San Diego

Decided to do a local non-car trip and catch my first professional football game at the same time. Grabbed a roundtrip ticket on Amtrak and took the Pacific Surfliner down to downtown San Diego. The Orange County stations have free parking and it was a very pleasant trip as I was able to enjoy the scenery or work from my laptop without worrying about traffic or delays.

Stayed at the Sheraton San Diego Hotel and Marina, a very lovely facility. The hotel was very active this weekend as there was a major convention in town and weekend travellers. The weather warmed up considerably and was pleasant at 70+ degrees. The facility had fire pits overlooking the marina as well as a couple of pools. The spa was fairly large as well. Not a bad spot to hang out if you're so inclined. After grabbing lunch at Quinn's, a pub in the lobby, wandered out to USS Midway checking out the naval carrier and planes on the ship. It was interesting to find out that the USS Midway was involved in the Vietnam conflict as well as the Gulf crisis. Compared to the naval museums on Hawaii, the USS Midway is very well thought out and you can see the investment made in making this an interactive museum.

Afterwards, had dinner at Mint Downtown Thai. The food was great and 'Thai hot' actually was spicy. I normally find foods not very spicy when the majority of the locals aren't indigenous to the food. I had the red curry with duck and the garlic pepper beef. Both entrees were really good and well-proportioned. The wine list is reasonable and the sticky rice with mango was delicious.

Although I had dessert, I was told I should try Extraordinary Desserts and opted for round two. After enjoying the caramal chocolate lava bun and the salted caramel and vanilla ice cream dish, I was very happy to have duked it out for a second round. :) The place was super packed when we first arrived but it seems like alot of people were waiting for tables or just looking at the glass cases. I wandered in and was able to find spots at the bar which turned out great as the bartender was really nice and knowledgeable.

Having consumed so many calories, wandered back to the gaslamp district to grab a last round of drinks at The Local Eatery and Drinking Hole before turning it in.

The next day, went to Hash House A Go Go for breakfast. After perusing the menu, I opted to share the Tractor Combo with blueberry pecan pancake. Even sharing, the plate was still a quarter there but I left happy. I was able to even fit a couple of bites of the sage chicken breast from someone else's plate and I enjoy the honey batter they use on it.

Took the trolley over to Qualcomm Stadium and watched the beatdown the San Diego Chargers gave to the Kansas City Chiefs. In comparison to the college football stadiums I've been, the stadium was smaller than I'm used to but we still had great views even from the nose bleed sections. The best deal in that stadium is the all you can drink cup, for $11 you can drink as much soda as you want which worked out well as I shared the soda and the cup even allows for three straws so you can figure out who's who.

When the game ended, it took about 90 minutes to get out of the stadium and back to downtown via trolley. I wasn't sure if there was an easier way but I was happy to finally get onto the Amtrak train home. I even saw some fans from the game heading home on the train as well.

All in all, a car-less local vacation was really great. In looking at whether it was worth driving or taking the train, you could probably make the argument that driving is better.

Driving = Gas ($25) + Parking at various spots ($70) = $95

Train = Tickets ($70) + transit/cab ($50) = $120

Yes, the train route was more expensive but it would also mean someone had to be a designated driver and deal with driving around in traffic. For me, the extra $25 was worth not having to deal with it and navigating the city was fine without a car. I probably burned off more calories that way too.... ;p