4 PM San Diego arrival--Ideas for 1st evening?

[danacath]

DH and I will be arriving for a convention on a Wednesday afternoon in October. We will have Wednesday evening and all of Thursday for enjoying the sights before the convention starts. Since our time is limited, we want to make good use of it. After our arrival on Wednesday, we'd like to go enjoy the waterfront before catching a cab to Hotel Circle. Maybe have a casual dinner, see the ocean, the sunset (?), etc. Nothing too involved or too far away, since we'll be tired from travel and will want to check in at a decent hour.

So, do you have any ideas for where we could go eat or stroll? Would Coronado be too much for that first evening? We won't have a car that night, so we're also trying to figure out what to do with our luggage during dinner and while strolling around. I'd really appreciate any and all advice on this! TIA

 

[singingpixie]

I don't know about your luggage, but I don't think catching the ferry over to Coronado would be bad at all. There's a restaurant called the Bay Beach Cafe right at the Ferry Landing that I really enjoyed, and it's got a gorgeous view of San Diego across the bay. Then maybe wander down to the Hotel Del and the beach.

Good luck finding info about storing your bags though!

 

[ExPirateShopGirl]

For a nice view in the afternoon before heading to hotel circle, you might want to try taking a cab (or walking) to Island Prime or C Level on Harbor Island, just across Harbor Dr from the airport. It's convenient and the food is phenomenal and you'll have a lovely sunset view of San Diego Bay, Coronado, North Island Naval Air Station and Point Loma. You can then catch a cab to hotel circle.

Luggage might be an issue. If you each have a single bag, you may be able to lug it with you to the restaurant. If not, you may wish to ask the airline you're using and see if there's a baggage office (at SAN, some do some don't) near the carousel and see if your bags can be stored there briefly. Explain you have a quick meeting and show your boarding passes from your recently landed flight. They would place it where they keep other unclaimed bags until passengers claim them.

Good luck!

DH and I will be arriving for a convention on a Wednesday afternoon in October. We will have Wednesday evening and all of Thursday for enjoying the sights before the convention starts. Since our time is limited, we want to make good use of it. After our arrival on Wednesday, we'd like to go enjoy the waterfront before catching a cab to Hotel Circle. Maybe have a casual dinner, see the ocean, the sunset (?), etc. Nothing too involved or too far away, since we'll be tired from travel and will want to check in at a decent hour.

So, do you have any ideas for where we could go eat or stroll? Would Coronado be too much for that first evening? We won't have a car that night, so we're also trying to figure out what to do with our luggage during dinner and while strolling around. I'd really appreciate any and all advice on this! TIA

 

[danacath]

Thanks for the replies. Yup, the luggage is definitely the tricky part! Hmmm, I'm wondering if there is a hotel nearby that would agree to hold our bags for us for a couple of hours. Maybe they have strict policies against such things. Other than that, I'm not sure what else we could do. It would be pretty "interesting" for DH and I to try to have a romantic stroll by the water while pulling our suitcases! Anyone else have any ideas?

We thought about taking a cab to our hotel (Town and Country) first, so that we could drop off our luggage, but that would be 3 cab fares instead of one. (Hotel, downtown and back to hotel.) Plus, commuting back and forth would probably use up much of our evening time, right?

I'd love to take the ferry over to Coronado. Is the Hotel Del within walking distance of the ferry landing?

 

[ScooterL]

I'd love to take the ferry over to Coronado. Is the Hotel Del within walking distance of the ferry landing?

That depends on what you consider "walking distance". It's just about a mile and a half to the Hotel Del from the ferry landing.

Another dinner spot you might consider is Seaport Village - there's several restaurants right on the water that are not as pricey as Island Prime (which is a really nice restaurant, but expensive!), and it's a nice area to stroll around with all of the shops.

Though that doesn't solve the luggage problem, unfortunately.

 

[birkner]

DH and I will be arriving for a convention on a Wednesday afternoon in October. We will have Wednesday evening and all of Thursday for enjoying the sights before the convention starts. Since our time is limited, we want to make good use of it. After our arrival on Wednesday, we'd like to go enjoy the waterfront before catching a cab to Hotel Circle. Maybe have a casual dinner, see the ocean, the sunset (?), etc. Nothing too involved or too far away, since we'll be tired from travel and will want to check in at a decent hour.

So, do you have any ideas for where we could go eat or stroll? Would Coronado be too much for that first evening? We won't have a car that night, so we're also trying to figure out what to do with our luggage during dinner and while strolling around. I'd really appreciate any and all advice on this! TIA

If I were you, I would rent a car for one day and see the sights. Driving to Coronado Island is easy and the car would solve your problems with luggage. You would only have the cab fare back from the rental location to the hotel.

I love the Hotel Del Coronado so that would be my first choice for strolling and dinner.