San Diego, Suggestions?
 

My girlfriend and I are going to be in San Diego for 3 days next month. Looking for some ideas on what to do. Don't really want to do super touristy things like Sea World,etc. Looking more to enjoy the surroundings. We looked into Hike, Bike, Kayak in LaJolla for a kayak trip. Probably a real tourist trap, but thought it would get us some scenery. Would like to mainly be outdoors. We're staying near the airport. Also, what restaurants/bars do you recommend? I'm getting on the upper end of my partying years so we usually lean more toward a nice microbrewery or restaurant type bar. I know we're close to a lot where we're staying. Haven't really set much of a budget, so anything is wide open. We've been dating about 5 years and because of our hectic schedules this is our first real alone trip. :D I know sad....

Also, I've heard that Sea World has fireworks every night. Are there any halfway quiet beaches to watch this, say on a Saturday night?

Appreciate all the comments in advance.

I have not been without kids, so i cant really recommend any restaurants for a nice dinner. I will say go to cafe 222 for breakfast. It is a great place, albeit a busy one. Prepare to wait. I would suggest spending a day on coronado island if you can. The beach is awesome, and sitting at the bar at the hotel del is pretty neat.
SD is one of my favorite spots to go for a few days, but i always have the little ones in tow, so i cant recommend too many normal adult things to do. Tons of san diegans on here though, who should get you some solid advice.

george's at the cove - ask for a table at the window

Try the Shout House downtown its a piano bar that's alot of fun. Also lots of cool places down there. If the Pads are in town games are always fun and for good food try McCormick and Smhicks in the Omni Hotel. Probably not spelled correctly. Lots of good beach bars from Mission to Pacific beach. Have a blast

This place was pretty cool (http://www.cohnrestaurants.com/menu-...mp-strip-club/) and kind of a fun thing to do on a dinner date. But at the same time, if you aren't used to grilling, you can screw your food up...which would be a bummer.



Don't tell her what it is, just tell her you're taking her to a Strip Club...lol

Other than that Gaslamp is a fun area.

I saw you mentioned you like micro brewery type places...I've always wanted to check out the Stone Brewery maybe take a tour and eat at the restaurant. Food looks good. Beer is def. good!

Nick,

Stone Brewery in Escondido is worth the 30 minute trip from down town. Make sure you go early evening so you can sit outside at dusk, drink & eat. I think Stone offers the best combination of ambiance (beer garden style), nice restaurant and micro beer.

Another favorite is Cadela's in the Gaslamp on 4th downtown http://www.candelas-sd.com/candelas_main2.html. Excellent seafood with a Mexican flavor, but definitely not straight Mexican Food.

Of all the Cohn Restaurants (about 10) the Strip Club is my least favorite - it's just not that good for the price. Blue Point a block away or Indigo Grill would be my picks.

I second Cafe 222 - excellent! Or, if you want to get out of downtown for breakfast, try Hash House, 5 min. north, for breakfast/brunch: http://www.hashhouseagogo.com/

For other than eating, check out the La Jolla Cove - relaxed, grass to sit & play on, several beaches, good snorkeling, just below George's at the Cove (do the top patio for lunch), some window shopping along Prospect also if you want. It's about 15 minutes from downtown. If you're in SD on a Sunday, La Jolla has Concerts by the Sea Sunday afternoons which adds one more reason to visit and make it a long afternoon (we were there last Sunday). http://www.ljconcertsbythesea.org/

If you take the ferry (foot of Broadway at the bay) across to Coronado, where it lands you can rent bikes & ride down Coronado Island for as long as you want or over to Hotel Del Coronado which is neat. If you're feeling really athletic, you can very easily ride all the way around the bay in 2-3 hours (25 miles).

Oh, and I would recommend Kayaking at La Jolla Shores (& over to the Cove). You can go along the cliffs and into some sea caves. It's a nice hour or two and can be done the same day you spend in LJ. Depending on the weekend (non-holiday), it's not that touristy.

Ahh, one more: Just up the road from the airport in Point Loma go to Old Venice http://www.oldvenicerestaurant.com/. Very cool, sheek and you won't find any tourists there. In the afternoon before you hit Old Venice, drive out to the tip of Point Loma for a gorgeous view of SD Bay, downtown and the Pacific. You can walk or drive down to tide pools. If you go north a bit, to Sunset Cliffs Blvd, you can park and make your way down to some secluded beaches (take stairs at Sunset Cliffs & Ladera St.) that will be much less crowded than the usual spots.

If u want a good burger, hit up hodads in pacific beach. Worth the excessive calories!
Hash house is a good spot for breakfast as well. Ginormous pancakes. If you get to a pads game, do the park tickets. Good times out there.

Appreciate all the advice guys, keep it coming!

Padres game is fun...old town is a nice time with some great Mexican food..gas lamp is a great area to drink...since this is a wakeboard forum maybe the wavehouse would be worth checking out....I have not been for years, but when I was young we would party on revolution st in TJ Mexico. Not sure if that's a good idea now though.

Hodads is the absolute best burger!!!! I fly down there just to have a Hodads.. And visit some of the locals.

Went to the hodads in OB. Skipped the line and ordered to go. When I picked up the bag (2 dbl cheeseburgers and 1 fries) I thought there was a freakin weight in there. Jesus christ that shiz was heavy! Ate it all though.

Had some fantastic ribs at brigantine in coronado too.

I hear ya man

Stone would be my suggestion for good bee/atmosphere. Definitely worth the trip. You could tie it to a hike up in North County. There is Iron Mountain south of Ramona that we like to do and then head up to Escondido for lunch/reward at Stone. For cool not so party like places with good beer, we like the North Park/South Park areas. Blind Lady Ale House has great craft beer selections and interesting pizzas. Station Tavern in South Park has great burgers/tots/sweet potato fries and craft beers. Both are very hipster and very kid friendly so if you don't like kids, go later because between 5:30-7:30 they are very littered with kids, which is why we love them. C-Level lounge on Harbor Island is a must for views/drinks. It is tied to Island Prime, which is another of the Cohn restaurants. Island Prime it's self is just ok, but C-Level is awesome for drinks/happy hour at sunset!!!

Cowels Mt. is a great hike right in the city. From the top you get a panoramic view from the Coronado Islands up to Catalina on a clear day. Great workout and is about 2.5 miles round trip. Balbo Park has some great trails and so does Torrey Pines, which has amazing views of La Jolla and up the coast.

Richard Walker's downtown SD isn't a bad place for breakfast either. But the lines can get long.
If you're going to George's at the Cove, go upstairs to the Ocean Terrace. Over looks the cove.
They stop seating for lunch @ 345pm. Dinner seating starts @4:15

"dick's" a must

Appreciate all the suggestions everyone gave. We followed a lot of them. We hit Hodad's, did the LaJolla Shores/Cove kayaking, surfed at LaJolla shores (first time), rode Mountain bikes from Mt. Soledad down throught Mission Beach then back up the Cove past the concert that Sunday at the Cove and then back into LaJolla Shores. We ate downtown at Oceanaire which we had some good seafood. I actually found a great little brewery in OB called Pizza Port that had good pizza and some good beers. On Sundy night we hit Karl Strauss Brewing downtown as it was close to the hotel. Went to Coronado and strolled, sat on the beach, had a $13 margarita at the Hotel del. Ended up proposing to the girlfriend on a little beach below Ladera and Sunset Cliffs, so good call on that one Andy.

Overall a great trip and I can't wait to go back.

Hope she said yes!!

Sounds like a good trip nick! Hope she said yes!

Just checked this thread out again today, as we are heading down again next week for a few days. Our third sd trip this year!

She did, would have been a long trip back otherwise I guess!!

Glad I could help, especially with that one!