Travel Question (SoCal)

[RunningMn9]

You’re arriving in San Diego mid-day on Wed and leaving on Saturday morning. You had some free flights and your 15-yr old daughter was complaining that you always take your 17-yr old son to do cool sports stuff on long weekends (went to Buffalo for a Sabres/Bills weekend with some long distance family; took him to PIT last year for the Sunday night game against the Packers which featured incredible Antonio Brown heroics, followed by a trip to the Pro Football HoF).

She wanted to go to Southern Cal, so we’ve got some flights, a car with unlimited miles, and a hotel room.

She’s not into golf or scotch, so I can’t use my whisky and golf trip planning super powers. Thoughts?

Please help.

[gilraen]

She’s not into golf or scotch, so I can’t use my whisky and golf trip planning super powers. Thoughts?

So what is she into?

[Anonymous Bosch]

The San Diego Zoo and Safari Park ought to rank high on your list, as it's among the best on the planet IMHO. The USS Midway Museum also shouldn't be missed; getting to explore the flight deck and aircraft on a floating city at sea, along with all the history of the Battle of Midway, is truly a once-in-a-lifetime experience.

[Alefroth]

The San Diego Zoo and Safari Park ought to rank high on your list, as it's among the best on the planet IMHO. The USS Midway Museum also shouldn't be missed; getting to explore the flight deck and aircraft on a floating city at sea, along with all the history of the Battle of Midway, is truly a once-in-a-lifetime experience.

San Diego Zoo is part of Balboa Park which is amazing as well.

[Blackhawk]

The San Diego Zoo and Safari Park ought to rank high on your list, as it's among the best on the planet IMHO. The USS Midway Museum also shouldn't be missed; getting to explore the flight deck and aircraft on a floating city at sea, along with all the history of the Battle of Midway, is truly a once-in-a-lifetime experience.

And it is walking distance from the Maritime Museum. The two should be seen together.

[Jeff V]

Surfing at La Jolla. Or just lay on the beach and mock those who try and fail.

[gbasden]

Absolutely on the Zoo and the Midway. The Air and Space Museum in Balboa Park is pretty awesome as well. The San Diego Zoo Safari Park is a different and very cool experience from the Zoo. Little Italy has some amazing restaurants, and Salt and Straw makes some great ice cream.

[Newcastle]

San Diego is pretty close to LA, about 2.5 hours driving give or take. You can also think about possibly visiting stuff in the greater LA area...spots i like to take guests include the Griffith Observatory (also get to see the Hollywood sign nearby); LA Zoo; Venice Beach; or there is of course multiple amusement parks like Knotts Berry Farm, Disneyland, and Universal Studios (i've always enjoyed this one the most; though its been ages since I've been there).

Really depends on what you folks like to do.

[DOS=HIGH]

[RunningMn9]

The current thought was San Diego Zoo on one day, and drive to LA to do Harry Potter things at Universal. That seems like two days worth of stuff, although we can do some other stuff on the Zoo day I think. This is easier with the boy.

[Hrothgar]

Legoland?

[RuperT]

Yes, I can only reiterate. Zoo is excellent. USS Midway is cool. We reached the Pacific at La Jolla; we saw seals.
We did not venture to LA.

[pr0ner]

I think you should go play Torrey Pines and make your daughter watch.

[RunningMn9]

I think you should go play Torrey Pines and make your daughter watch.

I noticed that was going to be on the way up to LA. I'm pretty confident that Torrey Pines would respectfully decline allowing me to play there.

[Isgrimnur]

Full price tickets for the zoo are what the wife and I considered expensive. Of course, we hadn't definitely planned for it to be a major stopping point. So it might behoove you to seek out discount opportunities. Or just flaunt your huge money clip being carried by your batman.

[LordMortis]

I think you should go play Torrey Pines and make your daughter watch.

I noticed that was going to be on the way up to LA. I'm pretty confident that Torrey Pines would respectfully decline allowing me to play there.

That probably makes it more important to do with the girl. What does she like?

[RunningMn9]

That probably makes it more important to do with the girl. What does she like?

She desperately wants to go to the Harry Potter stuff at Universal Hollywood, so that seems fairly well set in stone. Beyond that her interest seems entirely invested in physically being within the State of CA. Her interests are more or less dance, so not particularly applicable here. Not sure that she's much interested in museum type stuff, but the Zoo is an easy sell for her.

Maybe we will fill the balance of time with a visit to the Pacific ocean?

[RunningMn9]

Full price tickets for the zoo are what the wife and I considered expensive. Of course, we hadn't definitely planned for it to be a major stopping point. So it might behoove you to seek out discount opportunities. Or just flaunt your huge money clip being carried by your batman.

Those tickets aren't cheap, but I can live with it considering this is likely the only time that we will be jetting off to SoCal just the two of us. Compared to Universal Hollywood, those seem cheap.

[Isgrimnur]

Firehouse Swing Dance - June 20th

Learn to Swing Dance at San Diego's largest weekly swing dance event. Located at the historic Parq West Building in Banker's Hill! Swing classes every Wednesday. Classes include admission to the DJ’ed social dance. We also have live bands several times a year! Every Wednesday: 3 Levels of classes from 7:30-8:45 PM. Swing and Blues Dancing from 8:45-11:30 PM For more info visit www.firehouseswingdance.com

Learning a (amybe) new type of something she enjoys in a different state would probably formulate some lasting memories.

[Newcastle]

That probably makes it more important to do with the girl. What does she like?

She desperately wants to go to the Harry Potter stuff at Universal Hollywood, so that seems fairly well set in stone. Beyond that her interest seems entirely invested in physically being within the State of CA. Her interests are more or less dance, so not particularly applicable here. Not sure that she's much interested in museum type stuff, but the Zoo is an easy sell for her.

Maybe we will fill the balance of time with a visit to the Pacific ocean?

Plan a full day for Universal. The drive is going to be worse than you think due to the nature of LA traffic. Between 700-930 AM and 4-6P expect hell and bumper to bumper on the freeways during the weekdays. And I do mean hell. Not sure where you are coming from to relate to. Obviously I hate LA traffic. It sucks. I would plan your driving around those times.

I dont know of anything off hand, but LA has a lot of movie studios still here. You might be able to fit in a movie studio tour, if they still do that.

The other thing, due to the showbiz nature of the town. I would think there would be some sort of dance related event that you two could check out. I just couldn't even fathom what might interest you. But LA is huge, and has diverse amount of interests, I would think that you could find some sort of dance related event that could interest her.

When is your trip? And where are you folks coming from?

Also - not sure if this interests you but you can always do some sort of Whale Watching tour.

http://www.newportwhales.com/sandiegowhalewatching.html

Depending when you are coming time of year wise, it could be a good time to go out to sea and check out the whales and such. I've always loved watching pods of dolphins travelling up the coast to their summer hideout. I dont know the migratory patterns, but you'd want to check up on that to increase your odds of seeing as much ocean wildlife as possible.

I know where I live there is a nursery for sharks just 15 miles off the coast at these islands. Point being is there is a diverse amount of ocean wildlife off the coast that you could "tour" and check out. If that's of interest to you.

[ImLawBoy]

It's been like 30+ years since I went there on a family vacation, but we did take a trip to Tijuana for a few hours. There was super discount shopping plus being able to say we were in a foreign country was cool. Of course, with all the border crap going on now, I don't know if that's a realistic option these days.

[LordMortis]

That probably makes it more important to do with the girl. What does she like?

She desperately wants to go to the Harry Potter stuff at Universal Hollywood, so that seems fairly well set in stone. Beyond that her interest seems entirely invested in physically being within the State of CA. Her interests are more or less dance, so not particularly applicable here. Not sure that she's much interested in museum type stuff, but the Zoo is an easy sell for her.

Maybe we will fill the balance of time with a visit to the Pacific ocean?

Why is dance not applicable? Get three birds with one stone in two days, Drive the Pacific Coast highway to Harry Potter and then do kitschy things in downtown LA like letting her browse the high fashion stores before heading to the beach and watching street dancers and other performers on Venice Beach. You'll be in West Coast New Jersey.

https://californiathroughmylens.com/ven ... erformers/

http://www.venicebeach.com/the-venice-beach-boardwalk/

If you have a time frame maybe locals to tell you of local stuff.

The other thing, due to the showbiz nature of the town. I would think there would be some sort of dance related event that you two could check out. I just couldn't even fathom what might interest you. But LA is huge, and has diverse amount of interests, I would think that you could find some sort of dance related event that could interest her.

A quick google search with not dates in mind came up with nothing that sticks out but I'm sure with a date range in mind better finders than I could find interesting LA based dance high concept stuff, from sitting in on a dance show taping to watching some semi-famous troupe perform.

[RunningMn9]

Why is dance not applicable?

With the amount of money I spend annually on dance (thousands of dollars), the notion that I would add flying to CA to do *more* dance things nauseates me. If something comes up organically, I can deal with that, but to plan it? For the love of God, no.

The drive is going to be worse than you think due to the nature of LA traffic.

This part of the trip will be something of an adventure for me. Having dealt the the hell on earth that can be traffic heading towards NYC in northern NJ, I'm curious to compare. Although I will likely want to try to time it in a way to minimize the pain. The drive home seems easier to deal with as we can hang out in LA until the pain subsides. But short of leaving San Diego at 3 am, that's gonna mean a later start at Universal than I might otherwise like.

We are coming from NJ in the beginning of August. I think perhaps something ocean related might be the way to go, near San Diego.

[noxiousdog]

Legoland?

My kids had more fun at legoland than at the zoo.

I really like zoos but thought the San Diego Zoo was overrated. I'm probably the only person in the world that thinks this, and I suspect it's partly because I thought it was going to be the most amazing thing ever.

Depending on where you are staying, if you want to the Pacific Ocean viewing, the Venice Beach boardwalk is pretty nice.

[naednek]

We're going to lego land in October. From talking to people who have gone they've said it's great for kids under 13. The older kids get a bit bored with the park.

[noxiousdog]

Whoops. 15 is probably too old for legoland. It would be interesting, but not fun. It's directed at under 11.

[Blackhawk]

If the Pacific is a goal, see if there's a place that offers shorter (1-2 hour) boat trips.

[DOS=HIGH]

I think you should go play Torrey Pines and make your daughter watch.

I noticed that was going to be on the way up to LA. I'm pretty confident that Torrey Pines would respectfully decline allowing me to play there.

Torrey Pines is a municipal golf course run by the city of San Diego, time to teach your daughter how to golf.

[RunningMn9]

If the Pacific is a goal, see if there's a place that offers shorter (1-2 hour) boat trips.

Definitely going to look into this.

Torrey Pines is a municipal golf course run by the city of San Diego, time to teach your daughter how to golf.

I didn't realize that it was a public course, but with a $45 booking fee and greens fees in the $110 to $220 range per golfer, that seems excessive as an instructional.

[Scuzz]

I would recommend the Zoo and other Balboa Park sites. My daughters enjoyed Marineland, and near there are beaches and other sites.

I took my daughters thru the aircraft carrier in Oakland and they were pretty meh about it.

Take her shopping in La Jolla.

[Scuzz]

That probably makes it more important to do with the girl. What does she like?

She desperately wants to go to the Harry Potter stuff at Universal Hollywood, so that seems fairly well set in stone. Beyond that her interest seems entirely invested in physically being within the State of CA. Her interests are more or less dance, so not particularly applicable here. Not sure that she's much interested in museum type stuff, but the Zoo is an easy sell for her.

Maybe we will fill the balance of time with a visit to the Pacific ocean?

My daughters are now older than yours (28 and 25) but they are dying to visit Harry Potter world.

The real pain with traveling LA and the route between LA and SD is that you will at some point run into a traffic tie up that will suck an hour or two out of your day. I love San Diego but we rarely visit because of having to drive thru LA to get there.

[Newcastle]

The drive is going to be worse than you think due to the nature of LA traffic.

This part of the trip will be something of an adventure for me. Having dealt the the hell on earth that can be traffic heading towards NYC in northern NJ, I'm curious to compare. Although I will likely want to try to time it in a way to minimize the pain. The drive home seems easier to deal with as we can hang out in LA until the pain subsides. But short of leaving San Diego at 3 am, that's gonna mean a later start at Universal than I might otherwise like.

We are coming from NJ in the beginning of August. I think perhaps something ocean related might be the way to go, near San Diego.

times that universal is open:
Tuesday 9AM–8PM
Wednesday 9AM–8PM
Thursday 9AM–8PM
Friday 9AM–10PM
Saturday 8AM–8PM
Sunday 9AM–10PM
Monday 9AM–10PM
(this is from a google search; your dates may differ, but I'd expect them to be open till 8P at the least)

If I were you, I'd leave SD around 830, that way you miss most of the traffic, get to universal around 1030-11 spend all day there. Leave at closing time and you'll be back at your hotel around 10-11Pm.

re: the traffic- during august traffic patterns are supposedly lighter than the rest of the year. The thinking goes is that during the school year there is a lot more traffic for college & other students going/returning to classes during rush hour times. So, the traffic is going to be an issue, hopefully it wont be as bad.

Another tactic you can use is start looking on Google maps for the route you plan on taking from SD to Universal Studios to get a feel for the rush hour crush and time it would take for you to get there. Maybe it is worth leaving your hotel at 7AM in SD and enjoying the drive up north. I dont know the patterns for SD to LA traffic since i live north of LA proper.

If i can be of any other help, please feel free to PM me.

[RunningMn9]

Thanks for the tips, especially traffic related.

[gbasden]

That probably makes it more important to do with the girl. What does she like?

She desperately wants to go to the Harry Potter stuff at Universal Hollywood, so that seems fairly well set in stone. Beyond that her interest seems entirely invested in physically being within the State of CA. Her interests are more or less dance, so not particularly applicable here. Not sure that she's much interested in museum type stuff, but the Zoo is an easy sell for her.

Maybe we will fill the balance of time with a visit to the Pacific ocean?

You can easily, easily fill an entire day at the zoo and still not see everything. Don't underestimate it.

[Jeff V]

As others have mentioned, there is Tijuana. Now, I was too busy with other things when I was there, but I understand they have an absolutely outstanding civic orchestra there. It's something I'd seek out these days were I to visit there again.

[RunningMn9]

As others have mentioned, there is Tijuana. Now, I was too busy with other things when I was there, but I understand they have an absolutely outstanding civic orchestra there. It's something I'd seek out these days were I to visit there again.

Mexico is out. I would be too tempted to leave her there and make Arrested Development references.