Try to spend one weekend in SD without hitting any chain stores/restaurants or strip malls. It is very easy to do when compared to other cities out there.
I have to agree with that statement. If you haven’t found enough to do outside of major tourist attractions in San Diego, you’re not looking hard enough.
And I moved here from New York!
Each weekend my significant other and I try out a new restaurant. It’s fun. Up and down 4th and 5th downtown it will take you a year to visit all the non-chain restaurants if you try a different one every week. Throw La Jolla and Del Mar into the mix and you’re choices are that much greater.
(we’re big into trying new places to eat, that’s why I emphasize on the restaurants).
Besides the food, there is the spectacular scenery and terrain for bike riding. Pick an area on the weekend, and hit the road. Torrey Pines, the beaches, inland over by Poway, etc. Lots of places to see. And keep yourself in shape at the same time 😉
Coming from NYC, I figured the theater scene here would not live up. But much to our surprise, it has. All the good national touring shows come through S.D. And the locally originated stuff is top notch.
For us, a Friday evening dinner downtown followed by a Padres game or theater show is a lot of fun.
Despite being “touristy”, the Wild Animal Park and zoo really do have a lot to offer. The WAP especially, with their new tram and ever-changing animal exhibits, continues to impress. And just as with the cycling, you can get a great healthy hike in that place if you venture out to the more distant habitats.
The Del Mar Fair blows. But the horse racing is a lot of fun if you get a group of people together for it.
Check the schedules for street fairs and farmers markets in places like Hillcrest & La Jolla. You’ll love ’em.
Plenty to do around here. You just have to search for it.
