"San Diego - Home Sweet Home!" a San Diego Travel Page by pacific_sol

Despite the turmoil at City Hall, San Diego remains America's Finest City in my heart. I've lived here most of my life, and although I want to try living in different cities, I can't think of anywhere else where I would rather live. The climate is comfortable most of the time, and its close enough to drive to LA, Las Vegas, or Arizona at any time of year. It has its hip urban side (just visit the Gaslamp Quarter), and its laid back beachy side (Pacific Beach, Ocean Beach, etc), its ultra rich enclaves (La Jolla and Rancho Santa Fe), and its quiet country corners to the east (Julian - where you can get awesome apple pie).

If you're looking for an exciting place to visit, but not one where you feel like you'll be run over with the fast paced life, San Diego is the perfect place to be!

Hopefully I'll get a chance to make tips for all of these, but for now I'll just list them here on my main San Diego page until then.

These are not in any particular order:
1. Sea World
2. World Famous San Diego Zoo (only if you like animals, which honestly I don't really)
3. San Diego Wild Animal Park (It doesn't have as many animals as the zoo though)
4. Legoland in Carlsbad (if you have kids younger than middle school, otherwise, you can probably skip this)
5. Balboa Park and its museums - they have free museum Tuesdays where certain museums are free on certain Tuesdays (like the 1st Tuesday, 4th Tuesday, etc)
6. Coronado - touristy but a nice beach town
7. La Jolla - touristy, but also a nice beach town; drive around and check out the NICE houses/mansions
8. Gaslamp Quarter downtown for dinner/drinks/clubbing
9. Fishing in the Pacific off the Ocean Beach Pier
10. Visit Mission San Diego de Alcala, the first mission built in California
11. Gamble at the local Indian casinos (we have plenty - Barona, Golden Acorn, Harrah's Rincon, Pala, Pauma, Santa Isabel, Sycuan, Valley View, Viejas; there is also Pechanga right outside SD County in southern Riverside County in Temecula)
12. Drive through the back country to Julian and pick up apple pie and Dudley's famous bread in Santa Isabel on the way up there
13. Visit Mt. Laguna after it has snowed in the winter (chains required)
14. Visit the Carlsbad Flower Fields when they bloom in the Spring
15. Roller blade around Mission Bay or have a picnic there
16. Visit Cabrillo National Monument and the Point Loma Lighthouse
17. Shop at Kobey's Swap Meet at I-Pay One Center for cheap souvenir tees on the weekend
18. For the college crowd - bar hop in Pacific Beach
19. Drive up Palomar Mountain and check out the observatory
20. Dip your toes in the Pacific at one of our many beaches - my personal fave is La Jolla Shores
21. Take a harbor cruise or dinner/Sunday brunch cruise in San Diego Bay
22. Military buffs - check out the USS Midway
23. Wander around Old Town to learn about San Diego's beginnings (take a look at the Whaley House if you like haunted houses)
24. Drive up to Mt. Soledad for a spectacular 360 view of the city
25. Catch a Padres (baseball) or Chargers (Amercian football) game
26. Attend the Miramar Air Show to see the Blue Angels (usually in October)
27. Enjoy the annual San Diego County Fair (formerly known as the Del Mar Fair) - starts in mid-June and runs through the 4th of July
28. Rock out at Street Scene, an annual music festival with a whole variety of acts - usually sometime in August/September
29. Dress up as your fave Fantasy/Sci-Fi Character to attend the annual Comic-Con Convention (one weekend every July)

These are just some of the things you can do here in San Diego!