Four Fun-Filled Days of Exploring San Diego

After arriving at the border of Mexico I wanted one thing and one thing only. Can you take a guess at what that might be?

Let’s put it this way, what would YOU want to do after spending six weeks pedaling a bicycle 1,700 miles from Seattle, WA to Tijuana, Mexico?

Relax!

Yes, that’s it, I just simply wanted to kick back and relax! There was only one problem though. How could I relax in a city that I’ve never visited before? How would I be able to resist the urge to get outside and explore this city as I do every other city I travel to? The answer is I couldn’t.

I knew that I had four days to explore San Diego so I did my best to do as much as I could without getting too burnt out. The only stipulation was that I promised myself that I would not use my bicycle.

Curious to find out what I got into in San Diego? Well, here goes!

Little Italy

Since I was staying in a beautiful little B&B right around the corner from Little Italy, I can’t even tell you how many times I walked up and down India Street in the Little Italy district. There was something about this neighborhood that I really enjoyed. I loved that there always seemed to be something going on and the dining opportunities were endless. From Pizza to Thai to the most delicious burger I had consumed on the West Coast. Little Italy had it all.

Burger Lounge – One of the best burgers I’ve had in a long time. I’m guessing it had to do with the fact that it was 100% American Grass-Fed Beef versus your traditional horomone ridden burger. Follow them on Twitter, Facebook, and Yelp!

Yogurt Land – These DIY Froyo (Frozen Yogurt) joints will one day be the death of me. When I’m provided with the opportunity to grab an oversized cup, fill it with various flavors of ice cream and plaster as many toppings on as I want, I always go overboard.

I have yet to see any of these types of establishments back home on the East Coast as of yet but I’m sure they will start popping up if they haven’t already. Oddly enough, the first time I ever encountered one of these DIY Frozen Yogurt joints was back in 2010 at a place called Yogurt Space in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam.

Things to See & Do:

• Mee Shim Gallery
• Little Italy One Mile Walk
• San Diego Firehouse Museum
• Princess Pub & Grille (Great place to watch live sports)

For more information on shopping, dining and upcoming events in Little Italy, click here.

Downtown San Diego

Since I promised myself I wouldn’t use my bike during my time in San Diego, I ended up doing a hell of a lot of walking. I must have walked up and down every street in the downtown area of San Diego and to be honest, I wasn’t really that impressed.

As we all know, the homeless population is always higher in major cities but San Diego has more than it’s fair share of homeless. I strolled down a few streets in the downtown area where there are actual city blocks full of street dwellers.

San Diego Marina

The waterfront area in Downtown San Diego is a great place to check out on a sunny afternoon. My friends and I strolled alongside North Harbor Drive all the way down to the San Diego Marina.

Along the way you’ll see hotels, high rise condos, the San Diego Convention Center, the Seaport Village shopping mall and if you’re lucky you might even get a chance to see this 332 ft mega yacht named the Attessa IV.

After entering the “Attessa IV” into Google, I found out that this yacht is owned by industrialist and philanthropist Dennis Washington.

Things to See & Do:

• Maritime Museum of San Diego
• USS Midway Aircraft Carrier Museum

Embarcadero Marina Park

The Embarcadero Marina Park is the place to be if you want to catch some rays by the bay on a sunny day. Oh, that rhymes!

We spent an hour or two here at the Marina Park taking in the views of Coronado and San Diego Bay in the distance. Next up, Petco Park!

Petco Park

Full disclosure, I’m not a baseball fan by any means. I often get harassed about my home town team (The Boston Red Sox) when I travel. When I respond with “I don’t follow the Sox”, people are dumbfounded. It’s as if they think everybody that lives in Massachusetts or New England is a fan of the Red Sox.

My friends and I headed over to Petco Park to catch the 7 o’clock San Diego Padres Game. Buying tickets was easier than ever. All you do is walk up to a kiosk, hit a few buttons and insert your money. A few seconds later your ticket stub pops out and you’re ready to rock!

Is this stadium beautiful or what?

Note: We paid $17 for some really nice seats out in right field. This sure beats paying $50+ for bleacher seats at Fenway Park! Especially when you could care less for the sport of baseball.

So, why did I attend a baseball game if I don’t follow the sport? Well, there’s just something that appeals to me about attending a baseball game when visiting a new city.

I find it fun to rub elbows with the locals while watching a game where it doesn’t really matter which team you root for. Although, it’s probably best to side with the home team!

Listen, I hardly know a thing about baseball and it’s okay if you feel the same way. The best part about taking in a ball game is that you don’t have to be a fan to have a good time.

On another note, you might remember when I attended a professional baseball game in Nicaragua last year. I had so much fun at the game that I ended up attending another one a few days later!

Coronado

One of the more popular things to do in San Diego is to take a short 15 minute ferry ride from the Marina over to Coronado. A return ticket on the Coronado ferry will set you back $8.50 or $4.25/one-way.

Note: You can view the Coronado Ferry Schedule here.

Once you arrive on Coronado you quickly realize that this place was built for two thing and two things only. Tourists and Military. As a matter of fact, the Navy SEALs train on some of the beaches here and a large part of Coronado is covered by the North Island Naval Base.

You’ll be sure to stroll past endless amounts of shopping plazas and restaurants before you end up on Central Beach which some say is one of the best beaches in the world. I’d argue that there is no way that Central Beach is the best beach in the world but then again all these self proclaimed World’s Best and World’s Largest (insert your business/sight/restaurant here) are all based on opinion.

Do yourself a favor and make your way down to the Hotel del Coronado. Everyone that visits Coronado visits the Hotel del Coronado to witness this old Victorian style hotel that was built by two railroad engineers back in 1888. It was quite an impressive place, I must say.

My favorite part of Coronado was the views from the ferry landing of San Diego in the distance.

Things to See & Do:

• Hotel del Coronado
• Central Beach
• Coronado Museum of History & Art

Conclusion:

Well, that just about sums up my time in San Diego. I know, I missed out on a lot of things during my stay including Pacific Beach, Mission Beach, Old Town, Mission Valley, Balboa Park and so much more. Those places will just have to wait until my next visit!

Tell us what you love most about San Diego by leaving a comment below!