San Diego

Another great day in Paradise.

The wife and I hung out at the hotel in the morning. The down time during a vacation can be as nice as the busy times. We had to be at the airport to pick up my nephew G.around noon. We got there right on time, but still had a few minutes until G made it out to us. We stopped by the information table and spoke to a very nice lady who gave us everything we needed for the rest of the day.

Once out of the airport, we headed for lunch. We picked Old Town San Diego. It was a nice little area. We didn’t see much besides San Diego Avenue. It was filled with shops and restaurants. Coyote’s didn’t have a line and they had a posted howling hour from 4 to 6, so it seemed like a good place. They waiter and the food was good.

By 2, we were headed to Belmont Park. Not the horse race track, the amusement park. We let G get his fill of the roller coaster (see picture of G and Mrs. K on roller coaster), bumper cars, and other rides. They had several wave rides for those in swim suits. These were hills with water jets shooting water up the hill to form a wave that could be ridden with a board. It was a lot of fun to see the kids trying to show off for the tourists and the girls and busting their asses in the process. I’m easily amused.

4:30 had us heading to the ball game. Petco Park is right in downtown San Diego. Currently, it is surrounded by under construction condo towers. When they get those finished, I’m betting the this will be one great area to hang out in.

The park itself is very nice. They have about a half acre outside of the outfield for sandlot games, corporate events and just laying out in the sun. The stands were very comfortable. Our ‘obstructed view’ seats were fine (as shown in the nearby picture). We could see to whole field except for a sliver of right field and the adjacent foul area.

The game was good. It was tied in the 7th, but the Giants pulled ahead for good in the 8th. I would have rather seen a home town win, just because I don’t like the Giants. That goes back to the Braves/Giants battles of the 80s, but has been fueled more recently by Barry Bonds. Bond had a bad game never reaching base. He did have a 390’ pop fly out, but that was it.

We got back to the hotel around 10:30. Today, we move on to LA to see the Dodgers play the Flordia Marlins. We have to get started early as we are still in San Diego and the game starts at Noon at Dodger Stadium, a 1.5 to 2 hour drive.