San Diego Feb2011: The Gaslamp Quarter and Old Town
After Atlanta, San Diego! Whee!
I've looked forward to my San Diego mini-vacation the whole time I was in conference (actually, even before flying out from Manila). Sooo excited to see Nang Lani and family again. And it may be because I really needed to see family after being away from Richard and Neil for a week.
I had booked the 8:40PM flight from Atlanta, then rebooked to 7:05PM. I was actually in the airport and able to make it to the ~5PM flight but they were already full because of the NBA All-Star Weekend. I just hung around the airport waiting for my flight, which unfortunately departed late and landed late (had to circle LAX). I was supposed to arrive 9:17PM in LAX but ended up landing ~11PM. Then we had to wait very long for the bags to be released. It was almost 12MN when we left LAX and arrived almost 2AM in El Cajon. Long travel, I was tired but happy. (It stormed in CA that day and Nang Lan said the drive from SD to LAX was very slow at some point because of the low visibility.)
The original plan for Saturday was to go to The Gaslamp Quarter and Old Town but we postponed them to Sunday because of the forecasted rainshowers. And went shopping instead.=) I did very well by sticking to my list, mostly.=)
Then on Sunday, February 21, we pushed through with the Gaslamp Quarter and Old Town itinerary. We drove to the Santee station right after breakfast and were just in time to catch the waiting trolley. Otherwise, we would have needed to wait another 30 minutes.
I like taking public transportation. It's an instant local immersion. You get a distinct flavor of the place just by doing what the locals do. This particular one was clean, fast, afforded nice views and convenient for the places we were heading to. We stopped at Old Town station but then decided to proceed to Gaslamp because it was farther away.
I have been to San Diego a few times but have never been to these two places. I actually had to research the "other" attractions in SD, and settled on this never-been-to itinerary. And was I glad.
We alighted closer to the Petco Park, home of the San Diego Padres, and walked all the way to the Gaslamp arch.
The Gaslamp Quarter is comprised of 16 blocks of historical neighborhood. Its main period of development began in 1867, when Alonzo Horton bought the land in hopes of creating a new city center closer to the bay, and chose 5th Avenue as its main street. After a period of urban decay, the neighborhood underwent urban renewal in the 1980s and 1990s, and is today an energetic business and entertainment district (from Wikipedia).
It sure was a bustling and pretty district.
We dined at The Old Spaghetti Factory (Filipino version: The Old Spaghetti House?). The interiors were in keeping with the historical feel. The food was really good and reasonably priced, too! Dong got free dessert because his food came late, which to our assessment was not a long wait at all. Great service.
Then we walked back to the trolley station to go to Old Town. The trolley station was very close to the San Diego Convention Center, home of the Comic-Con.=)
Old Town San Diego State Historic Park, located in the Old Town neighborhood of San Diego, California, is a state protected historical park in San Diego. It commemorates the early days of the town of San Diego and includes many historic buildings from the period 1820 to 1870. The park was established in 1968. In 2005 and 2006, California State Parks listed Old Town San Diego as the most visited state park in California (from Wikipedia).
I've looked forward to my San Diego mini-vacation the whole time I was in conference (actually, even before flying out from Manila). Sooo excited to see Nang Lani and family again. And it may be because I really needed to see family after being away from Richard and Neil for a week.
I had booked the 8:40PM flight from Atlanta, then rebooked to 7:05PM. I was actually in the airport and able to make it to the ~5PM flight but they were already full because of the NBA All-Star Weekend. I just hung around the airport waiting for my flight, which unfortunately departed late and landed late (had to circle LAX). I was supposed to arrive 9:17PM in LAX but ended up landing ~11PM. Then we had to wait very long for the bags to be released. It was almost 12MN when we left LAX and arrived almost 2AM in El Cajon. Long travel, I was tired but happy. (It stormed in CA that day and Nang Lan said the drive from SD to LAX was very slow at some point because of the low visibility.)
The original plan for Saturday was to go to The Gaslamp Quarter and Old Town but we postponed them to Sunday because of the forecasted rainshowers. And went shopping instead.=) I did very well by sticking to my list, mostly.=)
Then on Sunday, February 21, we pushed through with the Gaslamp Quarter and Old Town itinerary. We drove to the Santee station right after breakfast and were just in time to catch the waiting trolley. Otherwise, we would have needed to wait another 30 minutes.
I like taking public transportation. It's an instant local immersion. You get a distinct flavor of the place just by doing what the locals do. This particular one was clean, fast, afforded nice views and convenient for the places we were heading to. We stopped at Old Town station but then decided to proceed to Gaslamp because it was farther away.
I have been to San Diego a few times but have never been to these two places. I actually had to research the "other" attractions in SD, and settled on this never-been-to itinerary. And was I glad.
We alighted closer to the Petco Park, home of the San Diego Padres, and walked all the way to the Gaslamp arch.
The Gaslamp Quarter is comprised of 16 blocks of historical neighborhood. Its main period of development began in 1867, when Alonzo Horton bought the land in hopes of creating a new city center closer to the bay, and chose 5th Avenue as its main street. After a period of urban decay, the neighborhood underwent urban renewal in the 1980s and 1990s, and is today an energetic business and entertainment district (from Wikipedia).
It sure was a bustling and pretty district.
We dined at The Old Spaghetti Factory (Filipino version: The Old Spaghetti House?). The interiors were in keeping with the historical feel. The food was really good and reasonably priced, too! Dong got free dessert because his food came late, which to our assessment was not a long wait at all. Great service.
Then we walked back to the trolley station to go to Old Town. The trolley station was very close to the San Diego Convention Center, home of the Comic-Con.=)
Old Town San Diego State Historic Park, located in the Old Town neighborhood of San Diego, California, is a state protected historical park in San Diego. It commemorates the early days of the town of San Diego and includes many historic buildings from the period 1820 to 1870. The park was established in 1968. In 2005 and 2006, California State Parks listed Old Town San Diego as the most visited state park in California (from Wikipedia).
We were all tired after Old Town so we called it a tour day and walked back to the station to catch the trolley going home.
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