Does anyone know if the San Diego Trolley runs out to La Mesa? We’re looking at staying in a motel in La Mesa for Comic-Con (it’s near the university), but we’re hoping to find something reasonably near a trolley stop so we can avoid driving down by the convention center (which is always an absolute zoo during Comic-Con!).
Redwolf
Yes, it does. The Orange Line stops at Spring St. and at La Mesa Blvd, and there’s free parking at Spring St. The Grossmont and Lemon Grove stops are also nearby, with limited parking. The line goes directly downtown to the Convention Center, though it passes through some “iffy” neighborhoods.
The other possibility is to drive to one of the Green Line stations along I-8, then park and ride. For example, there’s plenty of free parking at Qualcomm Stadium, and IIRC Metro will be running a special event “Red Line” schedule direct to ComicCon. Otherwise there are a couple of transfers involved.
La Mesa is also the site of a popular private and occasional house session here, and at least 3 or 4 Chiffers live in that area.
Yay! I think I’ll lock in that rate while I can, then.
The last time we went to Comic-Con, we ended up entirely by accident in a motel near a trolley station (near Old Town, I think), and we were thrilled with how convenient it was (so much less stress than trying to park in that madhouse!).
Redwolf
Yay! Got it locked in, and it looks a decent place. The place we were in last year was a bit rough and ready.
The only thing that’s a bit of a bummer is we’ll only be there for one day this year. Anna really wanted to do Comic-Con with her best friend this year as a combination 18th birthday/high school graduation present, but badge sales were absolutely nightmarish this year. I spent more than six hours on-line the day they went on sale, and every time I thought I was going to be able to check out with 4-day badges, the server would overload and I’d be kicked out and had to start from scratch. In the end, we were lucky to manage to snag two one-day badges for Thursday, so Anna and her friend will get to go, at least.
Any suggestions on what might be nice to see in San Diego for two people with only one day to spend? (outside of the zoo and Sea World…we don’t do animal parks). We’ve explored the Gaslamp Quarter pretty thoroughly in years past. We don’t mind driving, so long as we’re not too terribly far away (as in hours away) from the Convention Center area, in case the girls have an emergency.
Redwolf
Bot. Gardens, didn’t know there was anything else in San Diego. Guess the Monarchs have already flow the coop.
As entertainment: Walk from corner to corner and marvel at how well people are trained to stop for potential pedestrians crossings.
Hint: this may only be fun if you come from the Annapolis or Washington DC areas where you must always wonder: Does the driver see the chartreuse ped x-ing sign? Does he/she know what it means? Does he/she care?
That sounds more like Santa Cruz, where drivers are so used to being power-tripped by pedestrians they often are physically incapable of moving if there’s anyone on foot anywhere in sight (I swear, we have the rudest pedestrians in the world here!).
BTW, don’t ever try that in San Francisco, especially if there’s a bus nearby. MUNI buses eat pedestrians for breakfast.
Redwolf