A new and improved vacation destination

STEVE SMITH

Before starting my comments on this week’s topic, I want to thank

Jeff Diercksmeier of Costa Mesa for submitting my favorite letter

ever published in the Daily Pilot.

Diercksmeier thanked me for reminding him of the poker game

“anaconda,” then went on to describe a game with slightly different

rules than the one our group played before we banned it for life.

It’s hard to believe that another group of college poker players

risked their friendship over that game.

*

There is a widely held belief that a vacation is not a real

vacation unless you have to travel far to get to the destination.

There actually is a scientific formula for vacation success that I

believe was first theorized by “Professor” Irwin Corey.

The formula is thus: Distance traveled times length of stay equals

relaxation. Therefore, the further one travels and the longer one

stays away, the greater the vacation enjoyment. As I write this, I am

supremely frustrated over the difficulty in getting a decent fare to

Hawaii. We are being asked to pay considerably more than we did last

time, all of which I am told is directly attributable to the higher

fuel prices.

But after last weekend, my family and I are in the process of

debunking the vacation theory. Last weekend, you see, we went to San

Diego. Before last weekend, San Diego was where sailors went for a

good time. It was where residents went to see the Padres lose and

where the local university, San Diego State, earned a reputation as

one of the nation’s premier party schools.

That was then; this is now. Now, San Diego is hip, hot and

happening, a fact that our family is pleased to report after a recent

three-day weekend getaway. Here now are suggestions for your

wonderful San Diego getaway.

We left Costa Mesa on a Friday at 2:30 p.m. Normally, that would

be a recipe for disaster because we’d be fighting traffic with

everyone else who was headed south to San Diego for a little vacation

and with those who were headed “home” to Mexico.

But we hit a pocket of light traffic that carried us past

Oceanside without a hitch. Somewhere around Solana Beach, I was

stepping more on the brakes than the gas pedal, so we got off the

freeway and took the beach route to La Jolla. That was a good move.

In San Diego, we took a room on the 20th floor of the Marriott at

the San Diego Marina. When you go, stay in this area, for it is close

to all that is new in San Diego. And if you stay at the Marriott,

request a room in the north tower, not the south tower. In the north

tower, you are assured of a balcony overlooking the water. In the

south tower, only a few of the rooms have balconies.

But after that, I highly recommend the hotel. The layout was

fabulous, and the service was superb.

On Friday night, we dove right into San Diego, buying tickets off

the street to that night’s Padres baseball game against the Toronto

Blue Jays. The attraction for us was not the game but the stadium,

Petco Park, which had its debut only two months prior but had already

established itself as one of San Diego’s places to see and be seen.

Our seats, by the way, were down on the field, five rows behind

home plate. We bought three tickets with a face value of $120 for

$100.

Petco Park is baseball done right -- almost as good as San

Francisco’s SBC Park, which is a good Wrigley Field knockoff, Wrigley

Field in Chicago being the best baseball venue in the world.

On Saturday, we bought $5 all-day passes on the San Diego Trolley

and let someone else do the driving down to the U.S.-Mexico border.

We got off the trolley, quickly realized that except for the fun

train ride that we had made a mistake, and hopped back on the trolley

going back to San Diego. Don’t take the trolley to the border unless

you plan to go into Mexico.

We had lunch on Saturday in the Gaslamp district, once home to

more tattoo parlors, pool halls and bars than any neighborhood

outside of Singapore. But now, the Gaslamp Quarter is respectable.

Not yuppified, just fun.

On Saturday night, I broke a travel rule by eating at a chain

restaurant, Joe’s Crab Shack, but it was getting late, we were

getting tired and it was nearby. The food and service were fine, but

try local restaurants instead.

Sunday was Father’s Day, which I spent ordering my family slaves

around.

Our trip to San Diego was notable not for what we did, but for

what we did not do: the San Diego Zoo, the Wild Animal Park,

Coronado, Sea World, the fine beaches, Seaport Village, Old Town,

more of the Gaslamp quarter and much, more.

And by the way, once I dropped off the car at the hotel on Friday,

we didn’t use it until we went home on Sunday.

See you again soon, San Diego!

* STEVE SMITH is a Costa Mesa resident and a freelance writer.

Readers may leave a message for him on the Daily Pilot hotline at

(949) 642-6086.