Veterans Day falls on November 11, the anniversary of the Armistice of World War I — not a great battle but an achievement of peace.  Each year, San Diego honors United States veterans with the San Diego County Veterans Day Parade taking place downtown on Pacific Highway beginning at 11:00 A.M.  Everyone is invited to come and see one of San Diego’s most spectacular parades.

After the parade, you can visit the U.S.S. Midway Museum and watch as its newest addition — a restored World War II Corsair fighter plane — is lifted onto the fight deck.  Veterans will receive free admission to the museum and $1 from every ticket sold that day will be donated to the Veterans Village of San Diego.

While you’re there, check out the collection of military memorials along the bay, between the U.S.S. Midway and Seaport Village.

Building on the spirit of the occasion, LEGOLAND California has recreated the Vietnam Veterans’ Memorial in miniature.  The mini-memorial is situated in the park’s  Miniland, between the mini Lincoln Memorial and the mini Washington Memorial, just like the real thing in Washington, D.C.

Also in honor of Veterans Day, Old Town Trolley Tours of San Diego will treat all veterans — active duty, retired, and honorably discharged — to an entertaining and enlightening city sightseeing tour on Wednesday, November 11.  Just bring your valid ID card showing active duty or retirement, or a DD214 (proof of release from the military), to any Old Town Trolley booth for your complimentary boarding pass.

And just so you know, the world-famous San Diego Zoo offers free admission all year round to active duty military personnel (U.S. and foreign) with valid military ID. Spouses and dependents receive 10% discount on the Best Value Admission, which includes bus tour and Skyfari aerial tram.

Here’s to making a happy Veterans Day happen in San Diego!

Tags: free, holiday, legoland, military, sightseeing, tour, zoo

(4 votes, average: 5.00 out of 5)

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The hops are on the right...

So, you’ve heard about how San Diego has one of most exciting craft brew scenes in the world and you want to come explore for yourself.   

Maybe you’re a hard-core hop head who wants the insider scoop on cult favorites.  Maybe you’re a newbie looking to broaden your beer horizons.  Maybe you just want to relax and enjoy without worrying about driving. 

If any of the above apply, I’d highly recomend a guided, chauffeured beer tour with Brewery Tours of San Diego  or BrewHop.

Recently, I spent an afternoon with the later touring a few breweries around town.  BrewHop is great because they do custom tours – just you and your group – with tons of personal attention and lots of craft beer insight from their expert guides.

I got to chat with the brewers, sip some blow-your mind beers and hip to barrel-aging, the technique San Diego brewers are using in the country’s most sought-after small-batch brews. 

Check out photos and all the details after the jump…

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Tags: craft beer, drinks, tour

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Downtown’s Gaslamp Quarter is well known as a nightlife destination as well as home to many of San Diego’s signature restaurants and boutiques, but those 16 square blocks south of Broadway also hold the key to the city’s fascinating history.

Like any Wild West town, the story of San Diego is rich with sensational stories of heroism and infamy – from its origins as “New Town” to its era as the red light district, through its time of decay into its renaissance – and you can relive it all through these unique and entertaining sightseeing tours.

• The Gaslamp Quarter Historical Foundation’s historical walking tour leaves every Saturday at 11:00 A.M. from the William Heath Davis House on 4th & Island Ave.  The house itself is the oldest surviving structure in downtown San Diego – each of its rooms showcasing a unique period in San Diego’s history – and it only gets more interesting from there.  On this tour, you’ll get to see the Gaslamp Quarter with new eyes as you retrace the steps of many colorful residents (including former San Diego “capitalist” Wyatt Earp), visit historic Victorian-style buildings, and walk the streets of the former red light district.
  The tour costs $10.00 for adults, and $8.00 for seniors, students and military.  Kids’ tours and private group tours are also available.

• Back Alley Tours focuses on the Gaslamp Quarter’s risqué history as our original red light district.  Here you will travel back in time to the more lawless days and nights of the ”Stingaree,” as it was known then.  Owner and tour guide Melanie Young prepared this unique and unusual tour by spending a year digging through the archives at the Museum of San Diego History reading periodicals and journals, studying historic photographs and absorbing every bit of historical information she could get her hands on.  The result is a unique and thoroughly entertaining look at old San Diego.
  Back Alley Tours take place in the evenings Wednesdays through Saturdays.  Tickets cost $20 each, or $35 for a pair. Seniors, students and military tickets are $18.
• Haunted San Diego Ghost Tours and Ghostly Tours In History provide a different kind of thrill after dark.  Hear macabre tales of San Diego’s history, explore its mysteries, and walk in the footsteps of some historical figures who met untimely or unjust demises in the streets of “New Town.”  Yup, they’re still hanging around, waiting for some resolution or perhaps just enjoying the San Diego weather.  Both tours also visit other historic districts of San Diego such as Old Town and Coronado. The tours are billed as “PG-13″ but don’t worry – it’s an Edgar Allen Poe spooky, not a Rosemary’s Baby spooky.
  Tour pricing varies by type of tour.  Check out their websites for details.

Will you ever look at downtown San Diego the same way again?  I quote the raven: “Nevermore!”

Tags: downtown, fun, Gaslamp Quarter, ghosts, history, museum, outdoors, things to do, tour, what to do

(2 votes, average: 5.00 out of 5)

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My little bro finally came to San Diego for a visit and rather than showing him around in my filthy car, we opted for a bright yellow vehicle…

My brother and I in our GoCar

 Now, if you can find your inner “cool kid” and get past the silly helmets and the fact that it everyone on the streets stares at you as you whiz by, the GoCar Tour is a lot of fun!

The GPS guided, talking car tour offers two routes, downtown and Point Loma, and takes you to over 20 points of interest while providing history, information and pun-y jokes.  We opted for the downtown tour and had a blast touring around Gaslamp Quarter, Little Italy and Balboa Park.

The rates are totally reasonable and rentals are available for one hour, full day or anywhere in between.

Tags: sightseeing, things to do, tour

(1 votes, average: 5.00 out of 5)

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I kind of like visiting Petco Park when nobody is around — no baseball players messing up the field, no fans standing around making a big racket and blocking the impressive vistas of beautiful San Diego all around the stadium.  I can’t tell whether that’s a provocative statement or not; just a thought I had during my tour of Petco Park.  The home of the Padres was the groundbreaker in downtown San Diego’s neo-renaissance in the early part of the century (opening in 2004).  It’s another impressive landmark here in San Diego, and as with many of the attractions here, the closer you look, the more impressive it is.

What can you expect to learn on a tour of a mere baseball stadium?  A lot more than I expected, as it turns out.  On my tour, I was exposed to fascinating facts and trivia regarding the world of baseball, sports journalism, city planning, and Petco Park’s unique architecture; not to mention some good baseball gossip.  I would love to go into some of my tour guide’s act here, but this is one instance when you really have to be there.

"All right, team - let's hustle on out there and buy some swag!"

Walking around in the Padres’ house when the Padres aren’t home really emphasizes the vastness and versatility of the structure, which could easily double as a small city complete with restaurants, parks, museums and a sandy beach.

Bleachers On the Beach

Yes, a park and a sandy beach! Ever tried “Park In the Park?”  $5 will get you into a game and onto a nice patch of grass as well as grant you more access to the stadium than you might think.  Bleacher seats cost $9 and include access to a sandlot in right field.  It’s a great option for moms and dads who don’t want to spend the game wrangling kids back into their seats.

The park is wide open to views of the playing field, and if you’re a wanderer like me, you can enjoy a game from almost any vantage point in the joint.  (The many premium lounges, suites and boxes will cost you, though.)

Walk-up tours are available to the public Tuesday through Sunday.  Adults are $9, seniors $6, children under 13 $5, and active military $8, with discounts for groups of 25 or more.

On evening game days, a game ticket plus an Early Bird Tour ticket will get you inside the park an hour before the gates open so you can get to know your ballpark before the game.

Tags: baseball, behind-the-scenes, Petco Park, sightseeing, sports, tour

(1 votes, average: 5.00 out of 5)

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Just sit right back and you’ll hear a tale – a tale of a fun-filled trip.  In other parts of the country, they call it the “Duck Tour.”  San Diego happens to have Navy SEALs as well as harbor seals, so it makes sense that Historic Tours of America (Old Town Trolley Tours) ties in the SEAL theme to this tour, which shows us the sights in and around the San Diego Bay aboard their mini-fleet of “hydra-terras.”  (Do I need to explain that term?  No? Everybody’s with me?  Good.)

My group took a 90-minute voyage aboard the amphibious vessel as Captain Jim and first mate Bill showed us the bay – from Seaport Village to Harbor Island, where we went from “terra” to “hydra” as the vehicle plunged straight into the water – always a crowd pleaser.

First mate Bill shared with us the finer points of life on the bay and pointed out signs of the Naval activity that goes on right under our noses every day.  Hidden in plain sight are the Navy’s dolphin training facilities, submarine repair and maintenance docks, and target vessels.  Then there was the rare treat of watching a Navy submarine return to port.  (It’s a Navy-heavy tour once you’re in the bay, but hey, we’re a Navy-heavy town.)

In the interest of full disclosure, I must reveal that the “seals” in the bay are not seals at all, but sea lions!  The SEAL Tour got us close enough to see their little sea lion ears and sea lion flippers.  We’ve been had!  I won’t hold it against the SEAL Tour, though.  If it’s actual seals you want, you can find them on the stretch of beach in La Jolla known as the Children’s Pool.  This leads to the next logical question: Now what did they do with the children?

SEAL Tours board at Seaport Village daily.  More information can be found here.

Tags: cruise, harbor, Old Town Trolley, Seal Tour, sightseeing, tour

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