Circle North. Will we be able to see or get to the Rock & Roll activities from there. I was a running about 10 years ago, would love to run now but the legs just don't like it. Thanks for your help.

My husband and I went to SD earlier this month for a week. We stayed downtown at the Radisson Harbor View. Reasonbale rates and a clean room. It was an easy walk to Little Italy which has lots of great restaurants. We really enjoyed the pizza at Filippe's. The Gas Lamp and Horton Plaza are within walking distance if you like to walk. Next time I would prefer to stay closer to that area.

As for the things to see and do here's a rundown of what we did.

If you're a baseball fan and the Padres are in town they have a really nice new stadium.

The Zoo (in my opinion) is a must! It was our favorite part of the trip. There are alot of local retirees with season passes that congregate outside the gate just prior to opening. Several of them were offering to take people in with them as they could take 1 person in for free with their season pass. We were lucky and one gentleman offered to take one of us in and we only had to buy one ticket.

The Wild Animal Park was very nice. Do wear walking shoes and plan on lots of walking if you go there.

We weren't really impressed with Sea World. If you have small kids they would love it.

We toured the USS Midway Aircraft Carrier and took a Harbor Cruise. The Midway was very interesting and educational. If you take the Harbor Cruise take the 2 hour.

We drove out to Coronado and the Hotel Del. Beautiful!

Seaport Village is touristy but a really great place for a nice walk and to grab a sandwich and eat outdoors right along the water.

We did rent a car and found getting around very easy. Although with the marathon I don't know how easy that will be. We rented thru Enterprise and the service was excellent!

We LOVED San Diego and decided that it was the city of friendly people as everyone was so nice.

Oh and we did make it over to Old Town for dinner one night. Neat little area with lots of Mexican restaurants.

Enjoy your trip!

Before you plan on relying on the Coaster from Carlsbad or another coastal city, please note that it is primarily a commuter train so it runs mostly early in the morning and late in the afternoon. If you want to take it mid-day or after dinner, you will have very few choices of trains. You could eat up a lot of your day trying to schedule your sightseeing around it.
You can visit www.sdcommute.com to find the Coaster schedule and other mass transit information.

Has anyone taken a hot air balloon ride with Sun Balloon. Let us know any information on this?

We are staying at the Town & Country resort, can you tell me if we will be able to walk and see the marathon on June 5th. Also have you ever went up in a hot air balloon? Let me know. thanks